Kombucha Starter Culture

Kombucha is a 'living' health drink which is easy to make at home. All that is required is tea, sugar, a Kombucha 'starter' culture and the right information.

Placed in a warm environment, the sweetened tea and culture create a little chemical factory which converts all the sugar, transforming it into a drink which can taste something like a 'zingy' (non-alcoholic) apple cider, a refreshing light wine, or even champagne, depending on what kind of tea you use. Kombucha is a nutritious 'food' drink, containing lots of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and health-giving organic acids

The culture is a symbiosis of yeasts (Candida friendly) and bacteria. It looks like a smooth creamy beige to white pancake.

Price: R100 + Postage & Packaging of R90.00

Will be posted to you overnight once payment has been received. If you purchase on a Friday, Postage will only take place on the following Monday to prevent the possibility of the living organism being damaged by being in a hot, parked vehicle over the weekend. This applies to Public Holidays too

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

Kombucha is a fermented tea that is often drunk for medicinal purposes. There is limited scientific information supporting any health benefit and few studies are being conducted, although there are several centuries of anecdotal accounts supporting some of the health benefits attributed to the tea. Kombucha is available commercially and can be made at home by fermenting tea using a visible, solid mass of yeast and bacteria which forms the kombucha culture which is often referred to as the "mushroom" or the "mother".
Biology

The culture mainly contains a symbiosis of Acetobacter (acetic acid bacteria) and one or more yeasts.

The culture itself looks somewhat like a large pancake, and though often called a mushroom, a mother of vinegar or by the acronym SCOBY (for "Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast"), it is scientifically classified as a zoogleal mat. It takes on the shape of its container, but varies in thickness depending on how long it has been allowed to develop and the acidity of the tea medium during the development period. The culture is leathery and non-elastic, similar to a thick calamari.

The yeast component of kombucha may contain any of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Brettanomyces bruxellensis, Candida stellata, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Torulaspora delbrueckii, and Zygosaccharomyces bailii, or another domesticated strain. Alcohol production by the yeast(s) contributes to the production of acetic acid by the bacteria. Alcohol concentration also plays a role in triggering cellulose production by the bacterial symbionts.