Understanding and Making Kombucha

Kombucha is a lightly effervescent, cider-like beverage, made by fermenting sweetened tea. It is produced using a starter culture of bacteria and yeasts called a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). A mature SCOBY resembles a flat, jelly-like pancake, often referred to as a ‘mushroom’ or ‘tea fungus’ due its unique appearance, although it is not a mushroom.