How Kombucha Bubbled Over: A Condensed History
When your mailman asks you if you’ve heard of something called kombucha, you know it’s trending hard. But what you might not realize is that the beverage of the hour has a surprisingly long and storied history. From an athletic performance enhancer to Lindsay Lohan’s rehab scapegoat and the, uh, revealing material in your next summer dress, here's how kombucha finally bubbled over.
1/11Chinese laborers working on railroads in northern Mexico are thought to bring SCOBYs with them. The New World’s first kombucha is brewed from what’s called hongo chino (Chinese mushroom).
2/11Polish chemist Joseph Bolshich proves, once and for all, that kombucha and kefir are not the same thing. They each have their own molecular structure, morphology, and medicinal benefits.
3/11Kombucha gets its first New York Times mention. From a September 16th article about a substance believed to protect against arterial diseases: “The chemical is a fermentation product of a substance named kombucha, used by the native medicine men of Siberia and Manchuria as a cure and preventative for diseases of old age, such as hardening of the arteries. A sample of kombucha was obtained by Dr. Hermann in 1935 from Soviet scientists.”
4/11Soviet Olympic athletes at the Summer Games in Munich use kombucha as a performance enhancer. The fermented tea is rich in organic and amino acids, active enzymes, and polyphenols that act as a quick natural muscle relaxer and remove toxins from the liver. The Soviet team win 50 gold medals, topping the global tally (they may have also been using anabolic steroids).
5/11Techniques for brewing homemade kombucha spread through hippie communes at the same time the HIV/AIDS crisis breaks out. Sick people eager for a miracle elixir turn to the 2000 year old tradition.
6/11Inspired by his mother’s kombucha-credited cancer recovery, 17-year-old Beverly Hills High dropout GT Dave sells his first two cases of home-brewed GT’s Kombucha to Erewhon Natural Foods in LA. Dave’s product now accounts for more than half of that sold in the United States.
7/11Kombucha enthusiast Len Porizo cures himself of a nasty Candida overgrowth. Soon after he coins the term SCOBY—the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast—differentiating the mucus-like kombucha culture form the liquid kombucha tea.
8/11After Mean Girls star Lindsay Lohan’s court-ordered alcohol monitoring bracelet is triggered during an MTV Movie Awards after party, media reports indicate the actress blames kombucha for setting off the device. Lohan, in a tweet, sets the record straight: “FYI.. #kombucha was not the reason that my scram went off-i wouldn’t of been allowed to drink it if that were the problem.. i love kombucha.” Soon after, some kombuchas become an over-21-only drink, and Whole Foods stores across the country temporarily yank their product from shelves, citing elevated alcohol levels.
9/11Fashion designer Suzanne Lee is the first person to grow her own clothes using a kombucha based material. She makes up to 30 liters of kombucha in large baths. The fermentation produces tiny nanofibers of cellulose, eventually forming an inch-thick sheet that she washes, dries, cuts, and sews. The one thing Lee can’t do yet is make water-resistant garb: “If I was to walk outside in the rain...the dress would get really heavy, and eventually the seams would probably fall apart—leaving me feeling rather naked.”
10/11DIY ‘buch evangelists and founders of the Kombucha Brewers International, Hannah Crum and Alex LaGory, write The Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring, and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea. Readers are encouraged to forgo their collections of harmful cleaning and beauty products in favor of kombucha kitchen spray, facial toner, and flea repellent, all the while wearing a custom set of homemade SCOBY earrings.
