What is kombucha?

Kombucha (or kombucha tea) is a naturally fermented tea drink. It is made from black and green tea which, together with sugar, is worked on by a live culture of bacteria and yeast known as a SCOBY. The result is barely sweet, brightly sour and naturally sparkling.

The history of kombucha goes back thousands of years. The drink is believed to have its roots in Manchuria and China, where it was called the elixir of life. Fermented drinks were nothing new in our own ancestors' kitchens either, so kombucha is not a stranger to the Lithuanian palate.

How kombucha is made

The process is simple in principle and painstaking in practice:

1. The tea is brewed. Black and green tea, with sugar added. Here sugar is food for the culture, not a sweetener.
2. The SCOBY goes in. The live culture starts the fermentation.
3. Fermentation. The culture consumes most of the sugar and turns it into organic acids and carbon dioxide. That is why there is little sugar left in the finished kombucha.
4. Flavouring. Ohm!Bucha is flavoured with real fruit and berry juices, with no artificial flavourings.
5. Bottling. The drink is bottled unpasteurised, so the culture stays alive in it.

The carbon dioxide in kombucha forms on its own, during fermentation. No gas is added.

What a SCOBY is

SCOBY stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. In Lithuanian it is better known as the tea fungus.

It is a dense layer with the feel of a rubbery film, floating on the surface of the fermenting tea. It is not a fungus in the biological sense. It is a living community: the yeast breaks down the sugar and the bacteria turn what comes out of that into organic acids. With every batch the SCOBY grows a new layer, and it can be split off for new batches.

We wrote about it separately: What a SCOBY is.

What kombucha tastes like

Kombucha is neither a lemonade nor a tea. The taste is barely sweet with a clear sourness, somewhere near a dry cider or a fresh apple cider vinegar, only gentler. It does not take long to get used to.

The Ohm!Bucha range has seven flavours:

• Original with no juice, the pure taste of fermented tea
• Apple
• Cherry
• Lemon and mint
• Lemon and ginger
• Pomegranate
• Passion fruit and lime

If this is your first time, start with apple or lemon and mint: they are the gentlest. If you want to meet the real character of kombucha, go for the original.

What sets Ohm!Bucha apart

• Organic. Certified by Ekoagros, certificate code LT-EKO-001.
• Unpasteurised. The drink is never heated, so the culture stays alive in it.
• Natural carbonation. The bubbles form during fermentation, not from a gas cylinder.
• No artificial additives. Flavoured with real juices. No added sweeteners, caffeine or taurine. The only caffeine in it is what tea contains naturally.
• Sugar. Every flavour has roughly 4 to 5 g of sugar per 100 ml of drink. Most of the starting sugar is consumed by the live culture during fermentation.
• Made in Lithuania. Our kombucha makers have over 20 years of experience.

The full range is in the Ohm!Bucha shop: 0.35 l and 0.75 l glass bottles and 0.33 l cans.

How to store and serve it

Kombucha is at its best well chilled. Keep it cool and out of direct sunlight. Once opened, consume within 2 days.

Sediment or cloudiness at the bottom of the bottle is normal. Those are particles of the live culture, not a sign that anything has gone wrong. Before opening, turn the bottle gently rather than shaking it, because the drink foams.

Frequently asked questions

Can kombucha be drunk every day?

Yes, it is an ordinary soft drink. Many people have a bottle a day, usually with breakfast or lunch.

Is it suitable for vegans?

Yes. Ohm!Bucha contains no ingredients of animal origin.

Does kombucha contain caffeine?

It does, but very little, and only the natural caffeine from tea. Nothing is added.

Why is there sediment at the bottom of the bottle?

Because the drink is unpasteurised and is not filtered to clarity. The sediment is part of the live culture.

How long does kombucha keep?

The shelf life of Ohm!Bucha is 24 months from production. The exact date is on the pack.

How is kombucha different from bubble tea?

They are completely different drinks. Kombucha is fermented tea; bubble tea is a sweet tea drink with popping bubbles. We make both: you will find the bubble tea in the OHM!BoBa section.

Where to buy

You can order Ohm!Bucha kombucha directly from our shop or find it in shops across Lithuania. For wholesale and HoReCa orders, write to us; the address is on the contacts page of this site.