Difference Between Kombucha and Kefir (With Table)

Kombucha is a refreshing, fizzy, and sour beverage. It’s produced with room-temperature fermented tea. A kombucha SCOBY is required to brew kombucha (mother). This mother floats in fermented tea, shaped like a beige gelatinous film. A colony of microorganisms feeds on the sweet tea in the mother and this liquid. It takes roughly 5 to 10 days for the yeast and bacteria in the SCOBY to ferment the tea into kombucha.

Kefir is a drink that is prepared with the help of fermented milk that is prepared through culturing it and fermenting it. The process of fermentation for the drink lasts up to 24 hours to 48 hours while it is cultured through the help of live kefir grain culture. Despite this milk kefir drink, many other flavored kefir drinks can be prepared with fruits and other ingredients. 

Comparison Table Between Kombucha and Kefir

What is Kombucha?

Kombucha is a fermented tea with a sweet and sour taste created with bacteria and yeast. In actuality, this is a fermented beverage. Kombucha’s origins can be traced back to China. From China, it migrated to Japan and Russia. Across the early twentieth century, kombucha gained popularity in Europe.

Kombucha is made by fermenting sweetened tea with a mixture of beneficial bacteria and yeast (SCOBY – “symbiotic ‘colony’ of bacteria and yeast”). The mixture is then left to rest for 7 to 21 days. This fermentation process is comparable to how yogurt is made from milk or kimchi is made from cabbage.

Kombucha has a sour flavor that reminds me of a sour sparkling apple cider. Because kombucha is made using tea, it is a high-caffeine beverage. Kombucha has numerous health benefits, including detoxification, digestion aid, and energy increase. Kombucha is a digestive aid that is high in B vitamins and probiotic bacteria.

What is Kefir?

Kefir is a sour milk drink made from fermented milk. It’s a yogurt-like beverage with a buttermilk flavor. Kefir is made by combining milk (from cows, goats, sheep, or camels) with a live culture of kefir grains, which is a symbiotic culture of yeasts and bacteria. After allowing the milk to ferment for 24–48 hours, the kefir grains are removed by straining it through a sieve. Fruits and sweeteners can be added to the kefir before it is consumed.

Kefir has a wide variety of microorganisms and can help with digestion. It also aids in the enhancement of your immune system. Kefir also contains a lot of lactic acid bacteria.

There is also water kefir, which is a form of kefir. It contains fermented coconut water, which is a non-dairy drink. Water kefir has a sweeter and more refreshing flavor than milk kefir.

Main Differences Between Kombucha and Kefir

1. Kombucha, in general, can be defined as the type of drink that has a flavor of sour and sweet and is prepared with the help of yeast and bacteria, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, Kefir is defined as the drink made up of fermented milk and has a flavor of sourness.
2. The major ingredient required to prepare Kombucha is tea, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the major ingredient for preparing Kefir is fermented milk.
3. The procedure of fermentation to prepare the drink Kombucha lasts up to 7 to 8 days in general, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the procedure to ferment the milk used to prepare Kefir lasts up to 24 hours to 48 hours is 1 to 2 days.
4. The culture used to prepare Kombucha is the special ingredient that is SCOBY (mixture or symbiotic preparation of the yeast and bacteria), whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the culture used to prepare Kefir is the live kefir grain culture.
5. The flavor of the Kombucha drink is a bit more sweetness with tartness, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the flavor of the Kefir drink is more like milkiness with a sweet flavor of tanginess.
6. As Kombucha drink is made with the help of tea thus, it contains a certain amount of caffeine in it, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, kefir drink does not contain any amount of caffeine in it.
7. In Kombucha drink, the amount of lactic acid is very minimal, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the Kefir drink contains and is a rich source of lactic acid.
8. The amount of calcium present in the Kombucha drink is less, whereas comparatively, on the other hand, the amount of calcium present in the Kefir is much more because of the fermented milk preparation.

Conclusion

To summarize the above topic, this can be concluded that both Kombucha and Kefir are fermented beverages with a variety of health claims. Even though both drinks are fermented foods, they differ in terms of manufacture, nutrition, flavor, and texture.

Kombucha has a thinner consistency due to the use of black or green tea. Many people are familiar with kombucha because of the slimy living culture that generally settles to the bottom of the bottle.

Kombucha has a vinegar-like fragrance to it at first. It has a bitter taste and is typically carbonated and effervescent due to the carbon dioxide molecules produced by the acetic acid and other gases released during the fermentation process.

Fruit, mint, and a variety of spices, such as turmeric and ginger, are just a few of the tastes available in kombucha.

Traditional kefir, on the other hand, is made from milk and has a creamy texture. Kefir is also known as drinkable yogurt. It has a sour flavor, and how sweet it is dependent on how much sugar is added. Kefir comes in a variety of tastes, most of which are fruit-based, vanilla-based, or plain.

References

1. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12010-008-8361-6
2. https://journals.bcit.ca/index.php/ehj/article/view/21
3. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40064-015-0872-3
4. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10068-015-0015-1