Why is the kombucha tea starter culture known by so many names (i.e. mushroom, mother, scoby, etc.)?
A. Kombucha tea is a very old beverage and over time a number of names have been assigned to the culture. The term kombucha mushroom likely refers to the appearance of the culture–flat round white-grayish disk shaped–as a kombucha culture is not actually a mushroom. The term mother is a more appropriate term as kombucha is fermented in a manner similar to making vinegar where the cultures are also known as mothers. Finally, the term SCOBY is an acronym for Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast (making scoby perhaps the most accurate term).
