FERMENTED DRINKS / PROBIOTICS (FAQ below)

---

Without bacteria in your digestive tract you would quickly die from starvation and imbalances of bacteria can make people sick. Fermented foods and beverages supply a steady stream of good bacteria that keep bad bacteria in check. Also these bacteria and fungi pre-digest food compounds creating  more absorbable nutrition. It has been found that the more western peoples lifestyles are the less species of bacteria and fungi they have in their digestive tracts. One factor is our sterile surroundings, another our sterilized, pasteurized and irradiated food. The less variety of species you have in your gut (microbiome) the more susceptible you are to food poisoning, allergies and food intolerances. The ancients knew this. In China Kombucha has been made for over 2000 years and is referred to as "immortal health elixir".

If you are only used to industrial foods you may be alarmed when examining your drink up close. Often there is some white stuff on the bottom. This is similar to what happens with craft beer. Dead yeast cells float to the bottom. In kombucha something seemingly even more alarming can happen. When it is bottled with a relatively high sugar content and further fermented in the bottle a tiny little SCOBY can form that looks snotty and disgusting. But in fact it is harmless and even extremely healthy. (see SCOBY in these FAQ). 

Also we add real fruit and spices as flavorings. We only filter out large pieces but leave the rest in the bottle. Even if you think the kombucha looks questionable don't throw it away. If it smells good and tastes good it is good.

Many fermented drinks available commercially are pasteurized and filtered defeating the whole purpose of a probiotic beverage. Our products are raw and alive and is as close to home made as possible.

SCOBY="symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast".  In China Kombucha has been made for at least 2000 years and is known as "immortal health elixir". The SCOBY is a collection of organisms that build a physical colony that feels a bit leathery and is sometimes described as jelly fish like or placenta like. By introducing this colony to freshly brewed tea and sugar there are instantly enough organisms in the proper proportions to transform the tea into kombucha.

Normally food spoils when bad bacteria can take hold and get enough time to multiply into significant numbers. Fermented foods are different. Instead of being sterile and a potential food source for any bacteria that may land on it or are already present in it fermented food is purposefully mixed with significant amounts of beneficial organisms and kept at a temperature that promotes their growth. They create their own healthy eco system inside the food crowding out any potentially harmful bacteria. Depending on how cool you store fermented drinks you can keep them for weeks or even months. Over time they slowly become less sweet and more sour because in the fridge the organisms are almost but not completely dormant. So before going bad it will first turn into something that tastes like vinegar.  Maybe not palatable to most but still very healthy. It could literally take a year or even years to really spoil. So that is why we only print the bottling date. We say "if it smells good it is good"

Fermented drinks can build up enormous pressure inside, similar to champagne bottles. This means that bottles have to be tightly sealed, round and very strong. Beer bottles fit the bill perfectly. If we as small company had to buy new bottles we would have to add at least 15 or 20 baht to the price. We soak the beer bottles for hours, pressure wash the inside and then disinfect them in hot steam. So it is good for your wallet and your environment. Also beer bottles are a nice size. Many fermented drinks are sold in ridiculously small bottles ending up with a price per liter 2x or even 3x our price.

Fermentation can create a lot of gas. After a long period in a cold fridge opening a fermented drink is like opening a cold beer. But if warm, or god forbid warm and agitated, the cap can come off with a bang and half the contents of the bottle can shoot out in a bubbly fountain. So don't open warm or agitated bottles. But if you want to do that anyway do it in the sink and wrap in a plastic bag first.

We brew and package 100% in glass. Most commercial brewers use steel or plastic. Kombucha is very corrosive so we wouldn't want to use anything other than glass or ceramics. Also we use organic ingredients where we can. All of the sugar and tea we use are organic. The honey we use is raw forest honey. We try to offer the best value for money we possibly can.

Yes, but the amount is very small. About 75% of the caffeine is broken down during the brewing process. So you would need to consume more than 6 bottles of kombucha to get to the amount of caffeine in one regular cup of coffee and even more if the kombucha is green tea based in which case you would need to consume more than 10 bottles to equal one coffee.