Calculating (homemade) kombucha calories?

summpear
summpear Posts: 77 Member
edited November 2024 in Food and Nutrition
Has anyone brewed kombucha and calculated the calories for it? I'm just curious how you did it since home fermentation is still very new and overwhelming to me.

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    summpear wrote: »
    Has anyone brewed kombucha and calculated the calories for it? I'm just curious how you did it since home fermentation is still very new and overwhelming to me.

    I would go by the store bought brand and call it good.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,117 Member
    I've never made kombucha. Is there some reason for thinking that the calories in the final product is different from the calories of the ingredients you put in? The ones I've bought don't look like anything has been filtered out. Is the fermenting process open air, and you're worried about calories from wild yeast?
  • summpear
    summpear Posts: 77 Member
    The fermentation process eats at least some of the sugar, so theoretically kombucha isn't just a sum of it's parts.

    It isn't a big deal, but i was curious if others had tried it.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,117 Member
    summpear wrote: »
    The fermentation process eats at least some of the sugar, so theoretically kombucha isn't just a sum of it's parts.

    It isn't a big deal, but i was curious if others had tried it.

    Well, yeast eats some of the sugar when I make bread, but I don't worry about that. Doesn't most of the energy go into reproduction, and you end up consuming the yeast and bacteria that are responsible for the fermentation anyway? I mean, to what extent is it not a closed system?
  • flowerhorsey
    flowerhorsey Posts: 154 Member
    I just copy a boughten brands nutrition as long as it tastes similar..
  • ponycyndi
    ponycyndi Posts: 858 Member
    I make my own, and just use the nutrition info from a popular brand. I don't drink much, only 1/2 cup at a time, and most unflavored kombucha is low in calories anyway.
  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    summpear wrote: »
    The fermentation process eats at least some of the sugar, so theoretically kombucha isn't just a sum of it's parts.

    It isn't a big deal, but i was curious if others had tried it.

    Well, yeast eats some of the sugar when I make bread, but I don't worry about that. Doesn't most of the energy go into reproduction, and you end up consuming the yeast and bacteria that are responsible for the fermentation anyway? I mean, to what extent is it not a closed system?

    Some portion of the sugars used by the yeast are released as CO2, both in bread and in kombucha making. That would reduce the calories by a bit, since the sugars are already broken down.

    I believe there is some filtration of solids in the kombucha making process as well, which would remove some of the calories of the ingredients that went in originally.

    I'd go with using a similar commercial product as well, it seems close enough without trying to figure out the difference from to batch to batch

  • summpear
    summpear Posts: 77 Member
    It is fun to hear other people making it. My first batch has been mediocre - I have a lot to play around with to get an end product i really like.

    Thanks for your input!
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