buchi.

i discovered buchi, a new brand of kombucha at whole foods over the weekend, and boy was i excited.

i've talked about kombucha before: it's a medicinal drink that i'm obsessed with. once upon a time i drank synergy brand, until a completely overblown and ridiculous controversy took it off shelves, culminating in a new formula that tastes flat.

i also shared with you about the local brewer who makes booch, a very refreshing and rejuvenating version of this age-old fermented asian tea. but the cost was prohibitive, and i've kind of gone off the kombucha bandwagon.

well, i'm back on it, after finding, completely serendipitously, that whole foods actually has buchi on tap, so i asked to try a sample and was blown away.

the two flavors they offer are "air" and "fire." i liked "air" so much, i decided to buy a gallon of it.

it's a mix of echinacea, pineapple, herbs and mint. it has a fizz to it, and a slight burn going down, which i love. it tastes like a tonic, but it's refreshing too.

for me, it produces the effect of feeling relaxed and uplifted at the same time. very zen.

and no, even though it's fermented, and in a "hooch"-like jar, it's not an alcoholic beverage.

just sayin.

happy monday! be watching for my review of sunday brunch at the recently opened west end cafe later this week.

UPDATE: my friend young jenny just tried it and said it tastes and smells like nail polish remover. clearly, it's not for everybody.