Pasteurising has its place. The vast majority of people who drink cow's milk have pasteurised milk. This helps kill any 'nasty' bacteria and makes the milk last longer in the fridge before it goes off.
Milk is one thing, kombucha is quite another!
Pasteurising kombucha is generally discouraged because it kills the beneficial microorganisms and unique qualities of the beverage. Kombucha is a fermented tea that relies on live bacteria and yeast to develop its distinct flavour, probiotics, and potential health benefits. Pasteurisation involves heating the beverage to high temperatures to kill any harmful microorganisms, but it also destroys the beneficial ones.
Furthermore, because kombucha is a live product containing various healthy bacteria, any harmful microorganisms are generally overpowered by the strong, healthy bacteria in the kombucha. For that reason the benefits of pasteurising kombucha is greatly diminished.
So why pasteurise it at all?
Shelf life. Big producers pasteurise for shelf stability and shelf life. Their canned or bottled drink can be kept in a dusty warehouse for months on end without risk of further fermentation and degradation of the product. This comes at the expense of the potential health benefits associated with a raw, unpasteurised kombucha.
For this reason I keep Guttzee a raw, unpasteurised product. I produce regularly in small batches and advise that the product is kept refrigerated. This maintains the integrity of the drink as well as protecting adequately against further fermentation that could alter the taste of the booch. Over a long enough time period (months) the drink will continue to ferment and eventually (months and months!) it will become too vinegary to drink. Not harmful, just not pleasant.
Every batch will taste slightly different to the next batch. I think this is a positive feature of the natural brewing methods and should be embraced rather than making compromises on quality to make every bottle look and taste the same. The depth of flavour can vary, the sweetness and acidity can vary too. Some people prefer slightly sweeter, some slightly more acidic. I try and maintain a consistency for the balance I like but it's not an exact science.
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