I've never tried store bought kombucha, only what I've made myself at home. Maybe some brands are better than others?
I've made it too strong before; forgot about it and left it too long where it got to be too vinegary. Yuck.
I brew it just until it starts to get fizzy and tart, then I put about a 1/4th cup of frozen mixed berries in each jar, seal tight and do a second ferment for about 5 days. Or ginger root and pineapple juice, that's good too. The fruit/juice adds more sugar into the mixture which makes it yummy. It comes out kinda like sparkling juice, but a little more tart, and it has a
slight alcohol content, but not very much. It wouldn't give you a buzz or anything. I like the taste of it anyway. And DH loves it too, which is saying something. Sometimes I wish he didn't like it because he drinks it up quickly...nevermind it takes me about 12 days to make a batch!
It has taken several batches to get those kefir grains up to par. The milk wasn't very tart and yogurt-like at first. I didn't drink those first couple of batches because they were like clabbered milk. I added it to the chickens' feed instead. Today's batch was very good in our smoothie. I take it you'd always want to add some pureed fruit to it or something and we also put in stevia to make it sweeter. We've been buying it at the store upon occasion for a few years now and the store-bought stuff tastes just like flavored yogurt, but liquid. Sometimes it has some fizz to it, sometimes it doesn't...I guess if it's closer to its expiration date it loses it. I love it when it's fizzy. Maybe it's better for you then, I don't know.
Kefir is supposed to have the highest number of beneficial strains of bacteria in it of all the ferments. I definitely do notice a difference in my digestion when I am taking something fermented or at least eating yogurt regularly. We make our yogurt too. Much cheaper!
I did kombucha before and took a break, but must have left it in the fridge too long because I killed my SCOBY. I had given both my mom and sister a start, but they were no help. They never got into it since the SCOBY freaked them out and they worried about doing it wrong.
