Tea: The best choice for fermenting kombucha

Which tea you can use for fermentation

A lovingly crafted kombucha and high-quality tea are inseparable. We'll give you a few simple rules to avoid choosing the wrong tea. Afterwards, you'll find an interesting interview about tea with the tea experts from Sensaterra.

Why do you need tea for kombucha?

The kombucha scoby consists of various yeasts and bacteria and several small microorganisms. For growth and flourishing, it needs nutrients such as caffeine, nitrogen, and theanine. These are found in the tea varieties of Camellia Sinensis described above. Tea also contains vitamin C and B and provides the scoby with various antioxidants and polyphenols.

The right tea choice for Kombucha:

1. As a kombucha beginner, use black tea or a mixture of green and black tea for fermentation.

2. No tea with a high content of essential oils or artificial flavors (e.g., sage or lemon balm tea).

3. Preferably use loose leaf tea and not tea from bags.

4. Do not use fruit tea or other exotic, fruity tea varieties on their own – only mix them in!

What kind of water to boil the tea for kombucha fermentation?

It's hard to believe, but water quality plays a significant role in kombucha production. This rather inconspicuous ingredient can positively and negatively affect your scoby. Conventional tap water may contain residues of chlorine and chemicals, as well as fluorides. These substances can harm the scoby. Therefore, it's best to always use filtered water.

In an interview with the tea experts from Sensaterra – The magazine for all current topics on tea and coffee

What makes a truly good tea?

The wonderful thing is that everyone can perceive something different as "good". That's why it's difficult to make an accurate statement here. I would first recommend not to consume tea with artificial flavorings or added sugar. The brilliant thing about tea is that you can enjoy the fermented substances and aromas from the plant in the most diverse combinations. If you embrace what nature has to offer, you will be surprised. What can definitely make a huge difference in taste is the preparation method of the respective tea. It is very important to pay attention to the water temperature and brewing time. The hotter the water and the longer the brewing time, the more likely it is to extract undesirable bitter substances from the tea leaves, and this then distorts the true and delicious aromas that would otherwise be tasted.

What is the difference between black and green tea?

With black and green tea, the difference lies in the processing after picking. Actually, it is very similar for both teas, only that with black tea the leaves ferment afterwards, and green tea leaves do not. That's why black tea is dark. Generally speaking, green and black tea can be obtained from one and the same bush. But as with everything, there is so much creative leeway in processing that it is possible to obtain a variety of special tastes.

What are the health benefits of regular tea consumption?

It heavily depends on which tea is consumed. But one thing is for sure: tea consists exclusively of water, and our body needs a lot of that. (Everything in moderation, overdoing it is never good). Certain teas with fruits, for example, also contain vitamins that can be good for us. Many herbs in tea stimulate our metabolism, or relax us.

Is theine in tea more tolerable than caffeine in coffee?

Theine is very similar to caffeine. However, it is not as "aggressive." Caffeine has the property of waking a person up with full power for a short moment. Theine, on the other hand, wakes the body up slowly. But it also keeps you awake for much longer. My professor at university always recommended drinking tea rather than coffee during exam periods, because the long-term effect of staying awake is better with theine than with caffeine.

You have several articles about Kombucha on your blog. What makes a good Kombucha for you?

Since we are not kombucha specialists, the credibility of our partner means a lot to us first and foremost. We are firmly convinced that during discussions with our partners, it quickly becomes clear whether we are dealing with industrial products or high-quality, non-pasteurized products.

Who is behind Sensaterra and what is your mission?

Behind Sensaterra is a diverse, small, young team. Our CEOs Maxence Béguin and Camille Rodriguez are both French. However, the whole team also consists of Germans and Italians, as we want to launch our e-commerce simultaneously in these three countries. Our mission is to bring an e-commerce to the market that exclusively offers high-quality hot beverages. This means: We want to draw attention back to small local businesses, retailers, and roasters and at the same time give them a voice in a modern way through our website. We do not want to support industrial products and want to remain authentic in conveying information to customers. In this way, more people will surely soon appreciate how much work can go into a hot cup of tea, chocolate, coffee, etc.

Where do you source your tea? Do you pay attention to fair trade?

We don't have our own production and therefore no own products. All the teas we offer on our platform belong to small suppliers from France, Italy, or Germany. Each has its personal specialties and natural production methods. It is also important to us that our partners represent the same values as we do. We place great importance on transparency, fair trade, and sustainability.

Thanks to Eleana from Sensaterra for the interview!

You can find more exciting articles by Eleana on topics related to tea and coffee here.