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

Tea time again! I recently received this chock-full-of-info response to my article (Tea and Raw Food: Legal?) from Suzette Hammond, head of Training and Education for Rishi Tea--thank you, Suzette!! I thought I'd share it here (with the permission of the author, of course). Ms. Hammond's  response follows in its entirety, cheerio! Hi there, I’m not a raw foods follower, but I did want to offer some helpful information on the topic of tea itself. I work for Rishi Tea, as the head of Training and Education. I’ve also taught extensively with the Specialty Tea Institute (a branch of the U.S. Tea Association), the World Tea Expo and regional tea festivals in the United States. So, I really lov

Recently I’ve come to love tea! Hot tea. Tea that is probably heated above 115/118 degrees, which means it's not a raw food, technically...Oooohhhhh.... When I started drinking tea, at first it felt quite odd consuming something hot, but now I’m loving it! Although there are many health benefits associated with various teas, it's more of a comfort thing for me, and just kind of, well, nice. I’m anticipating especially appreciating it when the weather chills towards fall. I don’t typically consume caffeine as it causes me to feel like I just did a line of coke (FYI: no idea what that feels like, actually). So my tea comes decaffeinated (while decaf tea still contains a very small amount of

"What do you juice?" I'm frequently asked this question, and here's my very easy answer: generally, I juice whatever I find in my fridge! I like to keep it stress-free and simple. That being said, I do shop weekly for juicing items, so I’ve usually got good stuff on hand--although ingredients depend a lot on what's in season, on sale, and what caught my eye while shopping. Really though, I'll throw pretty much anything green into that juicer! Variety is good--nutritionally and taste-wise, and as often as possible, my juicing items are local and organic. I stick to "meatier" veggies, as my particular juicer has a tougher time with "frilly," soft-leafy items. Other than that, I'm not too pi

One of my very favorite raw vegan snacks of all time? That's right, pesto on toast!! You won't believe how good this is, or how lightly crispy and "toasty" this is! Here's what you'll need (ingredient amounts are estimates--it's not an exact science here): Equipment 1. Dehydrator (or oven on low setting) 2. Food Processor with "S" blade or Blender Aaand... here we go! Toast~ 1 eggplant 1/3 cup or so Bragg's Liquid Aminos (can be found near the soy sauce in natural foods sections) 1/4 cup or more nutritional yeast (good source of B12 if fortified--I use Braggs as it's gluten-free, but if that's not your issue, buy in bulk at natural foods store--much cheaper)  a generous shake or

People ask me all the time: "How do you eat raw vegan? It seems way too hard!" But you know what I think is really hard? NOT eating raw vegan! Today alone, I 1) listened to NPR's story on palm oil, and how that's causing environmental destruction, 2) signed a petition against the use of BPAs in Progresso's soup cans, and 3) yapped with a friend about GMOs. And that's only the tip of the (rapidly melting) iceberg! What about all the uproar around high fructose corn syrup, "bad fats," antibiotic use in farm animals, leaching of toxic chemicals into foods and beverages, diseases of the fork (diabetes, heart disease etc.), fish-farming nightmares (I call them "fissues"--badaboom) and factory f

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 Kings huddled with excitement before game 41. Check out my raw footage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgir1JNcFDw    

My name is Aaron Myers, I am the Sacramento area director of an arts organization called RAW:natural born artists. RAW showcases emerging/underground artists in film, fashion, music, art performing art, hair, makeup, photography and performing art. We do this on a local level through monthly multi-faceted arts showcases that showcase all of these forms of art together in one event. I'm writing to introduce myself and RAW to you! RAW is based in Southern California, but we currently operate in 6 cities across California and are launching in Sacramento for the first time in February! We are launching nationwide to an additional 21 cities as well. We'll be hosting our monthly showcases a