Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
This is really more of a question for a traditional Chinese medical professional, I imagine.
Here is an article describing the relative warmths of Wuyi oolongs. The author has written many other articles describing the Chinese medical properties of different teas – I imagine that if a reference work comparing the medical properties of different tea styles exists, he would know of it. Perhaps you could try sending him an email? I believe he is located in Shanghai. Email address is harveybrenton at yahoo.com.
Did anyone see this article in The Economic Observer? I know that tea workers heading to the city for higher-paying jobs has been an issue in southern India for a while… it looks like it is starting to become an issue in China as well.
Thank you for the article. I agree that the health claims for kombucha are sometimes exaggerated. I feel that this is also true of the health dangers. Many of the more serious claims, like the lead poisoning from brewing kombucha in a ceramic pot, and the anthrax mentioned in the link, are from people who brewed the kombucha themselves without understanding how to do it. The link also notes that when taken in appropriate doses and made correctly, kombucha is essentially non-toxic. I will be the first to admit that more research needs to be done to have a clear understanding. From a scientific perspective we know hardly anything about kombucha at all… there is still debate over what organisms should and should not be part of a kombucha culture! Most of the information around for making good kombucha is just folk wisdom… but done well it still has a unique and pleasant taste. 🙂
1911 was indeed not so very long ago… I believe that those stories that trace kombucha back into antiquity are mistaken. It is most likely an invention of the Russians, perhaps from western Russia, although I would not be surprised if it had come from Manchuria… for many years parts of Manchuria were under Russian control, and Vladivostok was a major hub in the Russian tea trade. Without proof, though, this is indeed still hearsay.
Under “Tea Novelties” from Volume 2 of the encyclopedia:
“TEA CIDER
Tea cider was known in Germany as early as 1911, and is said to have been introduced from the Orient. In 1933, experiments with its manufacture were begun in Java and Ceylon.
The process of manufacture is comparatively simple. An ordinary infusion of tea, using 1 1/2 to 2 ounces of tea to a gallon of boiling water, is strained from the leaves and to the liquor 10 per cent of sugar is added; i.e., 1 pound of sugar to 1 gallon of liquor. This is cooled and placed in an open, dust-proof jar. The ferment, or yeast, is added and converts the sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide gas, which latter escapes. The alcohol is then converted into acetic acid by he bacterium. These reactions give the cider its character. The yeast used appears to be a mixture of fungi, only two of which are of importance, according to Dr. C.H. Gadd of the Tea Research Institute of Ceylon. One of these is a yeast, Saccharomycodes ludwigi, and the other a baccillus, Bacterium xylinum. The particular yeast does not apparently matter, although the specific bacterium named is important, since it gives the characteristic odor and flavor to tea cider.
The sugared infusion is sweet at first, but the sweetness gradually disappears as the yeast begins to work, and acidity develops. The degree of sweetness or acidity is a matter of taste which decides when fermentation shall be stopped. The time required for fermentation depends on the temperature and may be as long as two or three days.
When the infusion has attained the right flavor and taste it is filtered through a thick, double cloth and bottled in vessels completely filled and tightly corked. The absence of air stays the action o the bacterium, but the yeast continues to work and produce gass, which gives an effervescence to the liquor. The cider should be kept in a cool place, well stoppered. It seldom contains more than one per cent alcohol. A tea vinegar also can be prepared by allowing the ferment to proceed for about a month. Then the vinegar is strained, boiled, and bottled.”
Although it appears that the kombucha bottling factories in Java did not survive World War II, the kombucha culture used was salvaged and was still in use in 1990 when a Japanese researcher found the Indonesian locals still brewing it. He wrote a paper on the Indonesian kombucha that is available online here. I do not know what happened to tea cider in Sri Lanka, although it was still known in the late 1960s… is it still made there?
In 1932, the Tea and Coffee Trade Journal had an article on it.
Here is the section on history:
“A certain amount of mystery surrounds the history of the mold. According to Dinslage and Ludoff, German investigators, it was introduced into Germany in 1911, presumably from Mitau [now known as Jelgava], Courland, Russia, and was cultivated by people who used the fermented liquid obtained as a household remedy for all kinds of ills. In Russia, it was known before 1911, but even in Mitau, where it is said that sailors first taught the inhabitants the use of the mold, its importation is comparatively recent. Where the sailors originally obtained the mold has yet to be discovered. Judging from the names by which it is popularly known — for instance, Japanese, Manchurian, and Indian tea fungus — it probably derives from the Orient. Scientists found that the mold grows best between 25-30°, and consequently inquiries in the tropics were instituted, but so far no positive information has been obtained from these places, which include Java, New Guinea, Samoa, Africa, and Argentina. It is hoped that better success will attend inquiries sent to China and Japan.”
I believe it was also mentioned in William Ukers’ 1935 “All About Tea” enyclopedia by the name of “Tea Cider”… I will see if I can find the reference.
One challenge is that much early research was not done in English.
The earliest scientific reference to the kombucha culture was in 1913 by Gisevii Lindau. [Lindau, G., Ueber Medusomyces Gisevii, eine neue Gattung und Art der Hefepilze. Berichte deutsch. Bot. Ges. 31, 243-248 (1913).] Here is a reference made to it in English from a 1920 encyclopedia on yeasts. At first, he thought it was a single fungus, but his colleague Dr. Lindner realized that it was a mixture of many cultures, and published a correction. [Lindner, P., Die vermeintliche neue Hefe Medusomyces Gisevii. Ber. deutsch. Bot. Gesell. 31, 364-368 (1913).]
Courland, where Dr, Lindau first noticed kombucha tea, was a part of Russia in 1913. Now it is in Latvia. How kombucha came to be known by that name (which is properly the name of an unrelated Japanese kelp drink) I do not know, although it was referred to by that name in the scientific literature as early as the late 1920s. [Hermann, S., Uber die sogenannte ‘Kombucha’. Biochem. Z. 192, 176-199 (1928).]
Tea farmers always want their teas to fetch a good price. It would be foolish of them to not try to adapt their teas to the buyer’s tastes.
Think of tieguanyin oolong; the old style had a heavy roast, but lighter oolongs are now selling better. So now many tieguanyin oolongs are made with a lighter roast. It did not just happen, but was a modification to help the teas sell. Darjeeling tea in India was originally a very heavy tea like Assam, because British tastes demanded it. When British interest in Darjeeling declined, a German importer suggested that a lighter Darjeeling tea would suit German tastes, and the producers gladly followed, making the Darjeeling tea of today.
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.
It depends on how the tea was designed to be drunk. For instance, Assam tea, grown, processed, and brewed to British tastes, is basically undrinkable without milk. With milk, however, it transforms into a unique and special beverage. Mongolian brick tea was selected for its ability to perform well after clotted cream was added as is the custom there. On the other hand, adding milk to a delicate Chinese green would obliterate it. Adding it to a tarry Lapsang Souchong would lead to the flavors constantly fighting with one another.
The same is true for sugar. A white tea is naturally sweet, and the delicate flavors would be taken away from with extra sugar. On the other hand, Ceylon teas destined for the Middle East are designed to stand up to sugar, because it is customary to add a generous amount there.
So really it just depends on what sort of end consumer the tea-maker had in mind.
