I would say this has been my least favourite of the kombuchas from Wonder Drink. Juniper berries are the main flavouring for gin, which I don’t care for. The spearmint is not a strong flavour, less than the juniper berries; the lemon myrtle I missed its taste completely. The kombucha didn’t come across as being very strong in flavour either. I am disappointed in this one, and miss my Himalayan
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This is the third of the new large-bottle Kombucha drinks from Kombucha Wonder Drink, the others being Essence of Mango and Cherry Cassis. The lemon flavour comes from organic lemon extract, which gives it a good but not great lemon flavour. What I did like, is that this one was cloudier than the other two, as cloudy as the original ones I tried. Still, I don’t think I would drink this one again.
This is the second of the new large bottle water+green tea+kombucha drinks from Kombucha Wonder Drink that I’ve tried, the other is their Essence of Mango. Again the ingredients focus more on the water and green tea than the kombucha, rather than previously the other way around (I wonder now if all they’ve done, is add water and more green tea, and carbonation, to their original kombucha drink). This particular one has black currant juice and cherry juice concentrates added for flavour, which gave it a great flavour and one I would have like to have seen in their original format, and even consider buying again.
Kombucha Wonder Drink has recently brought out some bigger bottles of a newer formulation of their Kombucha drinks, these are also labelled Sparkling Fermented Tea, and it seems to me, in drinking this, that they have created these products to be like wine coolers; it’s mostly water and brewed green tea, with kombucha (made from oolong), also cane juice (essentially sugar), mango juice concentrate, natural peach juice concentrate and carbonation - if you compare this to the original ones I tasted, and liked, before, those had kombucha as the first ingredient and they had far fewer ingredients with no carbonation (other than that from the kombucha). The liquid in these new bottles look far clearer, too.
I far prefer their older versions, long for the Himalayan. It tastes to me like a watered-down kombucha, and the mango flavour is not that good tasting either.
Having enjoyed some of Wonder Drink's flavours, especially Himalayan, I finally had the chance to taste the last of their five flavours, Jasmine Tea and Niagara Grape. Three of them use Oolong tea, one Red tea, this one uses Jasmine tea, which I have enjoyed before (and is essentially green tea with Jasmine flavour).
Kombucha is a carbonated drink, a sweetened fermented tea or tisane, using a Mother of mushroom, or mushroom, or SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). It is unlike any other drink I have tasted, an acquired taste to some, but good to me.
There is an underlying bitterness to this drink that I don't care for, and often comes in the first steeping of green tea (the second steeping is the sweeter, but more subtler). The Niagara Grape flavour (which comes from juice concentrate) is equal in flavour to the jasmine tea, but I don't know that the two particularly pair together well. I like the kombucha flavour of this drink, but still far prefer the Himalayan.
This kombucha drink from Wonder Drink doesn't have a name like the others, though perhaps it should be Africa, as that is where the rooibos, or red tea, normally comes from. Rooibos, or redbush, is native to South Africa, and is produced in a similar fermentative manner as black tea (though there is a more expensive "green" version available). The taste is slightly sweet and slightly nutty, and has a reddish-brown colour when steeped. Rooibos tea has a high level of antioxidants, no caffeine (unlike black or green teas) and low tannin levels as compared to black or green tea. The other ingredient in this kombucha drink is peach, in juice concentrate and in essence form. This one is different too from the other three kombucha drinks that I have tried, Himilayan, Asian Pear Ginger and Orient, the others all use green oolong tea as the base.
Like kombucha, I think rooibos is an acquired taste, or a taste that suits some palates and not others. I would be more interested in a sour version, with roselle/hisbiscus, maybe, that would be red also. I didn't really taste much of the peach, it was a very underlying flavour. I like the kombucha flavour of this drink, but still far prefer the Himalayan.
This, the third of the Kombucha flavours that I tried from Wonder Drink, is essentially their Original flavour, that is, it is kombucha made with Oolong green tea. Oolong is known to be an excellent green tea, with lots of the health benefits that come from green tea in general, so a good choice. The other two that I tried Himilayan and Asian Pear Ginger both also contain oolong tea, but, for whatever reason, the oolong plays second fiddle in those drinks, and is the predominant flavour in this kombucha drink. Oolong can be bitter, and this drink occasionally has a bitter taste to it. The kombucha part of it is still excellent, and I am still enjoying the experience of drinking it (though I would now really like to try some that hasn't been pasteurized, kombucha that is still a raw living food, much like raw milk), but I would say that I liked this the least of the three that I tried.
Still wonderful, though.
This drink I found at Whole Foods, which had it on sale for $2.50 per bottle (regularly $3).
Still my favourite new drink.
This kombucha is spicier than the Himilayan one, certainly from the ginger juice. It also uses oolong tea, and adds Chinese pear flavouring (which I didn't really differentiate).
I would say that I liked this second best, but it is still a wonderful drink, and today I find that it gives me a little energy after drinking it (which I need, with a young and very active lady).
This is my new favourite drink.
Kombucha is a mysterious drink. It is a sweetened fermented tea or tisane, using a Mother of mushroom, or mushroom, or SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast). Make it with black or green or white tea, add some flavour, like rosehip or ginger or lemon, brew it for a while, make it in the right way, and you get this carbonated different than anything you've tasted before wonder health drink. They first made it in old Russia, or perhaps in China, even Japan. Or, in the Himalayas.
The health part of it may come from various acids that are created; glucaronic or glucaric acid, a detoxifier; lactic acid, good for digestion and the blood; acetic acid, inhibit harmful bacteria; usnic acid, natural antibiotic; oxalic acid, for intercellular production of energy; malic acid, to help detoxify the liver; gluconic acid, effective against yeast infections; and butyric acid, protection against yeast infections.
Wonder Drink, from Portland, Oregon, makes a commercial version of kombucha, however, so I don't know the effects of the pasteurization of it, perhaps there are essential enzymes that are deactivated. Certainly, this drink must be made in the right way, even if not commercial; cleanliness is important, so they are being safe by pasteurizing.
The taste of Wonder Drink is, well, wonderful to me. I found myself trying to capture the last few drops in the glass, and again after a moment, when some of the carbonation coalesced into more liquid. If I were to describe the flavour and taste sensation of this drink, the best I can come up with is an elderberry champagne, Holundersekt, which I also find very delicious, and is a fermented drink, in the sun.
This one is their Himalayan Blend, a mix of oolong tea and lemon flavour, with cane sugar.
Other flavours in this line that I'm interested in, are Asian Pear Ginger, Jasmine Niagara Grape and Rooibos Red Peach.
Quite good.
Quite different.
A wonder.
