

I was introduced to Kombucha when I first moved to California, and had not heard of it prior to arriving here. I liked it right away, but for some it may be an acquired taste. I have been drinking Kombucha for years now, and since I live right across the street from a Whole Foods market, I have experimented with the many different brands and flavors. My favorite is the Cherry Chia Kombucha made by Synergy Drinks, at synergydrinks.com. The founder of this company is GT Dave, and he started making Kombucha at the age of 15. The fact that you are reading this book gives me a good reason to believe that you must have already seen Kombucha in your local grocery store or have even tasted or at least have taken a whiff. Call it a mushroom tea or “elixir of life”, Kombucha has become one of the hottest trends in health beverages. Kombucha is not something new that has surfaced magically as in the case with many fitness fads. This fermented beverage has been around for hundreds of centuries, however it has only recently became popular in the U.S. because of its popular health benefits. Regular Kombucha drinkers claim that it helps digestion, improves sleep and supports weight loss. Kombucha is also found helpful with detoxification, stimulation of immune system, improving liver function, stopping hair loss and even preventing cancer. As humans, we are living in a dynamic ecosystem where we are constantly impacted by the symbiotic relationships we form with other beings. I am not only talking about our relationship with other human beings, but back to the microscopic levels. Kombucha for me is an expression of the conscious desire to invite healthy bacteria and healthy yeast into my body. This gives an ultimate realization that without other living organisms around us, even the microscopic ones, I would not survive. For hundreds and thousands of years we humans beings have lived in close contact with the nature. It’s only in the last 200 years that we have drastically cut ourselves from the natural environment. In a constant quest to keep ourselves healthy, we have alienated ourselves from the earth and have packed ourselves in successively tighter boxes. Forget about the dirt on the floor, even air cannot reach us naturally. Today we have the luxury to control the temperature of our surroundings. These things have made our lives comfortable, but have also separated us from the world of living organisms that are critical for our very survival. Better hygiene habits are important and it has helped us reach a certain point, but now from there we are not moving any further. In fact it seems we are drifting back. We are increasingly becoming chemically sensitive, we are falling sick every now and then and it’s turning out that we are becoming allergic to everything. Regardless of whether you buy my point or now, it’s a result of our attitude towards “germs.” Our bodies are filled with microscopic organism like germs, bacteria and yeast. The nature has created them and placed them in our body for a reason. From the air we breathe to the foods we eat and the water that we drink, our body is constantly assaulted by toxins. When we fall sick, we take pills, hormones and antibiotics. Where do they go when we flush them down the toilets? They don’t disappear anywhere, it gets recycled back into our food sources through water supply and agriculture. Modern medicines have definitely improved our quality of life, but have done really less in terms of addressing all the toxins buildup in our body and in surrounding environment. Kombucha offers a rather simple and natural way to help our body find balance in the ecosystem. It provides a natural way to keep the toxins flowing out of our bodies. So our bodies don’t keep accumulating toxins that will one day make us sick. We need healthy bacteria in our guts to survive and vice versa and that’s the symbiotic way of looking at things. Review: Educational - This book is a great handbook ; it's simple and educational. I found this beneficial to starting to brew kombucha. Review: 3.0/5.0 Bare Bones and Some Speculation. - This has some good starter information but I would counsel a reader to do more research on making kombucha. Videos, blogs, other books (that are not so short and abridged) are recommended before attempting to brew this. You might even attempt to find friends or local businesses that brew kombucha so you can have a live person to talk with. Also, always always always, talk to a doctor, your doctor if possible, before taking ANY health or medical advice from any source, and that includes this book. The author glosses over the potential harmful effects of kombucha to certain people, while hyping up the benefits using scientific language but with no reference citations. This is bare bones instructions with no foundation resources to support research and claims made by the author. It is a supplemental source of information and more research should be done by a reader. Until next time, MC
| Best Sellers Rank | #1,545,061 in Kindle Store ( See Top 100 in Kindle Store ) #330 in Coffee & Tea (Kindle Store) #845 in 90-Minute Cookbook, Food & Wine Short Reads #887 in Coffee & Tea (Books) |
W**H
Educational
This book is a great handbook ; it's simple and educational. I found this beneficial to starting to brew kombucha.
T**D
3.0/5.0 Bare Bones and Some Speculation.
This has some good starter information but I would counsel a reader to do more research on making kombucha. Videos, blogs, other books (that are not so short and abridged) are recommended before attempting to brew this. You might even attempt to find friends or local businesses that brew kombucha so you can have a live person to talk with. Also, always always always, talk to a doctor, your doctor if possible, before taking ANY health or medical advice from any source, and that includes this book. The author glosses over the potential harmful effects of kombucha to certain people, while hyping up the benefits using scientific language but with no reference citations. This is bare bones instructions with no foundation resources to support research and claims made by the author. It is a supplemental source of information and more research should be done by a reader. Until next time, MC
V**A
Quick read.
Informative, quick read.
M**L
Fantastic guide to kombucha tea
We have been trying to eat and drink healthier over the past year and have started shopping at a local grocery store that sells mostly organic foods and other healthy alternatives. This is where I was first introduced to Kombucha and I actually liked it from the beginning. Wanting to learn more about it, I was thrilled to grab author Kathleen Kalaf's latest on this wonderful concoction. Kalaf not only goes into the history of Kombucha, but gives detailed instructions on how to brew it at home as well as the various health benefits of the tea. Definitely recommend this well-written guide to kombucha tea.
Q**Y
Short read but packed with good info
While this is not a long drawn out, big book full of additional recipes once you get deep into the brewing of kombucha, it is a great starter book especially for someone who wants to get right to it.
M**A
Newbie delight
New to idea of Kombucha. This is a thorough introduction with very clear instruction on brewing your own. Good read.
J**K
pleased
I have not used this to make Kombucha a of yet but am pleased with the easy to read and understand directions
J**K
Informative
Informative book. I cant wait to try some of the recipes.
L**O
Ótimo
Excelente. Fácil e muito explicativo. Apenas poderia trazer algumas receitas. Livro para se ler em apenas uma hora. Boa leitura
N**I
Great book, well-written, lots of info for beginners
I liked reading this book, it was easy to understand, included all benefits of kombucha, and provided technical advice. Only a small thing that can be improved and it is the editing. I found a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes, and I am even ESL!
K**O
Receitas de kombucha
Livro excelente. Muita informação boa em tudo.
Trustpilot
3 weeks ago
2 days ago