• Home
  • Attend
  • Corporate
  • About
  • Shop
    • Kombucha Flavoring
    • Kombucha Pin
    • Kombucha Art Prints
    • Kombucha Brewing Starter Kit
  • Kombucha Brewing FAQ
    • SCOBY FAQ >
      • Healthy SCOBY Gallery
    • Brewing Vessel FAQ
    • Tea, Sugar and Starter Tea FAQ
    • Primary Fermenation FAQ
    • Secondary Fermentation FAQ
    • Misc FAQ
  • Blog
  • Press
  • Illustrations
  • Praise
  • Contact
KOMBUCHA TO THE PEOPLE
  • Home
  • Attend
  • Corporate
  • About
  • Shop
    • Kombucha Flavoring
    • Kombucha Pin
    • Kombucha Art Prints
    • Kombucha Brewing Starter Kit
  • Kombucha Brewing FAQ
    • SCOBY FAQ >
      • Healthy SCOBY Gallery
    • Brewing Vessel FAQ
    • Tea, Sugar and Starter Tea FAQ
    • Primary Fermenation FAQ
    • Secondary Fermentation FAQ
    • Misc FAQ
  • Blog
  • Press
  • Illustrations
  • Praise
  • Contact

Kombucha shopping guide

10/31/2019

1 Comment

 

A kombucha lover’s guide to choosing the best kombucha. 

​As a kombucha brewer, I am still no stranger to picking up a bottle of booch at the grocery store. I love trying new flavor combinations and I often get inspired for my own secondary fermentation where I add my fun flavors. 

Kombucha’s growing popularity means that there are SO MANY brands and flavors to choose from and it seems like new ones are popping up each month. Not all store bought booch is created equal, so it's important to be an educated consumer and pick the best booch wherever you live!
woman shopping for kombucha in grocery store in front of wall of kombucha bottles
Read the label. The first step in being a better booch buyer is to read the ingredients. The nutrition label on the back is where you will find all the ingredients and catch if a kombucha company is hiding anything in their brew.

Carbonated water is a cop out. Part of the tradition and magic of the kombucha brewing process is creating carbonation! I am not saying that if your booch has “carbonated water” in the ingredients that it is cheating but…. I am.
cup of carbonated water

glass bottles for kombucha on bar
Prefer glass over aluminum and plastic. Kombucha is acidic by nature, which means that it can chemically react with the vessels. Glass is a nonreactive material, whereas plastic is prone to breaking down and metals can leach into your booch from the cans. Long-term consumption of booch that has micro amounts of plastics and heavy metals can contribute to chronic health conditions down the line. When in doubt choose glass!

Choose whole food flavoring over “natural flavors.” I like to see fruit, tea and herbs to flavor my store bought kombucha. Natural flavors are vague ingredients that can be made of many different foods, but also can be synthesized in laboratories. The FDA doesn’t require companies to list what is in their natural flavoring unless it includes a common allergen. In my opinion if you have nothing to hide, then just list your ingredients. 
blueberry kombucha flavoring on purple background

soda bottles on a shelf in grocery store
Stay away from the shelf stable kombucha. One of the reasons I love kombucha is because it is a fermented food and has beneficial probiotics! When a beverage is put on the shelf it goes through a process of pasteurization that kills or removes all the living organisms in that food so it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. Shelf stable kombucha = no more beneficial probiotics. Head to the refrigerated section to pick up your bottle of bubbly.

Choose local companies when possible. Support your local kombucha breweries! Buying local means less fossil fuels used to get the kombucha from the brewing facility to your mouth and you help sustain small companies. 
​
local sign on building
1 Comment
MckinneyVia link
3/23/2022 12:25:20 am

I very much appreciate it. Thank you for this excellent article. Keep posting!

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    June 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019

    Categories

    All
    About Kombucha To The People
    Benefits Of Brewing Kombucha
    Kombucha Basics
    Kombucha Culture
    Kombucha Flavoring
    Kombucha Recipes
    Kombucha Secondary Fermentation
    Kombucha Tips
    Kombucha To The People Products

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • Attend
  • Corporate
  • About
  • Shop
    • Kombucha Flavoring
    • Kombucha Pin
    • Kombucha Art Prints
    • Kombucha Brewing Starter Kit
  • Kombucha Brewing FAQ
    • SCOBY FAQ >
      • Healthy SCOBY Gallery
    • Brewing Vessel FAQ
    • Tea, Sugar and Starter Tea FAQ
    • Primary Fermenation FAQ
    • Secondary Fermentation FAQ
    • Misc FAQ
  • Blog
  • Press
  • Illustrations
  • Praise
  • Contact