What Is Kombucha — and Is It Healthy?

Kombucha starts as any other sweet tea. Black or green tea is brewed and sugar is stirred in. Once cooled down, the tea is combined with a SCOBY, an acronym for the fungus that helps ferment the tea: Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. The SCOBY is a circular biofilm that is pale in color, has a fleshy texture, and is creepily squishy. It’s similar to the “mother” that’s used to make vinegar (and in fact, kombucha tastes similar to a good-quality vinegar).

But the most important thing about the SCOBY is that it contains active cultures, which helps the tea ferment and gives kombucha its alleged probiotic content.

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Written by:

Lauren Smith, MA

Lauren Smith, MA, has worked in health journalism since 2017. Before joining GoodRx, she was the senior health editor and writer for HealthiNation.

Reviewed by:

Brian Clista, MD

Dr. Clista is a board-certified pediatrician who works in private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He previously served as a National Health Service Corporation Scholar in the inner city of Pittsburgh for 11 years.

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