No, it is not something you yell when you are about to karate chop someone's arm off. Kombucha is fermented mushroom juice and I actually tried it! I drank like half a glass and I am so proud of myself!
It was...weird. That is most definitely the only word I can use to describe it. If you would like more detailed info about it, My friend Jordan introduced it to me and she talks all about it here. So this stuff is just weird--sorry it's not the best picture.
I must confess that I smell my food before I taste it. In most cases, if it smells good, it will taste good. If it doesn't smell good, it doesn't taste good. That is my philosophy. But with Kombucha, I was stuck. I also have a motto that I'll try anything at least once and I had certainly never had Kombucha before! And y'know, the whole idea of fermented mushroom juice...well, that's a little weird, even for me. So I had this sort of predicament. I wanted to stay true to this motto but I wasn't so sure about the Kombucha stuff.
So I told Jordan I would try it. (Now that I think about it, that may not have been the best solution if I had been trying to avoid trying the strange drink. However, it wasn't that I was trying to get out of tasting it, I just needed a little kickstart to get me going! I needed some kind of motivation for it!) So I told Jordan I would try it.
And I did. And it was weird. But not in a bad way. It was fizzy but not like a carbonated soda. It had a tangy sour kind of taste. As I drank it, I was reminded of wine but as I have never tasted wine, I can't say that is an accurate comparison. Jordan tried to say it was like ginger ale; it is NOT like ginger ale! Not at all. (I don't think she has had ginger ale in a while but that's okay.) When you drink it, you kind of have to think of it as a completely new drink. Which is very hard because it smells like vinegar.
But it wasn't bad. Granted, it wasn't the best thing I've ever tasted, but it wasn't bad at all. Kind of strange. Kind of different. But it was very cool. I actually felt nervous right before I drank it but it was fine. Reminds me of when I used to drink Girard's salad dressing straight from the bottom of my bowl because I liked that acidic taste.
All in all, Kombucha is weird stuff but I am glad I tried it. And if you happen to know me and that I am always encouraging my friends to try new stuff, I promise I won't try to make you drink it. Yet....
