More about SCOBY

[crowinsnow]

Kombucha tea. Translated, kombu=mushroom, cha=tea; so mushroom tea tea. The so-called mushroom is actually a benign gelatinous mass (BGM) of yeasts and bacteria. Yes, a symbiotic culture of bacterial and yeast (SCOBY). In this case, the sole purpose of the BGM is to turn sweet tea into a kind of sparkling cider. I say sole purpose, because this particular organism doesn't seem to exist in the wild, beyond jars of tea. Like bananas, its proliferation is entirely dependent on human culture.

So far, my jar of tea is still in the early stages, insubstantial whisps of BGM floating at the edges.