What is a Kombucha Mushroom?
The Kombucha Mushroom is not a true mushroom but a tea pseudo lichen. It is primarily a fibrous cellulose spongy membrane that is formed by the various Kombucha bacteria and yeast cells that live in the liquid sugary tea. It is primarily grown to act as an evaporation cap to keep the tea from evaporating and also to prevent other microorganisms from getting to the sugary tea. It has no sex, and produces no seeds or spores for the purpose of reproduction but within the cells of the membrane exists the same bacteria and yeasts cells that exist within the tea. When your transfer a newly formed mushroom to a new batch of tea you then introduce these bacteria and yeasts to the new tea which quickly colonize it, cause the tea to ferment, and grow a new membrane on the surface.
