sugar question

[Guest guest]

>After all, it is the Kombucha that you are feeding the sugar to, not

>yourself.

Just need to put my .02 in on this. While I agree with this in principle,

in point of fact there is sugar left in the brew unless it is brewed out

very long, at which point most people don't find it very drinkable. This

same argument is used to say that it doesn't matter if you use organic

sugar, but of course that's not true either because we are drinking all

that the sugar adds to the brew, including the negative substances such as

pesticides that may be present in nonorganic sugar.

>During fermentation, the Sucrose is converted to Glucose and

>Fructose, so you will not be eating white sugar.

Sucrose (cane or beet sugar) is composed of 50% glucose and 50%

fructose. In fermentation, the sugars are converted to other

compounds. But, as I mentioned, being hypoglycemic I did notice that with

my homebrew I got an unwanted sugar effect when I did brew with (organic)

cane sugar.

Let me say, certainly, that I don't believe that brewing KT with white (or

unrefined) sugar constitutes a health risk for most people-- I agree that

for most people KT brewed with white sugar does not cause a problem and

that most of the sugar is digested (fermented) into other

substances. However, as we know people with sugar sensitivities such as

diabetics and hypoglycemics need to pay a different kind of attention.

Brown sugar is just refined cane sugar with molasses added. Molasses will

definitely add dark flavors to the KT and just as molasses itself may not

be pleasant tasting to people, so may not KT made with it.

Because I am so sensitive to sugar and yet do not want to have to only

drink vinegary KT, I needed to use low-glycemic-index sweeteners, and I

have been using agave syrup to brew with. It has been going very well and

we love our brew. I have recently begun brewing with half agave and

half barley malt syrup, which puts more glucose into the sweet tea. We

absolutely love it. Some wouldn't, but anyone who likes dark beer, bitter

ales, mead, or other intensely flavored beverages may like the barley malt

as a portion of their sweetener. My partner thinks it is the best KT ever.

Yes, the organic agave and barley malt syrup are more expensive than

organic sugar. I need to make this choice because of my sugar

sensitivities. Others may not have to. But, the sugar choice really is a

matter of taste, and, for all the thousands of years that KT was brewed,

it's only been the last couple hundred that cane sugar was available as an

option to the common people-- cane has been known for thousands of years

but was always a " spice " and very precious (equivalent to $100/kg

today). Previously, the common people used whatever sweeteners they could

find, various tree saps, grain sweeteners such as barley malt or rice

syrup, or honey when they could get it.

I know that some analytical types say that any sugar other than cane/beet

sugar (sucrose) adds things that the kombucha culture doesn't need (such as

minerals), but humans will benefit by these things in addition to the KT

brew itself. I really disagree with the argument that whole sweeteners

(including unrefined organic cane sugar) are a problem for the culture to

process. If that were so, we wouldn't have KT today because refined white

sugar has only been commonly available since the early 20th century.

For info on sugar history google: sugar cane history

--V

~~~ There is no way to peace; peace is the way ~~~~

--A.J. Muste