What Is Kombucha?

Kombucha has been called a health elixir, the tea of immortality, and a nectar of the gods. We just call it our favorite thing to drink. For some people it’s a way of life, for others it’s a tasty and healthy treat, but just what is kombucha?

Fizzy, bright, and noted for its helpful probiotics, kombucha is a lightly-effervescent drink made by combining sweet tea with bacteria and yeast. The result is a sometimes sweet, sometimes tangy beverage that is typically served cold. Fermented drinks like Humm Kombucha are high in vitamin B and good bacteria and help contribute to digestive health.

Kombucha helps keep your body in balance — and a body in balance feels better! While many people still enjoy crafting home-brewed kombucha, most grocery stores now stock a wide and wild assortment of delicious and innovative Humm Kombucha flavors.

The Origin of Kombucha

Kombucha is an ancient beverage, long treasured in China and Japan for its restorative properties. Homebrewers have produced kombucha in the US for decades, and today breweries of all sizes are thriving and creating kombuchas with a wide variety of flavors and attributes.

There’s no way of knowing who brewed the first batch of kombucha, but a popular theory holds that it was first imbibed during the reign of Qin Shi Huang (he ruled from 220 to 210 BCE), the first emperor of a united China. The beverage was known as the Tea of Immortality.

Even the etymology of the term kombucha is lost to history (and the drink has more than 80 names around the world today). One history of kombucha maintains that a Korean doctor named Kombu (with “cha” being the word for tea in much of Asia) brought it to Japan’s Emperor Ingyō in 414 CE. Kombucha purportedly became popular with samurai, who carried it into battle for the energy boost it provided.

What Makes Humm Different?

Just because kombucha is good for you doesn’t mean it has to taste like it! We make our kombucha to be enjoyed by everyone, and we strive to make it available everywhere. That means working diligently to create exceptional, unusual flavors with a wide appeal. At Humm, we believe in love at first sip. We're passionate about helping kombucha skeptics become kombucha lovers, one bubble at a time.

Unlike other kombucha brewers, Humm didn’t start off marketing to health food stores. Jamie and Michelle believed everyone should have the option to try this healthy, delicious beverage, so they marketed to supermarkets and gas stations where kombucha wasn’t typically found. Today, in part because of their efforts, you’ll find kombucha all over the place.

Humm continues to experiment with new flavors and search for new markets while nurturing our company’s core values of Optimism, Healthy Business, Partnership and Quality.

HUMM BEGAN AS A CONVERSATION AT A KITCHEN TABLE IN BEND, OREGON

In 2008, founders Michelle and Jamie were chatting, laughing and drinking Michelle’s homebrewed kombucha – a recipe she’d learned from her mother-in-law and spent years perfecting. Jamie took her first sip and the next words out of her mouth were, “This is amazing!” The homebrew was unbelievably delicious, and the probiotics and vitamin B12, made them feel exuberant.

IT’S ABOUT PUTTING IN THE WORK

Michelle and Jamie started brewing in Michelle's kitchen and named their company Kombucha Mama. They delivered gallon glass jars of kombucha door-to-door (modern day milkman style) in a Toyota Prius where customers would leave an empty gallon jug on the doorstep with $20 under the mat. As much kombucha as they produced, people wanted more. So, they moved into a tiny brewing facility and hired a small and dedicated staff.

OUR KEY TO SUCCESS? ONLY MAKE BOOCH YOU WANT TO DRINK

What separates Humm from other kombuchas is the taste. Just because kombucha is good for you doesn’t mean it has to taste like it. We make our kombucha to be enjoyed by everyone, in a variety of absurdly tasty flavors, and we strive to make it available everywhere.