Legend has it that ...
The first Kombucha was produced in China around 221 BC during the Quin dynasty. Kombucha was known for its beneficial properties enough to be called the elixir of life. In fact, it was said that at the court of Emperor Qin Shi there was an alchemist assigned to the preparation of Kombucha and that the emperor himself drank it daily in the hope of reaching eternal life.
But was the Scoby or the Kombucha born first?
Various legends tell the story of the origin of Kombucha's first mother, the SCOBY. All these stories have different protagonists and settings but in the end they all tell the same thing: that kombucha comes from nature.
A Tibetan legend tells that a monk, on a hot summer day, forgot a cup with sweet tea on the table, and upon his return, the monk notices that a kind of film has formed inside it. Intrigued, he decides to taste the tea and discovers that it has turned into an effervescent drink with an acetic flavor. Excited by the discovery, he decides to keep the film and try to repeat the experiment.
Since that day the monk has continued to carry out this discovery, sharing it over the years with friends and acquaintances.
A Russian legend tells that an emperor from a distant country, sick and suffering, learned of the presence at his court of a famous monk known for his healing abilities, decides to have him summoned, in the hope that he could finally help him heal. Arriving in the presence of the emperor, the monk promises to heal him using a simple ant. With that said, he drops the ant into a cup of tea, telling him to wait until a jellyfish has grown. This jellyfish, in a few days, would have transformed the tea into a healing potion and, only at this point, the emperor would have to drink it. The emperor follows the monk's advice and incredibly heals.
The Russian biologist, Dr. AA Bachinskaya, between 1910 and 1914 conducted scientific studies on the mother of the Kombucha, concluding that the midges they can turn wine or beer into vinegar simply by falling into it. When the Acetobacter bacterium found on the insect's legs comes into contact with the liquid, the bacterium spreads in it and if it finds the right conditions, it can multiply quickly, turning sugars into acid. acetic.
But did you know that?
Curiously, Kombucha experienced a period of fame in Italy, immediately after the Second World War, when a soldier returning from the Russian campaign brings a SCOBY with him. The Kombucha recipe and the SCOBY are spread like a chain letter. Indeed, popular belief said that if you gave a SCOBY on a Tuesday, you would receive the blessing of the Saint. Legend has it that, when the clergymen realized that the faithful added holy water to Kombucha to increase its healing powers, they decided to oppose its spread.
In 1955, the famous singer Renato Carosone dedicates a song to Kombucha: Chinese Stu fungu.
