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Similar to vinegar, kombucha is made with a scoby (a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast), or mother, which looks like a blobby creature from the deep. Homemade kombucha is an enjoyable project and really cheap to make (it’s essentially just the cost of some sugar and a teabag), but it’s also a skill that takes a little refining. Over-ferment it, and you end up with vinegar or, worse, it could explode during the secondary fermentation, especially if you forget to “burp” the bottle to release the excess gas that gives kombucha a natural effervescence.
And, while making your own kombucha is fun, the range on the market now is vast and of really high quality, with some even being created expressly as non-alcoholic alternatives to cocktails and wine. Kombucha is naturally lower in sugar than most sweetened drinks – the fermentation process consumes sugar, but the amount left will depend on how long it’s fermented for. Some are completely sugar-free, but many of those are sweetened with steviol glycosides and erythritol, which makes them ultra-processed foods, and I think they taint the flavour, even though they’re derived from natural sources. Most of the products I tested had 2-3g sugar per 100ml, which is much lower than cola, say, which has about 10.6g, or the equivalent of about seven teaspoons per can! I tasted all these kombuchas chilled and straight from the vessel (and with water breaks in between).
The best supermarket kombucha
Best overall:
Holos ginger & hibiscus organic kombucha
★★★★★
A very fizzy organic kombucha with a delicate touch of sourness that tastes more like a homemade one. Made with four teas (green, earl grey, yerba mate and rooibos) and flavoured with ginger juice and a smidge of hibiscus. The Holos Foundation has a social impact programme that provides paid work for survivors of exploitation and trauma.
Best bargain:
FIX8 kombucha ginger turmeric
★★★★☆
A lively, sparkling sencha tea kombucha flavoured with ginger, turmeric and black pepper extracts, and fortified with vitamin C. A subtle warmth from the ginger and underlying lemon extract. Good value, tasty and very fizzy.
And the rest …
LA Brewery sparkling English blush kombucha
★★★★★
An extraordinary green tea kombucha flavoured elegantly with hops, elderflower, rhubarb, peach, strawberry and lychee. Perfectly carbonated to mimic sparkling wine, it’s complex yet subtle in flavour, quite floral, bright and fruity. Slightly sweeter than others, but not over sweet. A great alcohol alternative or treat. B Corp-certified, and my favourite splurge.
Equinox organic Sicilian lemon kombucha
★★★★★
A raw chun mee green tea kombucha that’s beautifully flavoured with lemon juice and with a lively carbonation. An entry-level organic product certified by the Soil Association. B Corp-certified and a strong green policy.
Momo organic ginger-lemon kombucha
★★★★★
Completely unfiltered raw kombucha made with tea, apple juice, ginger and lemon juice. Wonderfully fresh and zesty, and warming from the ginger juice. B Corp-certified, plus Momo donates 1% of revenue to charitable causes. Has a Great Taste one star, too.
Plants ginger, lime and mint kombucha
★★★★☆
Intensely minty with a frothy, micro-bubble carbonation and an altogether new taste experience for me. Made slightly differently from other kombuchas, with concentrated apple juice and flavoured with lime juice concentrate and lime, ginger and mint extracts. Great Taste one star. It must be good, because I drank the whole bottle.
Hip Pop passion fruit & guava CBD kombucha
★★★☆☆
Subtly sweet-and-sour green and black tea kombucha with a clean passion fruit and guava twang, and a very subtle, enjoyable spritz. Great value, especially because it contains 15mg cannabidiols (CBD).
Nexba kombucha ginger and lemon
★★☆☆☆
An oolong tea kombucha with a lovely, strong, ginger beer-like taste that switches more to lemonade halfway through. Sweetened with erythritol and steviol glycosides. Even so, incredible value and B Corp-certified, too.
Remedy ginger lemon kombucha
★★☆☆☆
Raw, slow-fermented kombucha made with black and green tea, and flavoured with ginger and lemon juice. Sweetened with erythritol and steviol glycosides, though I found them less overpowering and more palatable here than in the Nexba one. Frothy, widely available, popular and good value.
One Living ginger kombucha with turmeric
★★☆☆☆
Raw and unpasteurised kombucha made with sencha tea and fortified with B vitamins. Flavoured with ginger, turmeric and pepper extracts, and well carbonated. Sweetened with steviol glycosides, which shows in the taste. B Corp-certified and decent value.
For more, read the best low- and no-alcohol drinks
