Kombucha

My dancer friend and I were sitting at a table at Les P'tites Indécices on rue Jean Timbaud, when our newest expat friend arrived, bursting with energy. She had just finished a very busy day and was equal amounts exhausted and energetic - if that makes any sense.

We skipped the bises since it was just us Ricaines, and jumped right into the how are yous and what have you been up tos and what should we eat ohmygoshI'mstarving!

Then, in response to her day of crazy, our friend said, "Today I just really needed some Kombucha! Where can I get some in Paris???"

Back it up. Some Kom-whatta?? 

Dancer friend and I squinted at each other - ummm.... huh?

And that's when I learned about the wonderful world of Kombucha and told myself that I absolutely had to try some when I went back to the states for Thanksgiving.

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A few days after Turkey day, I find myself sitting around a table of college friends in Long Beach, drinking wine and talking about life, when I bring up the story of the Kombucha.

"That's so five years ago", one of them says. "You mean, you've never tried it?"

I reminded them that I had been out of the country for the past 8 years, which I guess is equivalent to having lived under a rock, and that no, I had no idea what the heck this strange drink was.

They gave me the low down on where to buy it, what flavors were do-able and which tasted like apple-cider vinegar, and also informed me that I could now buy it with chia seeds. Oooo-kay.

hmm. I was getting quite a Kombucha education.

On my way back to my parents' house, I stopped in at Whole foods and narrowed it down to two flavors out of about 40, one with chia seeds and one without, and proceeded to drink waaaay too much Kombucha for one person in one sitting. Oh tummy. No bueno. Fortunately for me, they have bathrooms at Kohls. And every other American shopping center for that matter. 

Then I made my mom try it (in moderation this time) when we went shopping the very next day.  I may have been turning into a Kombucha convert...

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Back in Paris, on my way back home from work, I made a quick stop at my local Naturalia to stock up on my corn and quinoa flours. And because I strangely like to peruse the organic food store aisles for fun, I checked out the juice section... and what did I see??? 

Kombucha!!

I immediately emailed my new expat friend - obviously.  I felt like I had hit the Kombucha jack pot for her until I realized that this couldn't be the real deal because it wasn't refrigerated. Booo.

Mild deception.

But France has pulled through people! We may have only just come out with coconut water (now available at Monop' and organic food stores!), but dagnabit, we have Kombucha - the real, refrigerated kind, found in the Naturalia cold drinks section... check this out:

Of course I bought one to try - unfortunately, it wasn't as flavorful as the Americana versions - but I'm assuming that means it's probably better for you. Less added stuff for flavor and all that jazz. (That's just a guess, but I find that lots of American products have a high sugar content, or at least flavor, most of the time. Example: yogurts).

So there you have it. France is up on the Kombucha curve and I'm sure chia seeds will get here in about 5 to 10 more years. Right about the same time as public restrooms in shopping centers. 

You can't push the Frenchies too hard in the new generation direction - petit à petit. petit à petit.

Update - Just saw that mamapundit is talking about Kombucha too!