The best kombucha you can buy is fizzy, sour, and tastes like it’s good for you. We’re not scientists and can’t necessarily tell you about the best kombucha for gut health, but as professional taste testers, we can tell you about the best tasting kombucha at the grocery store..
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 seem like it’s good for you. If a kombucha brand is too sweet or too much like a fizzy fruit juice, it just seems less healthy. Basically, the best kombucha needs to be a little off putting to be good.
In three separate taste tests, 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 we awarded bonus points if it actually tasted like tea. Here’s the best kombucha at the grocery store, including the best low sugar and the best sugar free kombucha.
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- Remedy Ginger Lemon No Sugar Organic Kombucha
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A lot of the best tasting 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 makes some of the best kombucha for your needs. This Ginger Lemon flavor can’t quite hang with Health-Ade Ginger Lemon (see #4 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
- Humm Zero Sugar Blood Orange Probiotic Kombucha
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We already loved Humm’s low sugar kombucha, but they also make the best sugar free kombucha we tried in our most recent taste test. The can says this is “absurdly tasty” and I agree. It actually contains cane sugar, but the sugar is removed during fermentation. Then it is sweetened with allulose and monkfruit. Does it taste a little bit artificially sweetened on the finish? Yes. Does allulose give me terrible gas? Sure does, but I liked this more than the other zero sugar kombuchas we tried because it’s not made with the sugar alcohol erythriol, which I try to avoid, and it actually tastes like kombucha, rather than slightly tangy sparkling water. The blood orange flavor is particularly lovely with the slightly vinegar-y flavor profile, too. There’s only 10 calories in a can, so if you’re on a diet or you’re watching your sugar intake, this is a great kombucha option.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Humm Probiotic Blackberry
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Humm makes low-sugar kombucha that’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 (a beverage made with vinegar, fruit, and aromatics). This is a highly pleasant sip!
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- Better Booch Morning Glory Kombucha
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You’d be surprised how much kombucha doesn’t really taste like tea given that it’s made with tea. This makes our list of the best kombucha because it actually tastes like tea, even if its peachy notes bring 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: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Better Booch Citrus Sunrise
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Despite having an aroma that two tasters described as “foot,” this canned kombucha 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. The best kombucha brings a little bit of funk and we like that.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Health-Ade Ginger Lemon
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If you like a good ginger burn, you’re going to love this flavor of Health-Ade kombucha. 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 do think this is the best kombucha if you’re sick or getting there.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- GT’s Synergy Raw Kombucha Watermelon Wonder
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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 kombucha doesn’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: Liv Averett / Walmart
- GT’s Synergy Raw Kombucha Trilogy
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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 flavor 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 Sporked’s Jordan Myrick, 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: Liv Averett / Walmart
- Health-Ade Kombucha Pink Lady Apple
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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, but don’t let that put you off. This fizzy, sweet-but-not-too-sweet kombucha is the best kombucha we tried in our multiple taste tests, thanks to a tart, crisp quality that truly channels a Pink Lady apple. It has a sweet aroma that reminds me 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: Liv Averett / Target
Best Sugar Free Kombucha (Runner-Up)
Best Sugar Free Kombucha
Best Low Sugar Kombucha
Best Tea Flavor
Best Herbaceous
Best Ginger Flavor
Best Fruit Juice-Forward Kombucha
Best Classic Kombucha Flavor
Best of the Best
Other products we tried: Humm Blueberry Mint, Humm Pomegranate Lemonade, Kevita Tart Cherry, Kevita Pineapple Peach, Kevita Lavender Melon, Brew Dr Clear Mind, Brew Dr Superberry, Remedy Peach, Remedy Mixed Berry No Sugar Kombucha, Remedy Raspberry Lemonade No Sugar Kombucha, Bear’s Fruit Blueberry Lavender Kombucha, Bear’s Fruit Strawberry Jalapeno Kombucha, Rowdy Mermaid Savory Peach, Brew Dr Love
