Looking for opinions on something.

[ion]

Im not sure if it is a big deal or not, or even what to think about it really, but I seem to have originated a probiotic beverage or two.

 

It started off with brewing kombucha and Jun (there are rumors that Lao Tzu orginated Jun tea). Then in wondering how these cultures originated I followed an intuitive hunch and tried to start a similar culture and I did. It was back in april.

 

The original culture, started from scratch/thin-air was started with nothing; it is not a kombucha or jun culture that is 1,000's of years old, it is brand new, drawn into existence from the abyss made from local micro-organisms by me.

 

The original culture has produced about 4 SCOBYs and is now on its fifth. Two of the SCOBYs are being used to make beverages that are similar incomposition to kombucha and jun. One is made with black tea and cane juice, the other with green tea and honey but yerba matte is something Ive grown them both out on. Another SCOBY is being grown in roobios tea and sugar, and Im going to do the next in roobios and honey.

 

One other batch, Ive altered a little to favor the lacto-bacteria and that one taste a little different.

 

The two that are being brewed in the traditional methods (like kombucha and Jun), taste just like kombucha and jun, or quite a bit anyway.

 

Oh yea, I also now have a wild yogurt made from the same original culture that I started the others from. Its with the wild yogurt whey and some lactose seperate from milk that I fortified the one drink with lacto-bacteria, but it is all the same lacto-bacteria.

 

So I tried to repeat the experiment to make sure it wasnt a fluke and it appears as though it was not because the experiment had the same results. I may try one more time just to make sure.

 

I've gotten rid of my jun and kombucha cultures and have been brewing/consuming nothing but my own at this point.

 

So what Im wondering is can I or should I try to capitolize on these in someway or another? Im really not minded in that direction, really not ever focussed on how to make products and sell them and stuff, but it almost seems like this could be something to sell what with all the other probiotic things on the market, but maybe Im just being naive and arrogant(?), I dunno.

 

What would you do if you originated a probiotic beverage that tasted like, only better then kombucha/jun?

 

And it is "better" imo. I can almost not tell if they are different at all, but I do like "mine" better. I even have bought kombucha from the store a couple of times to do a test to see if what I have was really "different" but could not tell if they were fundamentally different, but I did like mine a lot more..it is hard to tell if the major similarity is in that they are tea based beverages.

 

So what would you do?

 

 

[zerostao]

i am wondering what the alcohol content is?

becoz if its over 0.5% our friendly govt will consider it an alcoholic beverage,

 

http://www.ttb.gov/faqs/kombucha-faqs.shtml

 

if it were mine, i wouldnt tell the fda or the govt at all,

and i would just trade it among friends,

its kinda hard to ship/mail liquids sometimes too.

 

 

i'd like to try some

Edited June 26, 2013 by zerostao

[silent thunder]

Im not sure if it is a big deal or not, or even what to think about it really, but I seem to have originated a probiotic beverage or two.

 

It started off with brewing kombucha and Jun (there are rumors that Lao Tzu orginated Jun tea). Then in wondering how these cultures originated I followed an intuitive hunch and tried to start a similar culture and I did. It was back in april.

 

The original culture, started from scratch/thin-air was started with nothing; it is not a kombucha or jun culture that is 1,000's of years old, it is brand new, drawn into existence from the abyss made from local micro-organisms by me.

 

The original culture has produced about 4 SCOBYs and is now on its fifth. Two of the SCOBYs are being used to make beverages that are similar incomposition to kombucha and jun. One is made with black tea and cane juice, the other with green tea and honey but yerba matte is something Ive grown them both out on. Another SCOBY is being grown in roobios tea and sugar, and Im going to do the next in roobios and honey.

 

One other batch, Ive altered a little to favor the lacto-bacteria and that one taste a little different.

 

The two that are being brewed in the traditional methods (like kombucha and Jun), taste just like kombucha and jun, or quite a bit anyway.

 

Oh yea, I also now have a wild yogurt made from the same original culture that I started the others from. Its with the wild yogurt whey and some lactose seperate from milk that I fortified the one drink with lacto-bacteria, but it is all the same lacto-bacteria.

 

So I tried to repeat the experiment to make sure it wasnt a fluke and it appears as though it was not because the experiment had the same results. I may try one more time just to make sure.

 

I've gotten rid of my jun and kombucha cultures and have been brewing/consuming nothing but my own at this point.

 

So what Im wondering is can I or should I try to capitolize on these in someway or another? Im really not minded in that direction, really not ever focussed on how to make products and sell them and stuff, but it almost seems like this could be something to sell what with all the other probiotic things on the market, but maybe Im just being naive and arrogant(?), I dunno.

 

What would you do if you originated a probiotic beverage that tasted like, only better then kombucha/jun?

 

And it is "better" imo. I can almost not tell if they are different at all, but I do like "mine" better. I even have bought kombucha from the store a couple of times to do a test to see if what I have was really "different" but could not tell if they were fundamentally different, but I did like mine a lot more..it is hard to tell if the major similarity is in that they are tea based beverages.

 

So what would you do?

This is profoundly cool to me. Much respect!

Is this something you are thinking about patenting and testing as a product?

I certainly don't see any reason why you shouldn't share it with your friends and family either way.

[Flolfolil]

is it really that much better? that's cool if it is

 

but a hunch is telling me that you just like it more because of the energy you put into making it, and that it isn't machine bottled and all that. love makes a huge difference in food!

[ion]

This is profoundly cool to me. Much respect!

Is this something you are thinking about patenting and testing as a product?

I certainly don't see any reason why you shouldn't share it with your friends and family either way.

Right on, thank you.

 

Well that is what Im wondering if I should or could do.

 

As far as sharing it with friends and family I definitely try to but they are not too into it especialy when I tell them that I "made it", they get a little worried that the organisms are going to make them sick. Socially, our culture has an imprinted fear of micro-organisms and fungi. Ive been a mushroom picker since I was a kid and began cultivating fungi several years ago. More recently Ive been learning and applying Korean Natural Farming practices which are centered around the cultivation and employment of micro-organisms (KNF is the taoist way of farming, completely in line with the principles of tao, No Tilling, no weeding do nothing philosophy/ something from nothing according to the inner nature and potentiel of the plants and soil, but is not officially taoist. Although Master Cho, the mind behind the method does make references to the TTC in explaining his method.), so Im not really afraid of them. I spend a lot of my time handling, even taisting unknown micro organisms.

 

I do have a couple friends that are into it, but my daughter only eats the yogurt. She thinks the drinks are two tart which is what she thought of kombucha also.

 

My daughter had a Hawiian theme event at her school and having spent some years livving on the islands I brought some ahi poke to the potluck, but my mom told her I was bringing "Roku", so my daughter thought that that is what the drink is called and thought thats what I was bringing.

 

At anyrate, if the culture has a name it is Roku tea at this point.

 

 

 

i am wondering what the alcohol content is?

becoz if its over 0.5% our friendly govt will consider it an alcoholic beverage,

 

http://www.ttb.gov/f...ucha-faqs.shtml

 

if it were mine, i wouldnt tell the fda or the govt at all,

and i would just trade it among friends,

its kinda hard to ship/mail liquids sometimes too.

 

 

i'd like to try some

I might be able to send you a culture in the not too distant future. I need to work up some extra SCOBY's first. Ill send you a pm when I do.

 

I've thought about that too, just spreading it around, but Im always broke so I thought that I could maybe have an oppurtunity to make some money with it, but honestly as detrimental as it has been to my life, capitolizing on stuff is not my style so after a while Ill probably just share cultures or something, I dunno...thats why I was asking for opinions.

 

It actually bothers me that they treat kombucha like an alcoholic beverage because it isn't one. You cant/wont even get a head change from drinking it unless you count the B-vitamin rush. Plenty of recovering alcoholics feel safe drink kombucha who wont even cook with wine. Its about as much of an alcoholic beverage as a slightly over ripe orange or pinapple, and less of an alcoholic beverage then a tincture of vanilla extract.

 

Never the less Id be interested in knowing the alcohol content, not to mention have it tested to see what sort of organic acids, enzymes, and vitamins are present. Besides the chemical composition, Id also like to know the biological composition.

 

I live on the redwood coast, nor-cal, in an even more unique micro-environment called the pygmy forest. Id be suprised if some of the organisms in the new beverage were not unique to this particular environment where Im at now.

 

How would a person get a patent anyway? Anyone know?

[Flolfolil]

i have to beg to differ about the benign effect of the alcohol, i am an extreme lightweight and i get a pretty intense alcohol buzz when i drink one of those "enlightened" kombucha drinks. i used to drink one every morning after doing yoga and i thought i was just getting more relaxed everyday! then i started getting withdrawls when i stopped around that time i got plenty of b vitamins because i ate meat. also i believe lindsay lohan failed a drug test for alcohol and got in trouble because of kombucha. That was before the enlightened brand started putting on their bottle that it contains alcohol, then right after i heard about LL i looked at the bottle and there it was! i had saved an old one and i compared and it was only on the new one

[ion]

is it really that much better? that's cool if it is

 

but a hunch is telling me that you just like it more because of the energy you put into making it, and that it isn't machine bottled and all that. love makes a huge difference in food!

I hear what you are saying at that might be a possability. I feel that way about alot of stuff, but it really seems like the new stuff I have going now has a bit of a more complex body which makes it more of an experience IMO. But then Im wondering if it is the tea that Im using that makes it better.

 

I tried a brand of kombucha called "Revive" that was pretty rank imo, then another brand that came in a can that was called Kombucha the Wonder Tea, or something which wasn't gross like Revive, but lacked the complexity and body that the new stuff has.

 

The yogurt however taste like yogurt, maybe even milder and creamier as far as flavor goes. Its firm and does not spill over if I lay the container on its side, but once you stir in some honey or fruit puree or whatever, it turns more fluid and becomes more of a yogurt drink then a food.

 

The thing about the yogurt though is it really feels like it is doing a better job as far as the benefits of eating yogurt go. Maybe it has more vitality as a culture being that it is wild and new instead of generations old and or laborotory grown. Im thin but in good shape however I often feel bloated and anticipate discomfort when the kids bap into me, but when Im eating the yogurt it really feels like my digestion has improved and I dont get that bloated irritable feeling from being whapped or bapped if Ive had the yogurt within 24 hours prior to the whappings.

 

Id be more likely to send out yogurt cultures at the moment. I could send out half pints of yogurt in the mail safely and that should be enough to make a gallon of yogurt. The only thing is I would need the postage paid or retuurned.

[ion]

i have to beg to differ about the benign effect of the alcohol, i am an extreme lightweight and i get a pretty intense alcohol buzz when i drink one of those "enlightened" kombucha drinks. i used to drink one every morning after doing yoga and i thought i was just getting more relaxed everyday! then i started getting withdrawls when i stopped around that time i got plenty of b vitamins because i ate meat. also i believe lindsay lohan failed a drug test for alcohol and got in trouble because of kombucha. That was before the enlightened brand started putting on their bottle that it contains alcohol, then right after i heard about LL i looked at the bottle and there it was! i had saved an old one and i compared and it was only on the new one

 

 

 

There is lots of stuff in kombucha that could give you a buzzy feeling, just the fact that its cleaning you up and out can give you a clear buzz, it is also caffinated not to mention EVERYthing in it is predigested and thus in a form that your body up-takes it immediately. The caffine and vitamins do not need to be broken down so they go right to the head.

 

It could be the alcohol though. I cant say that it is not, Im definitely NOT a lightweight, but I have spoken with recovering alcoholics who wouldnt touch anything that packed any kind of buzz or the slightest head change and they feel safe with KT.

Edited June 26, 2013 by ion

[ion]

Most beer is about 5 or so % alc. Budweiser and that stuff is lower like 3.5 and a good IPA is around 6 to 7%. Kombucha is generally around 0.5% so the math kinda suggest that KT is much lower then even the wateryest beers.

 

But somepeople get a buzz off of one beer. If you are one of those people then it will take you about 6, 12oz bottles of KT to equal one waterey beer.

[Wu Ming Jen]

Kombucha is a marketable item as well as yogurt. Take your recipes to a food manufacturer and BRAND it with your name of choice. Packaging sells and buzz words on the container. It will cost you money to produce large batches. The first batch is a test batch from start to finish to make sure it all works, this fee you have to eat.

 

Distribute your self at first or find a distributor to carry your product, they make money as well. Kombucha was taken off the market for a short time because of alcohol content and now is labeled properly. The local market is best, capitalize on a locally produced product.

 

The gamble can pay off in the long run as your brand becomes more familiar. market to coops and natural whole food stores where the interest is already there.

 

Some stores do kegs and bottle in house with proper labeling and container.

 

For yogurt go for organic and local ingredients in your recipe this is costly again.

 

If you have a great product you need start up capital it takes money to make money but when you spend 1000.00 and make 1600.00 gross you will start feeding a net profit to cover cost of operating and keep the ball rolling.

 

Some specialized single item food producers use their own kitchen/facility state inspected and up to code,the cost up front is more but the profit margin is higher, no middle man besides distribution

like united foods national and local companies may eat your product right up. Have fun and love it, it is a lot work.

[Flolfolil]

i start buzzing from beer within the first mouthful

[zerostao]

"I've thought about that too, just spreading it around"

i mentioned 'trade around',

if you can produce large volumes, then maybe the bizness thing

all of that is up to you

 

'How would a person get a patent anyway? Anyone know?"

uncle google knows

[ion]

"I've thought about that too, just spreading it around"

i mentioned 'trade around',

if you can produce large volumes, then maybe the bizness thing

all of that is up to you

 

'How would a person get a patent anyway? Anyone know?"

uncle google knows

 

 

I guess I kinda meant how would a person patent it(?), or what would be patented(?). Would it be a patent on the species profile of the SCOBY, or would it be a patent on the drink that pretty much taiste like another drink that doesnt have a patent?

[zerostao]

maybe the google search should look at proprietary blends or formulas

sth like how dr. pepper protects its unique taste/brand

in the example of cho wa, the ingredients are listed but not the amounts of each,

then, someone could research the ideal daily dose of each of those ingredients........

you have the mother scoby of your unique product

so maybe brand/trademark will suffice