The curious greyish orange mass that fuels the fermentation process used in brewing kombucha tea looks like a cross between a flattened jellyfish and a rubbery pancake. Located at the bottom of the brewing jar, it helps create a carbonated, fermented tea that is full of probiotics and live cultures. This amber-hued concoction is growing in popularity in the health food realm for its reservoir of health benefits, and will soon carve its very own niche in Sacramento. Kombucha Kulture, a mobile draft kombucha trailer, should be ready to roll with the rest come the end of August, co-owner Brianne Giatras said. While the original plan was to raise money via Kickstarter to back a brick-and-mor

Two Sacramentans are looking to bring a kombucha bar to the Midtown space that formerly housed Hina’s Tea by the end of July, if they can raise $50,000 via the Internet to launch. The drink, which is carbonated through a fermentation process, contains probiotics and a living culture, co-owner Joseph Melrose said, adding that the probiotics are good bacteria that typically are absent in the average American diet. “It really works to helping with everything from irritable bowel syndrome to bad hair and bad skin,” he said. “People have been drinking it for 2,000 years for its health benefits.” Kombucha Kulture will not brew its own kombucha – a fermented tea drink – but stock about 10 flav

The League of Women Voters of Sacramento County has withdrawn its involvement for a debate organized by supporters of the two pro-boycott candidates running for the Board of Directors of the Sacramento Natural Foods Cooperative. In a letter to the Co-op Board, Lola Acosta, President of the Sacramento League of Women Voters, noted " the League concluded our efforts would duplicate the work of the Sacramento Natural Food Cooperative board of directors. Moreover, we also reviewed a written request from the community group for an additional candidate forum, which we formally rejected. Unfortunately, this group distributed flyers saying that the League had agreed to moderate this additional fo

A proposed amendment to the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op bylaws is being seen by some as a necessary procedure to ensure equality, while others see it as an attempt to take the members’ voice away on certain issues. All 12,000 co-op members will have the chance to vote on the amendment, which must pass with at least a two-thirds majority in the next election cycle, scheduled for late summer or fall, said Board Member and Policy Committee chairwoman Michelle Reynolds. According to Reynolds, the amendment proposed at the June 7 board meeting is a procedural process designed to ensure that the co-op has written anti-discrimination policies in its bylaws after a restructuring of its polici