Kombucha and Ph Levels

QUESTION

Hey Dave, I have been using the Continuous Brewing system for about a year now and have had great success and really enjoy the brew.

I do have a question about PH Levels. I would like for my K-Tea to be 7.0 but at bottling time it is 2.3. Is it OK to add a Alkaline Body Balance to the bottled tea to achieve the 7.0 PH level.

I have seen a couple of interesting benefits of Kombucha.I have had a couple of friends complaining of stomach ache and I gave them a glass of Kombucha and they were filling better and happy shortly after.

A friends girlfriend thinks the stuff improves the boyfriends disposition and wants him to drink it regularly.

I use it after workouts and fill good and relaxed from the bout.

Thinks Mark

ANSWER

In our opinion this is a HUGE no no! Kombucha is a weak acid, which means that, much like lemons and apple cider vinegar.. when ingested it binds to minerals in your body to create and encourage alkalinity, and what I mean by that is that even though it is acidic externally... it becomes alkaline internally.

Having kombucha bottled at a ph higher than 3 increase its chance of pathogens.. ever notice how regular tea that sits out gets gross and moldy even after a day or two and yet kombucha (while brewing with the culture), can sit at room temps for a long long time?

That's the magic of the acetic acids and the low ph.

So What To Do About Making Sure Yuu Are Getting Those Minerals for The K-Tea To Bind With?

Throughout the day drink more alkalinizing foods, such as tons of leafy veggies and some of our non-kombucha teas and herbals such as: a green tea: http://getkombucha.com/preybahygr.html or yerba mate: http://getkombucha.com/mintmate.html

They are packed with minerals that will compliment your kombucha drinking very nicely....

and of course, WATER!!!

Happy Brewin, Dave

ps: so happy you are lovin' the k-tea.. I also enjoy it after a yoga class. But sip s-l-o-w-l-y :)