While this is not included in that section, you will receive a little insight yogurt cultures because, YES you can so easily make your own probiotic yogurt ! 

What is an HEIRLOOM YOGURT? 

Heirloom yogurts are traditional, reusable yogurt starter cultures that have been passed down through generations and generation, cultivating specific strains of bacteria and allowing to turn milk or cream into creamy yogurts. 

What makes them so unique? 

It has been proved that each heirloom culture contains multiple unique bacteria strains, giving a unique flavour and texture to every single one. 

Additionally, as opposed to store bought yogurt, you can use a portion of your finished yogurt batch as a starter for the next batch, indefinitely. 

All in all, these heirloom cultures are prized for their flavour complexity, authenticity, and of course their longevity. Imagine passing on these cultures to your future grandchildren or friends… 

Store bought VS Heirloom Culture yogurt?

You might wonder, why should I make my yogurt when I can just buy it in store? Well, well, here are a few key differences that will help you understand:

1. Bacterial Diversity: The main and most important difference lies in the fact that, heirloom cultures contain multiple strains of bacteria, allowing for unique flavours and textures. But above all, these provide a wider range of probiotics supporting your gut health. On the other hand, you will find only 2 to 3 standardised bacterial strains in the store bought yogurts, mainly to ensure consistency.
   
   
2. Reusability: A very obvious difference is that the heirloom cultures can be used indefinitely, reducing costs over time, whereas store bought yogurt are not designed for long-term reuse.
   
   
3. Flavor & Texture: While the preferred consistency and taste is pretty subjective, we can say that store bought often has a more standardised and predictable consistency and taste, compared to the more complex and diverse one fo heirloom cultures.
   
   
4. Additives and Processing: As you may know, today most shelve products contain additives, such as extra sugars, thickeners, stabilisers or flavourings. In other words, you end up consuming many unnecessary and sometimes harmful substances, with only few bacteria strains. Making your own yogurt assures you pure cultures without any additives but a lot of living bacterias. 
   

Here a quick dip into some heirloom cultures that we use at the Edible Alchemy Lab, as an example: 

Matsoni: A traditional heirloom yogurt culture originating from the Caucasus region, mainly from Georgia and Armenia. This one is known for its creamy and smooth consistency with a mildly tangy taste. This one is actually used a lot for smoothies, salad dressings or eaten plain making it super versatile.

Probiotic content** Matsoni contains Lactobacillus delbrueckii, bulgaricus & streptococcus thermophiles along with other unique strains. 

Onaka: Onaka originates from Japan and translates to “stomach” reflecting its focus on the digestive health. Indeed, it contains specific strains of bacteria designed to promote gut health, improving digestion and boosting our immune system. It also has a quite mild and almost sweet taste with a creamy and silky texture.

There you go ! By now you should have a better understanding of what this heirloom yogurt cultures are and how precious they are in their authenticity, complexity and health benefits. 

Maybe there are some specific to your region/country. Feel free to share your findings with us, we are always curious to discover new unique cultures ! 
Oh and if you wanna get started yourself with one of the above cultures, check out our online shop with which you'll also get detailed instructions on how to go about it :)