Fermented tea? With a drink called Kombucha you betcha! And with a variety of brands sitting in many a health food store and Fairway Markets over a year now, I finally made the decision to try this concoction.

GT’s Synergy brand seems to be leading the crowd, and this carbonated drink is not for the weak of heart. Simply put, the drink is highly carbonated and sour. I tried to polish one bottle off over a few days, taking a sip each day, and I did not get that far.

No matter what the added flavour is, this particular style of a fermented drink is not for everyone. This brew is nothing like beer. Try as I might, I didn’t get used the bitterness of this drink at all. I can see the drink working as a mixer to help balance out the acridness, but as for the health claims, the evidence is not there. I’m better off brewing my own mixture of herbs, fungi and bark prescribed from a traditional Chinese medicine man to mend my ailments away.

Ironically enough, that’s where this drink comes from. The origins of this kombucha drink can be traced back to ancient China where it was considered a “remedy for immortality.” So if the drinker wants a short life, he should sip this liquid? That’s a twist.

Another tale tells of how a Korean physician, Dr. Kombu, gave it to a Japanese Emperor as a healing tonic. Seriously, I think this drink is a product of folklore and many a Wild West tale. If readers remember all those travelling physician carts purporting to carry cure-it-all medicines, I’m willing to bet that kombucha was one of them.