New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
America is all about diversity, choice, and freedoms. We are also about food – there is always a spot to get something to drinks or eat right around the corner. The term foodies originated here and debates, discussions even arguments about who makes to best burger, pizza, steak, et al are commonplace. Tell someone that “so and so” makes the best burgers on the earth and you may very well invite some serious disagreement.
Point being, that we love our food and we love the varieties that food comes in. America also being a land of individuality – the cowboy, the entrepreneur, the CEO, the mogul, the inventor, etc. – means that we all love to take a concept and add a touch of our self to it.
Case in point: very few people will walk into a cafe and ask for a cup of coffee unless you are longer in the tooth and come from a generation where a cup of coffee was just that. The barista would probably stare at you like you had three heads. On the other spectrum to the old-timer who likes a “Cup of Joe” is the new generation that requests and small novel type of coffee. The “I’ll have an iced venti caramel mocha Macchiato, half the ice, two squirts of French Rivieran vanilla, a dash of ancient Mayan cinnamon, one Sweet & Low, one organic Stevia, one spoon of Guatemalan Torbanado sugar farmed by non-profit organizations, topped with gluten-free/flavor free/dairy free whipped cream of Unicorn’s milk, shaken but not stirred, hugged twice and blessed my a Tibetan Lama served at exactly 58 degrees Fahrenheit and garnished with Marcel Proust madeleine. The name for the order is Werner Heisenberg.” type of customer.
Phew! Might as well take a nap while they order this drink that is impossible to create. Geez, I just want a Cuban espresso!
When I am in a queue and I encounter this person my mind conjures up the fast food commercial of a car waiting in a drive-thru and the car in front of them is taking forever and asking for napkins, less ice, a straw, some ketchup, and on and on. The person waiting just steps on the gas and pushes that car out of the way and with a big ear-to-ear smile they grab their fries. Is it wrong to do something similar in person while in a queue at a cafe? Just muckle the person out of the way and crab you “Cup of Joe”?
I mean, in my imagination of course. In the “real” world I would never do that because to quote Loo: “It would be wrong.” It’s best to build a heart of extraordinary magnitude.
I digress. People love to start their day with a cup of something and coffee and tea aren’t the only choices. America is the land of diversity and choices, right?
Three of the popular alternatives are Kombucha, Yerba Mate and of course, Chai. Never had one? Interested in what the hoopla is all about? Read on.
Kombucha Tea
Commonly called Kombucha (which is not the tea, but the microbial culture itself), Kombucha Tea is a sweetened green or black tea fermented by a microbial culture of bacteria and yeast that produces a sour, slightly acidic and alcoholic drink with a slight carbonated tingle on the tongue. It’s sort of like a hard apple cider in many ways, but normal Kombucha Tea has about 0.5% alcohol content, so it’s safe for youngsters and you can get behind the wheel.
One of the colloquial terms used today is “mushroom tea” – which is gross – even though it is not a mushroom. This term refers only to the mushroom-like film that forms on the surface, called SCOBY which is a “Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast.”
If you know your stuff, then you know yeast is a living organism and they aren’t like your deadbeat cousin who crashes on your couch because he needs a place to stay for a few weeks but ends up staying for months – these little gals and guys love to work. The work comes in the form of fermentation which creates the alcohol and vinegar-like acetic acid and that carbonated mouthfeel. Good thing these guys and gals are workaholics because that means there are lots of probiotics and therefore health benefits. Since it’s a green or black tea which has anti-oxidant health benefits and polyphenols, when you add the probiotics you get a combination that also kills many potentially harmful microorganisms in the gut, a double whammy.
Be forewarned, some of the diehard, zealous Kombucha drinkers will claim all the same health benefits that the equally fanatic marijuana proponents claim: it will cure you of anything and everything from minor ailments like headaches, insomnia, and acne to arthritis, cancer, AIDs, joblessness, Poltergeists and even badgering, henpecking mother-in-laws.
There are two cultures – pardon the pun – that claim to have invented the stuff: China and Russia. No one is 100% sure and even the word itself is of unknown origins so there’s no clue there. Even more doubtful is how long it’s been around – anywhere from 200 to 2000 years. Who cares? all that matters to we foodies is whether it is delicious or not. It is!
The drink is getting increasingly more popular with each passing year and you can not only find it in bottle form at most cafes, but some cafes like the Java Shack even offer Kombucha on tap. People love the drink so much that they even make their own batches at home and enjoy trying out different recipes.
While I don’t consider myself an aficionado of Kombucha, I think it is delicious and will occasionally order it. It’s pretty darn good!
