[Coda]

No, "konbu" is the Japanese word for "kelp," and "konbucha" in Japan refers to a different drink made with powdered kelp. The name was probably confused by English-speaking drinkers who didn't know what was in the tea and thought that the film resembled the gel that forms when you boil seaweed. (The Japanese themselves call it "koucha-kinoko," or "black tea mushroom," referring to the fungus that ferments the tea.)

I'm not a big fan of kombucha myself. I can drink it a little bit at a time but the flavor stops being appealing to me after a while, so I've never finished a bottle.