what does kombucha have that sour kraut and kefir don’t have.
also, how do you minimize the sugar in kombucha? (maybe it should be seeded with honey instead of sugar?)
“how do you minimize the sugar in kombucha?”
It’s my understanding that the sugar is provided for the microbes to feed on, and little is left in the finished product; labeling laws require them to list it as an ingredient.
Fermented foods each have their own set of probiotics, so it’s not that you are getting the same thing in a different form.
Additionally, home ferments will also have slightly different ones, and they will change over the course of fermenting.
You do not want to replace sugar with honey ever while fermenting because honey has antibiotic capacity and so disrupts the process. Ok to add just before eating, tho.
Forgot to add, the sugar is eaten up in the process of fermenting so the longer you let it sit, the less sugar until it becomes a type of vinegar. That is in the yes of ferments that use sugar.