Where to Get Kombucha
One of the latest health crazes of the last several years has been kombucha. To some, this fermented tea is an elixir of life, an essential health supplement for healthful living and a vibrant lifestyle. To others it is an acrid sludge, a stomach ache, and a waste of money.
Contrary to popular belief that kombucha is a mushroom, it is actually a culture of bacteria and yeast that resembles a mushroom in appearance. Although popular in China for over two thousand years, kombucha only gained ground in America during the 1990s. The fermented mix is high in Glucaric acid, which has been said to fight cancer. It is also a good source of probiotics and enzymes.
For those of us who have taken the plunge, we know the beverage is certainly an acquired taste, but depending on the flavor you choose, it can be pretty tasty. For those who have yet to taste the drink, maybe it’s that weird looking sludge at the bottom of the bottle that’s been holding you back.
In a neighborhood where we value our health food stores just as much as our coffee shops, many of us are interested in the value of health drinks like kombucha. But the bottle can sometimes come with a hefty price tag, usually costing between $3.50 and $4.
GT’s organic and raw Kombucha has become a health food store staple. Ditmas Park shoppers who frequent stores like the Flatbush Food Co-op and Natural Frontier have grown accustomed to seeing the bottles, many with the word Synergy on them, lined up in refrigerators.
One interesting thing about GT Kombucha is how drastically the price varies from store to store. This month, the beverage costs $2.99 at Natural Frontier, where it is on sale. Looking around in the other health food stores in the area we found that the same drinks cost $3.49 at the Flatbush Food Co-op, and $3.99 at Downtown Natural Market on Church Avenue.
An alternative to buying the stuff is to brew it yourself. Unfortunately you would first have to get your hands on a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), and go through an arduous process that takes a week. Then you have to hope it tastes okay.
Or you can just wait for the drinks to go on sale.
An employee at the Flatbush Food Co-op acknowledged that when there is a sale on kombucha, the bottles fly off the shelf really quickly. He told us that the last time the price of GT Kombucha went below three dollars, the stock sold out in under a week.
Photo by james_da_bull