FAQ

Kombucha is a delicious bubbly fermented tea that has existed for many hundreds of years. It is raw, non-alcoholic and made by fermenting sweet tea with a live kombucha culture. The culture of bacteria and yeast (known as a SCOBY) that is critical in brewing kombucha, is what transforms sweet tea into a beverage with completely different properties, and not just in taste. After fermenting, the beverage contains loads of healthy organic acids, beneficial bacteria, vitamins, antioxidants and enzymes. These works together in an adaptogenic tonic that supports nutrition absorption, digestion, liver function and detoxification, joint health, immunity, pH balance, and overall well-being.

Kombucha is made with tea, sugar, water, and a culture of bacteria and yeast (often called a SCOBY).  The sugar added at the beginning of a kombucha brew is converted and the remaining sugar at the end of the fermentation process is quite low.

Kombucha is packed with beneficial bacteria, healthy organic acids, antioxidants, and vitamins, all of which help to maintain gut health. Beneficial bacteria in your body is great for the digestive system, and immunity. Kombucha is high in B Vitamins. Kombucha provides a natural energy boost without the jolt or jitters associated with coffee or energy drinks.

Kombucha is not a dietary supplement or medicine with a suggested dosage. It is a fermented food, and like many foods, it may have different effects on each individual. If you’re new to kombucha, we recommend starting with 4 - 6 oz. once to twice a day, and taking note of how your body feels.  If the vinegar taste is too strong for you, you can dilute your kombucha with water or juice.

Kombucha is lower in caffeine than the tea it’s been brewed with. Kombucha contains about 5-12 mg of caffeine per 8 oz serving, with green tea kombucha being lowest.

Kombucha contains many acids naturally, as a result of the fermentation. It does naturally have a slight vinegar taste to it. It is less concentrated and potent at typically 1% acetic acid, as compared to about 5% acetic acid in apple cider or white vinegar.

Some manufacturers pasteurize their kombucha. In doing so, they will also kill off beneficial bacteria. They may supplement their pasteurized kombucha with probiotics, which may be claimed and noted on their labeling. Those bacteria strains are not a natural byproduct of the fermentation process.

Raw kombucha, on the other hand, is unpasteurized. This means you are getting a kombucha that is brewed using traditional methods closer to brewing techniques that go back hundreds of years. CCK does not pasteurize its kombucha and prefers to keep it in its live form.

Kombucha is a fizzy, fermented tea.  It’s made with tea as a main ingredient, but the properties of kombucha differ from tea.

Cross Culture Kombucha will accept back rinsed out bottles at our Danbury location or at the Westport Farmers Market. We will wash and fully sanitize bottles, and if they are in excellent condition, we will reuse them.

Kombucha is a live and raw beverage. Naturally occurring yeasts sometimes settle in the bottom of the bottle, and sometimes a little bit of culture we call SCOBY (also called “the mother”) can also form in kombucha. Seeing this doesn’t mean your kombucha went bad, it indicates it is alive and well. These are not harmful to ingest.