Perhaps it is appropriate that we do not know for sure what were the true origins of Kombucha. We know for sure that Kombucha has been around for centuries, probably a few milleniums. Kombucha is purported to have been invented in the Qin Dynast, around 220 BC. Ch (茶) is the Chinese word for tea. Kombu+cha = Kombucha. Sometimes the story is told instead in 415 AD in Japan, where a Korean man, Dr. Kombu, uses his "Cha" (Ch (茶) is the Chinese word for tea) in the treatment of Emperer Ingyo. Kombu+cha = Kombucha. While this explanation for Kombucha's name has always seemed a little too convenient, the evidence of links to ancient China is compelling. The Chinese are famed for their quest for all manner of longevity elixirs. From Kombucha to Chinese medicine, the Chinese have always looked to nature to cure what ails them.

In China, Kombucha has been called "Sea Treasure" (海寶), "Stomach Treasure" (胃寶) and "Sea Mushroom"(海蘑菇). My favorite Kombucha origin story begins in the Bohai Sea District thousands of years ago. As the legend goes, there was one family in Bohai that owned a grocery and sundries shop. There was a shop assistant rinsed out a honey jar into an earthen crock that used to have wine in it. After a few days, the shop was suddenly filled with a strange waft of a sweet and sour fragrance. People were exceedingly curious but couldn't find the source of the smell.

After a few more days, the shopkeeper ordered his assistant to sell the wine. When the assistant opened the cover of the wine jar, he immediately cried out in alarm, "The sweet-sour flavor is coming from here." Everyone rushed over to have a look, in the earthen crock there was a thick layer of milky white sticky film sealing the mouth of the vessel. Upon smelling that fragrance and seeing that film, everyone praised the curiosity saying the earthen jar had given birth to a treasure.

At that time it had just been the hottest 30 day period of the year, and the thirsty assistant couldn't resist the clear sweet-tart fragrance. He grabbed the dipper and in one gulp drank the whole spoonful, wiped his mouth, not even letting a single drop fall as every on-looker greedily salivated. Every person in the place had half a dipperful of the delicious, sweet-tart liquid。 The shop assistant tried to remember what he'd put in the jar - honey, and water and then he'd let it steep.

From that moment on, he used the same technique to make another batch of "vinegar." The shopkeeper not only made money but drank not only the juice of the vinegar but also the culture prepared cold with dressing (涼拌)and became a local celebrity known as the "Long Life Expert." After he died at the ripe old age of more than 70 years old, his mysterious treasure was shared with the world and made public. From that time on, it has been handed down for all to use.

Perhaps, this is what has been called the origins of the "Sea Treasure". Still to this day families in the Bohai district use this ancient technique to ferment their own "vinegar" using their white "vinegar moth" (醋蛾子)(meaning SCOBY).