Frequently Asked Questions

Kombucha[kom-boo-cha] is produced by fermenting tea using a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY)and has been fermented and brewed for over two millennia and has been said to have qualities that detoxify the body and energise the mind. It’s a living beverage that is fermented using a blend of organic white, green or black tea (or blends), organic raw sugar (don’t worry, Kombucha converts this sugar to healthy digestive enzymes that benefit your body), and a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast (commonly called the SCOBY or Mother). The SCOBY is thick pancake of gelatinous bacteria and yeast that feasts on the tea and sugar converting it into health giving organic acids and creating an effervescent fermented beverage with a slight tang. So it’s packed with vitality and goodness and tastes great too!

We get asked about sugar a lot! All authentic Kombucha is made from a base of tea, water and sugars. Our job as brewers is to ensure that the sugars are consumed by the probiotics during the culturing process prior to the bottling. Without the sugar in kombucha there is no fermentation, and without fermentation, there’s no good nourishing acids, enzymes and probiotics for your body.

It’s also worth noting that many people find that when they drink Kombucha over a period of time their sugar cravings diminish and that ‘tart’ taste of the Kombucha dissipates and becomes more natural to the palate. This has to do with Kombucha alkalinizing the blood and regulating insulin levels.

Buchi Kombucha is brewed, cultured and bottled in a micro-brewery in Brisbane, Australia.

Yes! Much of the benefit of drinking kombucha comes from the billions of living beneficial bacteria (probiotics) which are essential for good digestive health. Pasteurisation heats foods to kill microbes and bacteria. Many kombuchas on the market are pasteurised which makes them cheaper to transport and store. Though it would make our distribution cheaper and our shelf life longer, pasteurised kombucha is not the real deal. We like it raw, and brew Buchi for others who feel the same way as we do. And in line with our ethos of recycling and reusing, most of our bottling line and equipment has been reconditioned from vineyards, farmers’ barns, or gumtree locals. We resurrected our industrial juicer from our turmeric farmer Michael Joyce’s shed. The rust and birds nest are a thing of the past. She now has a new engine and a thirst for all things juicy. All our roots, shoots and fruits are cold pressed by ‘Juicey-Lucy’ at time of bottling. This is what gives our Buch that local freshness that you won’t find in any other kombucha on the market.

Our water is harvested from the heavens and filtered before being brewed in earthy oak barrels and bottled in glass.

As a delicious early morning time drink to stimulate the taste buds and aid digestion; as a tasty healthy replacement to that sugary soda drink or fruit juices; as a replacement to those mid-week beer and wine cravings or a morning-after tonic to help cleanse your poor aching liver; as a ‘between drinks’ drink so you can drink your friends under the table and still get up for a run the next day;or whenever you damn well choose… anywhere, anytime! Buchi Kombucha is a great beverage for any time of the day. Every Kombucha drinker has his or her favorite time to enjoy.

Every Kombucha drinker is different. Listen to your body and drink for life.

We do not at this stage. Mainly because of the cost associated with posting our glass bottles, not to mention the fragility and that it needs to be refrigerated – its too tricky.

Keep in mind that Buchi is a living drink so it will continue to evolve (even in the can). Great care has been taken to can your Buchi at just the right time, so please keep refrigerated to prevent over-fermentation.

We do sell brew kits both online and via our farmers market stalls. In these brew kits we provide everything you need to start brewing yourself including a beautiful, happy SCOBY, 5ltr brewing jar, tea, sugar, muslin, and instructions. All you need is to add water….and get the best water you can – preferably without fluoride and chlorine.

Yes, we have in fact been asked this quite a few times…

Buchi Kombucha is a raw culture that is very much alive so can be used to create your own homegrown culture. This is a sign of a good, raw, living kombucha company. You can simply pour a bottle (we’d recommend Buchi Mama because its just straight up kombucha with nothing else added) into a glass jar on your counter, cover it with cheese cloth/muslin and leave it to ferment. After around a week, you’ll have a Buchi Mama of your own!

Hooray for floaty bits! This means that your drink is ‘alive’. The floaty bits are the living Kombucha cultures and are ridiculously good for you (much like yoghurt, kefir, ginger-beer, & sour dough cultures). You won’t find floaty bits in those dead sugary drinks that have been sitting in storage for months.

Given that Australian’s are notorious for shortening everything, our team started calling kombucha ‘buch’ as a cute nickname when we began brewing all those years ago. Then when we scanned the word ‘Buchi’ on the internet and it turns out that Buchi has a few other meanings around the world too. In Cuba, Buchi is a popular coffee drink. In Japan, Buchi refers to a spotted cat. In the Philippines, Buchi is a deep fried sesame seed ball made of glutinous rice flour and filled with sweetened mung bean. Anton Buchi is also known to be a reputable antiques restoration specialist in the Canberra region, and if you are heading up to the Townsville Region Jeremy Buchi is a well-known and friendly plumber, known for his speedy service – if you’ve got leaky pipes.

There is also a fabulous Buchi Kombucha company in the US (North Carolina) and whilst we are in no way affiliated with them, they produce awesome kombucha and are super amazing people.