Enjoy The Rot

Rotten Foods That Stay Good/ Enjoy the Rot

The art behind the kombucha craze/ The culture of Cultures

Imagine- you’re a college dropout looking to grow your own small business. You’re health conscious but you enjoy the occasional medical spliff accompanied by a cold beer. You’re friends always refer to you as the “kush guru hippie friend.” What better way to fulfill your dreams than to start your own kombucha brewery? You’ve been drinking it for years! But what even is it? It’s hip. It’s healthy. But what are those little pulp bits in the bottle? How does it get such umami? You begin your market research and find that there is a whole world behind this popular drink.

Around 2014 the kombucha industry exploded as millennials became more health conscious. Many members of previous generations often stereotype kombucha drinkers a kin to that of the scenario mentioned above. Kombucha is a sweetened, fermented tea drink usually made out of black or green tea. To age properly there must have a mother (aka scoby aka culture). The mother is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast which forms like a mat on the top of a brew batch. To grow your own is difficult and takes time. This is what forces people in the fermentation world to get to know each other. There are forums, chatrooms, and sites that allow you to find people near you, with a scoby. Once you get your hands on just a piece of a scoby, it will regenerate and you too, can quickly become a scoby dealer.

other subheads: eating for function