Kombucha is tea that ferments kind of like vinegar does; it has lots of live probiotic cultures, plus lactic acid and acetic acid and a couple other things, that give it a strong taste and make it hard to chug. It has a small amount of caffeine in it, but nowhere even close to what an energy drink has. It may help with satiety; I also had a friend who used it to help overcome a dependency on alcohol.
Many store-bought brands have a considerable amount of sugar in them, plus they're kinda pricey. If you brew it yourself, you can control the tea/caffeine strength, as well as the sweetness and tartness (as time goes on, the sugar in the batch turns into acids and carbon dioxide), and eventually you can even mix other stuff like green tea, white tea, herbal teas, or other flavorings in with it.
All it takes to make your own is a couple black tea bags, a little vinegar, some sugar, a large enough jar, some starter, and a bit of patience. You brew the tea, you sweeten it to southern sweet tea levels, you drop its pH below 4, and then you wait. In 8-12 days, the sweetness should diminish to only a faint level.
I recommend at least a quart-size jar to brew it in. If you're interested, I can mail you a starter, I need to start my next big batch anyway.
You can try water kefir too. Made in a similar way but doesn't have the vinegar taste. Its pretty good and you can make it with whatever flavor you like.
To echo what @ennemi@hexbear.net and @plinky@hexbear.net have said, try making your own kombucha!
Kombucha is tea that ferments kind of like vinegar does; it has lots of live probiotic cultures, plus lactic acid and acetic acid and a couple other things, that give it a strong taste and make it hard to chug. It has a small amount of caffeine in it, but nowhere even close to what an energy drink has. It may help with satiety; I also had a friend who used it to help overcome a dependency on alcohol.
Many store-bought brands have a considerable amount of sugar in them, plus they're kinda pricey. If you brew it yourself, you can control the tea/caffeine strength, as well as the sweetness and tartness (as time goes on, the sugar in the batch turns into acids and carbon dioxide), and eventually you can even mix other stuff like green tea, white tea, herbal teas, or other flavorings in with it.
All it takes to make your own is a couple black tea bags, a little vinegar, some sugar, a large enough jar, some starter, and a bit of patience. You brew the tea, you sweeten it to southern sweet tea levels, you drop its pH below 4, and then you wait. In 8-12 days, the sweetness should diminish to only a faint level.
I recommend at least a quart-size jar to brew it in. If you're interested, I can mail you a starter, I need to start my next big batch anyway.
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You can try water kefir too. Made in a similar way but doesn't have the vinegar taste. Its pretty good and you can make it with whatever flavor you like.