I don’t believe that most large established tea companies are actually producing bottled kombucha, because of uncertainty over the health risks and the fear of litigation. The largest company I can think of that has a kombucha line currently is Celestial Seasonings in America, and they are not the market leader… Honest Tea (owned by Coca-Cola) released a kombucha for a brief period of time, but withdrew it from the market after being sued by someone for having a 2% alcohol content when the label stated that it was non-alcoholic.
The sugars in kombucha are used as food for the kombucha culture. It becomes less sweet and more tart over time.
I will see if I can locate a few papers I know of that trace kombucha’s history.
