紅こう茶ちゃキノコ

also: こうちゃきのこ

Meanings

noun

kombucha

A fermented tea drink originally from northern China, made by fermenting sweetened tea with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY). Not related to 昆布茶 (kelp tea).

最さい近きん、健けん康こうのために紅こう茶ちゃキノコを飲のみ始はじめた。
Recently, I started drinking kombucha for my health.
紅こう茶ちゃキノコは発はっ酵こう飲いん料りょうの一いっ種しゅです。
Kombucha is a type of fermented beverage.

Written forms

紅こう茶ちゃキノコ
Most common spelling; uses katakana for キノコ to distinguish from actual mushrooms.
紅こう茶ちゃきのこ
Hiragana variant of the same spelling.
紅こう茶ちゃ茸きのこ
Kanji for きのこ, but less common and may be confused with actual mushrooms.
紅茶菌こうちゃきのこ
Uses the kanji for 'bacteria/fungus', emphasizing the microbial aspect.
こうちゃきのこ

Kanji

紅crimson, deep red
茶tea
茸mushroom
菌germ, fungus, bacteria

Similar words

昆こ布ぶ茶ちゃ
昆布茶 is a Japanese kelp tea, completely different from 紅茶キノコ (kombucha). Despite the similar name, they are unrelated beverages.

Etymology

The Japanese name 紅茶キノコ literally means 'black tea mushroom', referring to the gelatinous SCOBY that resembles a mushroom. The word 'kombucha' is borrowed from Japanese, but in English it refers to this fermented tea, not kelp tea.