Kombucha is over 9,000 years old. It is believed to have originated in China, as a holistic health remedy. Its probiotic cultures are considered adaptogens, which means they are unique compared to other probiotics. 

So why has kombucha recently become a commonly enjoyed beverage? To answer that, we have to go back to the beginning of the start of the 20th Century. At that point in time kombucha was a popular drink across Eastern Europe because of its health benefits and its low freezing temperature. Then WWI began. Tea and sugar became rationed and the amount of kombucha being made decreased dramatically. 

As if this wasn’t enough to suppress public supply and demand of kombucha, the Cold War began shortly after. The biggest researcher and producer of Kombucha at that time was Russia. They valued the medicinal effects of kombucha so highly that in order to stop it reaching the Western World they destroyed vast amounts of the research that they had conducted. This again led to a massive decrease in the supply for kombucha. 

The destruction of the research had its desired effect. Kombucha was widely forgotten about again until around 1990, when some of the current industry leaders began their brewing operations. 

Nowadays, it is difficult to find a supermarket that does not stock the effervescent tea on their shelves. Harder still is finding a better bottle of kombucha than one of ZOK’s.