Kombucha: called the “immortal health elixir” by the Chinese, the fermented, slightly fizzy tea makes up a living liquid, a science experiment in a $5 glass bottle your 10-year-old self can delight in actually being able to gulp down without consequence. Yet the stuff can initially be a hard pill to swallow depending on your affinity for odd consistencies, as the really good brews have visible globules idly floating by, cultures containing all the immune-system-boosting probiotics and bacteria that give the sweet tea its patina of medicinal prowess. The process—and it is quite the process—begins with your run-of-the-mill sweet teas, and gets interesting at the point of SCOBY, or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (also called the “mother”)—a gelatinous, slippery disk atop the liquid that ignites the fermentation of sugary sweet to sour effervescence.

So why would anyone want to drink this carbonated concoction of tart microorganisms? Aneta and Eric Lundquist, the husband and wife brewer duo behind local kombucha brand 221BC, will tell you its not just for the taste and texture, but rather to glean the host of health benefits that come with each swig. “The more you delve into the Standard American Diet, what we assume is good food, the more you’ll be sadly disappointed,” says Eric. “The reason you are paying money for this drink is—as gross as it sounds—for that culture. It’s literally living in that drink. Kombucha is like organic produce, it has a low shelf life and you have to keep it refrigerated, but it’s really good for you.”

Brewed in quite the same way as beer, the fermentation process for kombucha gets cut short before too much alcohol renders—it contains only about 1 percent—and immediately chilled in lieu of being heated and pasteurized, preserving the good bacteria rather than killing it off. “The fermentation creates a live enzyme of probiotic,” says Eric. “Kombucha is a wild fermentation. The liquid is basically breathing in the atmosphere. A California kombucha to a New York kombucha to a Florida kombucha in its very basics will be different since it is breathing different things.” Purported to aid in everything from digestion to detoxification, energy levels to arthritis, 221BC’s kombuchas contain superfoods (ginger, turmeric, moringa), creating a singular, 100-percent-certified organic bottled brew.

Now in their second year of bottling (they used to homebrew and pour for neighbors out of their garage), 221BC’s flavors contain unusual combinations not widely found in your average Whole Foods—a jar of grapefruit bee pollen basil sits next to a berry hibiscus and a cold brew “koffee,” variations of each found both bottled and on tap in seven states and locally at haunts such as Tavern on Main, Mandeville Beer Garden, Shore Diner and Lila. “The reason we got into kombucha was just about the mission and passion for health,” says Eric. “We wanted to bring that to the masses. What you put in your mouth makes a difference—in how you feel, your mood, how you look in the mirror, how you feel about yourself and how you bring that out to others.”

Northern ‘Booch

Expand your kombucha cravings and look around for the St. Pete-based Mother Kombucha, another small-batch brewery sending out inventive flavors made from fair-trade ingredients, found in a number of Sarasota spots (The Tea House, Wild Ginger Apothecary, Mr. Beery’s). Also certified organic and vegan, founders Tonya Donati and Joshua Rumschlag dream up bottles with names like Orange Blossom Switchel, Blue Rose and Lavender Mojito.