The best kombucha is fizzy, sour, and just feels like it’s good for you. We’re no scientists and can’t necessarily speak to gut health, but these kombucha flavors and kombucha brands are sure to make your mouth happy.
Our taste tests are typically guided by a pretty simple question: Does the thing we’re tasting, you know, taste good? Leave it to a gelatinous glob of bacteria to gum up the works.
Kombucha, a tea-based beverage that’s fermented with the help of SCOBY (aka Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast, aka the aforementioned glob), is purported to promote gut health, strengthen the immune system, and even lower cholesterol. There’s no hard and fast science on these benefits—according to The New York Times, there isn’t even scientific consensus that the bacteria in ‘booch are probiotic. What we do know is that during the kombucha fermentation process, bacteria and yeast turn sugar into organic acids and carbon dioxide, giving the beverage fizz and the signature vinegar-y funk that makes it feel like it’s good for you. If a kombucha brand is too sweet or too much like a fizzy fruit juice, it just feels less healthy. Basically, the best kombucha needs to be a little gross to be good.
We sipped a bunch of kombucha brands and kombucha flavors and came up with seven that struck the perfect balance of sweetness, funk, and fizz—and bonus points if it actually tasted like tea.
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- Health-Ade Kombucha Pink Lady Apple
Yes, Health-Ade comes in a bulky-ass brown bottle that looks like some dusty relic on a shelf in an abandoned turn-of-the-century pharmacy (Sporked senior writer Jordan Myrick compared it to a family heirloom), but don’t let that put you off. This fizzy, sweet-but-not-too-sweet kombucha was the best kombucha we tasted in two separate taste tests, thanks to a tart, crisp quality that truly channels a Pink Lady apple. It has a sweet aroma that reminded us of Martinelli’s apple juice, but the pleasant surprise is that its apple-y notes don’t overpower the flavor of tea. As one taster noted, it has the best balance of “drinkability, taste, and actually feeling like it’s doing something good for my gut.” Big ups to the whistling anthropomorphic apple on the label—we love a gut health queen.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Target
- GT’s Synergy Raw Kombucha Trilogy
If the idea of nine billion living probiotics wriggling down your gullet doesn’t give you the willies, this might be the best kombucha for you. Of all the kombucha brands we tried, GT’s Living Foods claims to be the first company to put kombucha on store shelves, and the brand’s Trilogy flavor has a classic ‘booch taste you might expect from the beverage’s retail progenitor. In case you were wondering, the “trilogy” of flavors in question is raspberry, lemon, and ginger, although we were only really able to detect lemon and ginger, a mouth-puckering combo that’s a classic kombucha flavor. According to Jordan, this one feels healthy, which “feels fun.” They also liked the bits of pulp at the bottom of the bottle— “You get ‘em and you chew ‘em a little.” (Sorry about everything.)
Credit: Ryan Martin / Target
- GT’s Synergy Raw Kombucha Watermelon Wonder
Okay, I don’t know if people sip kombucha by the pool (mostly because I don’t have a pool), but this refreshing, fizzy ‘booch is the best kombucha for a sunny summer day. Pressed watermelon juice makes it taste like a fresh, fruity paleta with a touch of sourness that channels a watermelon candy minus the phony, saccharine flavor (GT’s kombuchas don’t have added sugar like many others do). Pour this kombucha flavor into a glass, stick a little paper umbrella in it, and sip away. With two ‘booches in our top three, GT’s is definitely one of the best kombucha brands on the market.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Target
- Health-Ade Ginger Lemon
If you like a good ginger burn, you’re going to love this Health-Ade. It’s so gingery and lemony that it kind of reminds me of one of those little immunity-boosting shots you grab at the local juice bar when you feel like you’re coming down with a cold (but not quite that intense, of course). It shouldn’t be reserved for impending illness, but I think this is the best kombucha if you’re sick or getting there.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Better Booch Citrus Sunrise
Despite an aroma two tasters described as “foot,” this canned concoction got high marks for its sage-forward flavor. The combination of a citrusy zip, leafy herbs, and a distinct tea flavor make it taste like an expensive candle smells, if that’s your thing (it’s mine, apparently). Plus, its delicate fizz is highly refreshing. It’s brewed with pu’erh tea, a leaf with an earthy, almost mushroomy flavor. The can doesn’t scream complexity, but you’ll find it here all the same—maybe just hold your nose if you don’t want to experience eau de toes.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart
- Better Booch Morning Glory
You’d be surprised how many kombuchas don’t taste all that much like tea given that kombucha is, you know, made with tea. This one was a standout for its tea flavor, even if its peachy notes brought to mind a certain popular Snapple flavor. This might not be the best kombucha for people who don’t want their ‘booch to taste good, but I’d take this pleasantly sour sip over an actual Snapple any day. Sorry, Wendy the Snapple Lady! (Remember the ‘90s?)
Credit: Ryan Martin / Instacart
- Humm Blackberry
Humm makes low-sugar kombucha, but it’s delicious even if you’re not watching your sugar intake. Blackberry Humm contains just 7 grams of sugar per can (none of it added sugar), compared to 12 to 17 grams in a bottle of Health-Ade. There’s a size discrepancy, but you get the point. And, personally, I like that this kombucha comes in a much smaller container than some competing brands—it’s less of a commitment! We tasted a few flavors of Humm—Blueberry Mint and Pomegranate Lemonade—but Blackberry was the best kombucha flavor of the bunch. It tastes like a delicious berry shrub (aka, a syrup made with vinegar, fruit, and aromatics). A highly pleasant sip!
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Remedy Ginger Lemon
A lot of kombucha is absolutely jam-packed with sugar. And, frankly, it’s annoying to consume a bunch of something that’s bad for you when you’re drinking a beverage that’s supposed to be good for you. If you’re cutting down on sugar or you’re on a low-sugar diet, Remedy is the best kombucha brand for your needs. This Ginger Lemon variety can’t quite hang with Health-Ade Ginger Lemon (see number four on our list) when it comes to big, bold ginger flavor, but it’s gentle and refreshing and tart. It’s got a lot of what you love in the best kombucha with only ten calories a can. Some of the other flavors we tried (Peach, in particular) lacked that signature kombucha tang, but the lemon makes up for it here.
Credit: Ryan Martin / Target
Best of the Best
Best Classic ‘Booch Flavor
Best Juice Flavor
Best Ginger Burn
Best Herbaceous
Best Tea Flavor
Best Low Sugar
Best Sugar Free
Rhett & Link’s Pick
GT’s Synergy Raw Kombucha Trilogy
“This is nice ‘cause you get the bit of the ginger, but you get the berries to kind of make your mouth happy,” Link said during a kombucha taste test on Good Mythical Morning. And Rhett agreed with us about good kombucha tasting like kombucha: “I feel like you’re going to make the decision to drink kombucha, you should know you’re drinking kombucha. And I know I’m drinking kombucha when I’m drinking this kombucha.” That’s why it landed so high on our list, but we just couldn’t resist the crisp, appley flavor of the Health-Ade Pink Lady Apple.
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The best kombucha in the world is Salty Dog by Kosmic Kombucha in Austin, TX! Try it if you have the chance!
I’m a GT fan through and through but I’ll have to try the pink lady apple by health-ade!
It’s delish!
So sad none of those are available in the EU
If you haven’t tried ‘buchi’ branch kombucha, here is your introduction to the absolute best. I love kombucha to the point of brewing my own and I will die on this hill.
These are really good picks, not a bad one in the bunch.
Did you get a chance to try any KeVita brand? They are the brand I find myself choosing most often, particularly the Ginger and the Tart Cherry.
No list of the others you tasted. I would be interested to know because you don’t have any of the Wild Tonic brand which is definitely the best one I have ever tried and I used to drink at least one a day of different brands when I worked at Whole Foods.
Health-Ade Pink Lady Apple is my favorite too! But if you want variety, another really tasty brand is Bambucha Kombucha (all of their flavors). Highly recommend those, and Health-Ade Mint Lemonade is yummy too. Recommend: Interesting and entertaining podcast with the founder of Health-Ade: How I Built This: Health-Ade Kombucha: Daina Trout
Thanks!
The best part of kombucha is explaining to others what the “mother” is. And then drinking it straight down.
Here in Portland, the best booch (IMO) is Brew Dr’s Island Mango
After reading the descriptions and comments of the tasters it seems the best advice is: Choose any brand; cool for at least an hour; open carefully; pour contents down sink. Move on to more pleasant beverage.
Recently, I tried GT’s Synergy Raw Kombucha Trilogy and I really enjoyed it! I also had the opportunity to try MOMO – Ginger and Lemon Kombucha, which I ordered from this website https://www.mrlemonade.co.uk/collections/kombucha and highly recommend trying it!
My favorite kombucha is Brew Dr’s “Love” which is Lavender/Chamomile/Jasmine Green Tea.
Rowdy Mermaid is the best Kombucha out there. I’ve moved away from Colorado so it’s hard to find but I order it by the case so I can still get my fix!!
https://rowdymermaid.com/