Why Don’t You Have Flavors?
Why, indeed? The state of the kombucha market today is such that when new customers come to our brewery, the question they consistently ask first is, “What flavors do you have?” And they have been known to remark: “Oh! Interesting! Your kombucha is made from tea!”
Yes, kombucha is made from tea – sweet tea, fermented by a symbiosis of yeast and bacteria. However, one would be forgiven today for thinking kombucha is largely a vehicle for delicious and/or unusual flavorings.
Chris Joyner founded CommuniTea Kombucha with a dedication to making great kombucha - one whose delicate taste and complexities weren’t lost under a multitude of added flavorings. When he first started making kombucha in 1993, he was excited to experiment with the time-honored standard recipe. His teacher urged him to focus on making the basic recipe well, before trying variations. His advice was always informed by psychological and spiritual wisdom, and Chris listened. While he knew that great kombucha and flavors were not mutually exclusive, he also knew it isn’t easy to make great kombucha, and he ascribed the motive behind many flavored kombucha products to be an effort to cover-up a foundation of kombucha that simply didn’t taste good on its own.
Green tea kombucha is harder to make … but it’s worth it. One reason it is worth the extra care and time is that the flavor profile is distinctly different than kombucha made from black tea. Black tea kombucha has a characteristic vinegar flavor arising from acetic acid, and while green tea is also acidic, it contains significantly more gluconic acid, which does not have a vinegary flavor. Our kombucha has a fruity flavor that is due to our use of green tea. We initially chose green tea because its antioxidant and polyphenol content is higher than black tea. And we were delighted by the unexpected bonus of the flavor difference. Thus, we do not need to mask our kombucha’s actual flavor to make it more appealing.