Kombucha has grown significantly in popularity over the past decade: evolving from a niche health drink into a mainstream beverage enjoyed worldwide.
It’s a fermented tea made using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast: and its popularity is largely linked to increasing consumer interest in gut health and natural, functional foods. And its slightly tangy, effervescent profile also attracts consumers looking for something refreshing and different.
But as the category evolves, so are the flavour profiles of the category: while its full functional potential is yet to be explored.
The tea base
Kombucha starts with the tea.
Each tea has different levels of polyphenols, catechins, caffeine and other bioactive compounds. These compounds are what are metabolized by kombucha’s signature SCOBY microorganisms: and the result is what gives each kombucha its individual profile.
SCOBY
Kombucha is produced thanks to the activity of SCOBY: a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, which ferments sweetened tea.
During this process, yeast breaks down sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide, and bacteria converts those into organic acids (mainly acetic and gluconic acids).
This is what gives kombucha its characteristic sour taste.
The choice of black, green, white, oolong and pu-erh teas deliver different flavour profiles.
The bioactive compounds in tea change: with transformations in polyphenols, catechins and volatile aromatic compounds shaping the kombucha’s flavour and aroma.
From freshly brewed tea to floral and fruity notes
The analyses shows an increase in concentration of compounds responsible for floral and fruity notes (such as linalool and 2-phenylethanol, substances that occur naturally in flowers and essential oils).
Meanwhile, the compounds associated with freshly brewed tea disappeared during fermentation, while new metabolites produced by SCOBY bacteria and yeast took their place.
And here’s the twist: the type of tea has a huge influence on the end product, as scientists at Wroclaw Medical University in Poland have recently discovered.
They analysed tea profiles in depth: turning to techniques such as advanced chromatographic techniques and mass spectrometry to track the changes.
Kombucha produced from green tea gives a ‘fresher, more vegetal aromatic profile’. Oolong tea is associated with more pronounced floral and fruity notes.
And kombucha made from black tea and pu-erh tend to produce a ‘heavier, earthier, and more fermentation-like aroma’.
Flavour exploration
Kombucha brands can then build on this tea base with additional flavours.
In keeping with kombucha’s natural profile, most choose fruit juice, herbs and botanicals, or natural flavours to shape their drinks.
That gives a huge palette of flavours and combinations to explore.
Flavour inspiration
- Health-Ade: Passionfruit Tangerine
- Health-Ade: Pomegranate
- Synergy: Gingerberry
- Synergy: Guava Goddess
- FIX8: Ginger Turmeric
- Holos: Ginger & Hibiscus
- Brew Dr Kombucha: Clear Mind (rosemary, mint, sage, green tea)
- Brew Dr Kombucha: Superberry (raspberry, blueberry)
Functional feedback
But it’s not just about flavour. The type of tea can also shape the health properties of the final kombucha.
Kombucha is already well-known for its gut health properties: with probiotics to help with a healthy gut and the associated benefits (such as digestion, inflammation and even weight loss).
But the choice of the tea base influences many factors (sugar utilization, ethanol oxidation, organic acid formation and the transformation of catechins and other phenolic compounds).
That, in turn, means kombucha may provide different antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic and even neuroprotective activities.
Kombuchas prepared from oolong and green teas demonstrate the highest biological potential.
But further clinical studies are necessary to confirm the impact of particular types of kombucha on human health.
Helena Moreira, PhD, associate professor at Wroclaw Medical University
For example, kombucha made from green and oolong teas have shown the highest antioxidant activity and the greatest ability to neutralize free radicals (molecules that can damage cells and accelerate aging).
Most intriguing is kombucha’s touted anticancer effects. In test-tube studies, kombucha has helped prevent the growth and spread of cancerous cells: potentially because of these antioxidants and polyphenols.
Tea drinkers are already less likely to develop various types of cancer: so the potential of kombucha could follow.
