Raw versus Pasteurisation
As part of our commitment to your health, our Kombucha drinks are raw.
That’s great! you think. If Booyah Vitality are doing it, it must be a good thing… right?
But what exactly does it mean for a drink to be raw?
What is Kombucha?
Let’s set down the basics, first. If you’ve had a browse through our site, you’ll already know what Kombucha is. But if not, kombucha is 2000 year old tea-based drink. It’s slightly fizzy, and full of minerals, vitamins, and probiotics.
Yeast, sugar, and black or green tea are fermented with something called a SCOBY. A SCOBY (short for symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) is a living culture of healthy bacteria, which has been shown to have positive benefits for your:
· Immune system
· Digestion
· Skin
· Cholesterol
· Blood pressure
· Mental health
· Allergies
· Weight
Whilst the SCOBY absorbs the sugar it creates good bacteria. These helpful bacteria are called probiotics and are extremely good for us.
Yep, the same probiotics that are in yoghurt drinks or sauerkraut although different types. Only, these ones have been carefully cultivated by hand using only natural, organic ingredients, rather than mass produced in a factory.
You can read more about the benefits of probiotics on our blog: Probiotics! Do we need them?
What is Raw Kombucha?
The word ‘raw’ simply means ‘not cooked’.
During traditional production of kombucha, the fermentation process is kept at a carefully controlled temperature, usually between 24 and 30 degrees Celsius, or 75 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit- roughly room temperature in English summer.
A food left in the kitchen can be a host to unhealthy bacteria, the carefully maintained environment our kombucha is produced in allows us to only introduce the bacteria we want.
At no point in the fermentation, production, or bottling stage is our kombucha heated beyond these temperatures. This is what is means to be raw.
What is Pasteurised Kombucha?
Creating raw kombucha means keeping the mix below a certain temperature, whereas pasteurisation is deliberately heating the kombucha to very high temperatures. This temperature varies, but commercial production usually recommends 82 degrees Celsius, or 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
Some commercial producers of Kombucha sometimes pasteurise mainly to give a longer shelf life out of the fridge and to stop fermentation, however this means it would kill off the good bacteria.
Pasteurised kombucha will often have synthetic probiotics added to the mix in order to compensate, but these are not naturally occurring, nor are they anywhere as varied.
Is Raw or Pasteurised Kombucha Better?
At Booyah Vitality, we firmly believe that nature’s way is the best way.
We only use the finest ingredients, making sure everything is organic and free from pesticides, or other nasty chemicals. We lovingly hand-craft our kombucha drinks, then package them in carefully selected dark glass bottles in order to preserve the benefits of the probiotics and healthy bacteria.
We would have to be bonkers to destroy all that goodness by pasteurising the kombucha!
Companies that produce huge quantities of the drink often cannot guarantee as much care being put into each batch. They can’t guarantee the best environment for the stimulation of healthy bacteria whilst also discouraging harmful bacteria. In this instance, it is probably better to err on the side of caution and pasteurise the kombucha. While the helpful bacteria are killed off during the process, a limited amount of them can be artificially reintroduced.
There should not be a difference in taste between raw kombucha or pasteurised kombucha.
However, for those that drink kombucha for the health benefits, there is a difference. Quite a big one.
The risk that comes with drinking unpasteurised (raw) kombucha is pretty much non-existent when it is crafted in a carefully monitored environment, like at Booyah Vitality. The benefits of raw kombucha are a huge variety of naturally occurring, organic, healthy bacteria and probiotics that offer numerous benefits to your physical and mental health. The benefits of pasteurised kombucha are a limited variety of synthetically produced, healthy bacteria.
At Booyah Vitality, the choice seems simple.
Raw, organic, and lovingly crafted Kombucha is the way forward.