<div>Can anyone tell me if this is kosher l'pesach? quick like?</div>
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<p><b>Kombucha</b> is the Western name for sweetened <a title="Tea" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea">tea</a> that has been <a title="Fermentation (food)" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermentation_%28food%29">
fermented</a> by a macroscopic solid mass of microorganisms called a "kombucha colony," usually consisting principally of <i>Bacterium xylinum</i> and <a title="Yeast" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast">yeast
</a> cultures.</p>
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<div class="thumbinner" style="WIDTH: 302px"><a class="internal" title="The kombucha culture looks a bit like a large pancake. A healthy, new culture is light in color, and will generally darken with age." href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kombucha_culture.jpg">
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<div class="magnify" style="FLOAT: right"><a class="internal" title="Enlarge" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Kombucha_culture.jpg"><img height="11" alt="" src="http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width="15">
</a></div>The kombucha culture looks a bit like a large pancake. A healthy, new culture is light in color, and will generally darken with age.</div></div></div>
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<h2> <span class="mw-headline">Biology of kombucha</span></h2>
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<dd><span class="boilerplate seealso"><i>See also: <a title="Tibicos" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tibicos">Tibicos</a></i></span> </dd></dl>
<p>The tea contains a symbiosis of <a title="Yeast" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeast">yeast</a> species and <a title="Acetic acid bacteria" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetic_acid_bacteria">acetic acid bacteria
</a>, mostly <i>Bacterium xylinum</i>. Species of yeast found in the tea can vary, and may include: <i><a title="Brettanomyces bruxellensis" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces_bruxellensis">Brettanomyces bruxellensis
</a></i>, <i><a title="Candida stellata" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candida_stellata">Candida stellata</a></i>, <i><a title="Schizosaccharomyces pombe" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizosaccharomyces_pombe">
Schizosaccharomyces pombe</a></i>, <i><a title="Torulaspora delbrueckii" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torulaspora_delbrueckii">Torulaspora delbrueckii</a></i> and <i><a title="Zygosaccharomyces bailii" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zygosaccharomyces_bailii">
Zygosaccharomyces bailii</a></i>. The culture itself looks somewhat like a large pancake, and is often mistakenly referred to as a <a title="Mushroom" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom">mushroom</a>.</p><font color="#000099">
Kombucha tea </font>
<p><font face="Verdana,">Kombucha is a pleasant tasting, powerfully effective health drink / food supplement which you can make at home for next to nothing. <br><br>The taste can vary depending on how you make it but the basic recipe, which most people use, will produce a slightly sparkling drink that tastes like an apple cider or dry white wine.
<br><br>Though there is alcohol in it, it is normally so low that commercial producers can sell Kombucha as "non-alcoholic". You can expect less than 1% by volume alcohol content. <br><br>Sugar is used as part of the recipe but it is not used as a sweetener. The sugar is broken down and converted into different components of the finished drink.
<br><br>It has been drunk for many generations. In fact, it has been around so long that we are unable to tell where it was originally discovered or when. <br><br>Kombucha is a fermented drink made from sweet tea and a Kombucha mushroom or Kombucha culture as it should more properly be called.
<br><br>The culture is live and is a co-dependant blend of healthy bacteria, yeasts and other micro-organisms. <br><br>Though, it may appear complicated at first, Kombucha is actually very easy to make. <br><br>This website contains all the information you need to start making Kombucha in your own home and answers many of the questions that you may have.
<br><br>We should clear up the confusion and difference between Kombucha Tea and the Kombucha Culture before going much further. <br><br><font color="#000099"><b>Kombucha tea</b></font> <br><br>Kombucha, or Kombucha tea is the actual health drink, which we make from sweet tea and a Kombucha culture. It is known by a number of different names around the world including - Cainii Kvass, Kombuchakvass, Tea wine and Teekvass.
<br><br><font color="#000099"><b>Kombucha culture</b></font> <br><br>The Kombucha culture is the live substance which is put into the sweet tea to ferment and convert it into Kombucha tea. The culture is probably best known as a Kombucha mushroom, though this is an incorrect definition.
<br><br>The Kombucha culture has been known as a mushroom, a lichen and many other things but the best and most accurate definition we have today is a "symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast".<br><br>This is just a scientific term for a co-dependant live mix of bacteria and yeast. That definition sounds a little complicated, though it is where we get the more friendly term "SCOBY" from.
<br><br>The culture has been given many names, Günther W. Frank, in his book - "Kombucha, Health beverage and natural remedy from the Far East" lists 70 different names for the culture including - Combucha, Brinum-Ssene (Latin for miracle fungus), Champignon miracle and tea fungus.
<br><br></font></p><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>Yisrael Medad<br>Shiloh<br>Mobile Post Efraim 44830<br>Israel </div>