Blog Review: Bärbucha Kombucha, Berlin, Germany

In the brief time Booch News has been around, we’ve found over 40 blogs about Kombucha. These are in the blogroll sidebar. Of course not all Kombucha companies publish a blog (including the category leader, GT’s). Those that do, however, offer a valuable library of information about their own brands, the history and health benefits of the drink, and much more.

[spacer height=”20px”]

This is the first of our ‘Booch Blog Reviews’. We’re starting at the top of the blogroll – listing blogs in alphabetical order. The only rule for a blog to be on the list is that it must have published something in the past 12 months and be in English.

[spacer height=”20px”]

If you know of other blogs, please send us an email and we’ll include them on the list.

[spacer height=”20px”]

First up, from Berlin, Germany: Bärbucha Kombucha.

[spacer height=”20px”]

Blogging since: October 21, 2017
Last Updated: October 30, 2018
Posting Frequency: 2-3 times a month
Post Length: 500-1,000 words
Aesthetic Appeal: Beautifully designed Wix blog that makes extensive use of pictures in every post.
Graphics: Colorful and appealing
Sample Tags: Café Bärbucha, Cannabis Kombucha, Cascara, Classic Kombucha, Dragon Well Tea, Ginger Bärbucha Kombucha, Hibiscus Bärbucha Kombucha, Kombucha & Jun in Europe
Comments allowed: Yes
Alexa.com global traffic ranking: 12,884,795

[spacer height=”20px”]

The authors write:

[spacer height=”20px”]

The reason that I started this blog is to give a bit more information about the different types Kombucha from our Premium line (and we currently have over 10 of these). And that will include details on how we make them & what ingredients play a major role in them.

Most of the 20+ postings do just this: explaining the many unique and unusual flavors of their Premium and Classic lines of Kombucha. These include flavors such as Lung Ching; Osmanthus (Gui Hua); Guayusa; Cascara; Schisandra; Jiaogulan; Ivan Chai.

[spacer height=”20px”]

Examples

 

Ivan Chai Bärbucha Kombucha

As a tea, Ivan Chai (Fireweed) was & still very popular in Russia & in the 19th century it was considered the tastiest tea throughout Europe. Because of that, it became Russia’s no. 2 export up to the Bolshevik revolution. And it is not only the taste that makes this particular herb exceptional.

Osmanthus Gui Hua Bärbucha Kombucha

Osmanthus Gui Hua, or in other words – a Chinese green tea mixed in with very fragrant Osmanthus flowers (an evergreen tea native to China & belonging to Oleace family). And what makes it one of our favorites? Definitely the flavor. Osmanthus flowers have a delicate fruity-floral apricot aroma & when mixed with tea, they make that tea stand out.

Elderflower Jun

This particular, magical time of the year (end of May) calls for yet another one of our seasonal brews. This time Elderflowers take the spotlight in our cold-brewed Elderflower (Holunder) Jun Bärbucha.

In addition to describing the taste of each flavor, Bärbucha often share fascinating details about each of the teas and herbs they use and their health benefits:

[spacer height=”20px”]

Elderflower is used for swollen sinuses (sinusitis), colds, influenza (flu), swine flu, bronchitis, diabetes, and constipation. It is also used to increase urine production (as a diuretic), to increase sweating (as a diaphoretic), and to stop bleeding.

Funny & Opinionated

The writing is informative, sometimes quite funny (especially for Germans!) such as when they describe the experience of drinking their Hempbucha

[spacer height=”20px”]

So to make it sound simpler –  our Hempbucha tastes a bit like someone would smoke a joint in your presence, but in a nice way. And the reason for that is that fermentation changes the trace elements of THC in the acid form to that of when that compound is smoked. Since we are the first brewery that offers Kombucha out of hemp in the continental Europe, make an effort & visit our Kombucha Cafe in Berlin – Café Bärbucha, because you won’t find it anywhere else for now.

They’re also quite opinionated and not afraid of stating what works for them. When they discuss using flavored tea in their Orange Tea variety — they go against the advice Hannah Crum offers in Chapter 4 of The Big Book of Kombucha:

[spacer height=”20px”]

Which brings us to the common myth of not using flavored teas or teas that have essential oils in them to make Kombucha, as they would supposedly harm the cultures.

However, they’re firmly in the same camp Health-Ade Kombucha founder Daina Trout who makes a virtue out of brewing in glass vessels. Ms. Trout claims Health-Ade is “one of the only commercial breweries that ferments in glass”.  Bärbucha are in violent agreement with this approach

[spacer height=”20px”]

We do everything in glass. From storage through fermentation to bottling & enjoying. This is our motto & our philosophy…Glass is neutral, which is also good & glass is easy for sanitation. But glass limits the amount that you can brew in it, as glass jars come only in certain sizes. And they are comparatively small. We use 10 L ones & we love them. Right at this point of time when we do small series of many “flavors”, those jars work great for us.

Overall

This is a blog that integrates well into their main website. It gives detailed background information on each flavor they brew. The high quality images they use carry over into their Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram social media accounts.

[spacer height=”20px”]

As with all blogs, it’s difficult to gather any comments. However, they run a Kombucha Cafe in Berlin, and have a respectable number of social media followers. Their Instagram has plenty of interaction. So I’m guessing they get plenty of feedback directly from customers without needing to rely on comments in their blog.