also: こうちゃきのこ
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).
Recently, I started drinking kombucha for my health.
Kombucha is a type of fermented beverage.
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.
Most common spelling; uses katakana for キノコ to distinguish from actual mushrooms.
Hiragana variant of the same spelling.
Kanji for きのこ, but less common and may be confused with actual mushrooms.
Uses the kanji for 'bacteria/fungus', emphasizing the microbial aspect.
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.