Kombucha

I've been making kombucha for the last few weeks. Pretty much, kombucha is a fermented tea which is made by making a sweetened tea and letting it ferment using a "SCOBY", also called a mushroom. The SCOBY is not actually a mushroom at all, it's a "symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast". Sounds delicious, hey?

 Kombucha is supposed to have a number of health benefits, ranging from general body detoxification to cancer prevention and pretty much everything in between. Because it's highly fermented, what you are drinking is pretty much a tea vinegar and can be very very tart. I have to water mine down a fair amount or ad it to gingerale or some other drink.

I don't know anything about the health claims. I just enjoy drinking it because it is quite tart like a string lemonade. Maybe it tastes like it should be good for me because of that?
Mostly, people make the kombucha out of green or black tea. Adding a lot of extra stuff is not recommended because the SCOBY may be sensitive to different chemicals in herbs or other kinds of teas. Having said that, though, I've used lemon based herbal teas and lemon based black teas without any problems.

One paper (referenced in the wikipedia article on Kombucha) lists some other possible kombucha media such as lemon balm, echinacea, and peppermint. This paper looks at the antimicrobial activity of the lemon balm kombucha and also the antioxidant activity and concluded that both were significant in the lemon balm kombucha.

I haven't tried using lemon balm but my plant form last year seems to have spread all over the place so it's probably a good time to try.

It's worth noting that there are potential risks to kombucha and reports of GI problems and liver toxicity. I recommend drinking a small amount and seeing how your body reacts before you start. I wouldn't drink it if you have any kind of immunodeficiency, have some other chronic condition, or are pregnant, or  Personally, I don't drink more that 6-8 ounces in a day and I do dilute mine, as I said, with water or some other liquid. I have no idea of doing so removes any chance of the health benefits but I enjoy it that way.