Now that they pulled it off the shelves, there are brands coming bak. A buddy of mine in NYC bought a bottle. He said it did not taste the same. More sugar and less fermentation. This tells me the powers that be pulled it because people were getting positive benefits from it.

Homemade Kombucha
Making your own kombucha is a snap. The whole process takes less than an hour, and at the end, you have a whole gallon of your own tart, fizzy fermented drink to enjoy when ever you want, at a cost that is less than you would pay for one small bottle at a health food store.

How To Grow A Kombucha SCOBY

COOL! Ted, do you drink kombucha?

I mainly drink GREEN TEA.
I'd never thought about fermenting it.
Sounds simple enough. I'll give it a go sometime.

They should have shown the correct amount of alcohol in it on the label when they were selling it for people who are concerned about it. The amount matters since there are laws about selling alcoholic beverages.

No wonder I couldn't find it at the health food store! What's going on? It's because of a little alcohol? I can't tolerate alcohol and it had no effect on me. Will they try and reformulate and bring it back? Or is it really because it's unpasteurized?

It was pulled because they said the alcohol thing. It had alcohol, but very little. The real reason it was pulled was because people were getting benefits from it. If only 1000 people a yr improved on kombucha, that would cost big pharma a billion dollars.

I hope it comes back. It was the one fermented thing I was taking. I guess I'll go back to kefir--I love kefir but for some odd reason when I switched from using pasteurized milk to using raw milk I couldn't get it to work. Guess I'll try again.

I'd like to make my own kombucha but you need the mother.

That could be taken a few different ways:


You might want to try rejuvanitive foods saurkraut. Fermented and unpastuerized

u&iroak, I dont remember where, but I read recently how to actually start your own starter for kombucha tea... Surley its on line somewhere. I will go thru my files again and see if i saved it.

The amount of alcohol in it, is going to be about the same amount as fermented apple cider vinegar... nothing to worry about, unless you are lindsey lohan and trying to use it as your cover up for drinking...(wasnt she the one who supposedly started all this mess?)

You can buy them online, I have no info on what sources are better etc. I do know that you feel better after drinking it. But the new brands supposedly are crap.

I remember how popular kombucha was eons ago but thought it had gone out of style/popularity.

I just read in one of saved1986's comments that the Kombucha brought back on the market is no longer effective. Can you elaborate? I see a few videos out there entitled, "Will Store Bought Kombucha No Longer Be Raw?" but I can't listen to a video right now. I did find this one article that says that this brand is still raw and unpasteurized:



First Raw Kombucha Back on the Market: High Country Kombucha

by Dane Halter on 07/27/10

As many of you already know raw, unpasteurized kombucha was voluntarily pulled from distribution in June due to concerns over alcohol content exceeding legal limits for unregulated beverages. This has left a gaping hole in supply of raw kombucha with demand higher than ever.
Well, worry no longer Kombucha drinkers & grocers, High Country Kombucha has revamped their formulas and undergone all the appropriate testing and legalities necessary to once again sell their raw, unpasteurized kombucha. This brand of raw, organic, fair trade Kombucha is back on shelves this week!
The results of scientific tests (in a TTB certified lab) show that High Country Kombuchas are well under the legal alcohol limit of 0.5% when aged to the extent of their shelf life (9 months). High Country has decreased the amount of yeast in their kombucha to guarantee that it will not exceed 0.5% alcohol while on the shelf. This has had the added effect of decreasing the vinegar taste, meaning the fermented beverage will now appeal to more customers.

Before their voluntary recall mid-June, High Country Kombucha was the second best-selling brand of kombucha in the US market. The category leader and most of the newer brands on the market have not provided ETAs on when they will be able to supply their products again. This is due to the fact that all raw kombuchas will need to be reformulated & tested to guarantee the <0.5% alcohol standard. High Country is able to be first back on the shelves b/c their products never contained the high amounts of juices (and therefore sugars), which increase fermentation on the shelf and lead to elevated alcohol levels. High Country needed only to tweak their formula to guarantee that the alcohol level doesn't elevate above 0.5% on the shelf. Many of the other brands will need longer to create new formulas and demonstrate that their products will stay under legal limits. Furthermore, many of the other brands rely heavily on juices and sugars to give them their tastes, so when they hit the shelves again, long time customers will notice a much different flavor profile (not to mention a much different state of mind since the alcohol content of brands such as GTs will have decreased considerably).

High Country Kombucha will be back in UNFI, Nature's Best and TOL/KeHE distributors this week. Retailers like Sprouts, Whole Foods, Mother's Market, Central Market, Vitamin Cottage, PCC, New Seasons, Mrs. Greens, My Organic Market, Henry's, Sun Harvest, Sunflower, Newflower, Lassens, Earth Fare and independents will be quick to follow. You can see a list of their organic, fair-trade products at https://www.hckombu.com/products.html.

Enjoy a raw, unpasteurized High County Kombucha today and get the benefits of increased energy and enhanced digestion from billions of probiotics!

They brought back GT and SYNERGY brand kombucha: If it is unpasteurized, I sure do not see it. the old stuff sometimes would basically shoot of the bottle when you opened it. Not so with the new stuff. Much less fizz. About a yr ago, I accidently left a bottle in a bag after buying it, so it warmed up to room temperature. It shot the stuff through the SEALED cap all over the bag. The new stuff if you let it warm up gives a faint hiss when opening the cap.

Also, the vingear taste means it was frementing and live.