I like the idea of a holiday-themed kombucha. The days are short and hectic and you’re eating junk for two months straight, so if you buy into the gut health benefits of probiotic bevs, you could presumably avoid a lot of gastro-intestinal angst by sipping a festive kombucha instead of, say, a big ol’ mug of eggnog.
Health-Ade Holiday Cheers kombucha purportedly celebrates the holiday flavors “of ginger, vanilla, and allspice,” which, if you’re not familiar, tastes like a mixture of nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon and clove. Allspice is essentially a peppercorn, but the label on the bottle features two anthropomorphic spices—nutmeg and star anise. Or maybe it’s just a star. Who knows. Anyway, we’re here to tell you whether this new kombucha flavor is a holiday must or a holiday bust.
Giving yourself the gift of gut health is such a lovely idea, but we’re here to tell you whether this stuff actually tastes good. First of all, this does look like a gift. The brown apothecary-style bottle that Health-Ade comes in makes it feel fancier than kombucha that comes in a regular bottle or can. So that’s a good start!
Pros: We really like Health-Ade kombucha. In fact, their Pink Lady Apple flavor is our top pick for the best tasting kombucha of them all. This Health-Ade flavor doesn’t make as much of an impression, but it does certainly taste like ginger, as promised.
Cons: Did I taste allspice or vanilla? Not really. Maybe the tart ginger and fermented tang of the kombucha itself was a little bit rounder because of the vanilla, but I could hardly detect it. And if there is festive holiday spice in this, it was pretty much lost on me. This tastes like a very standard ginger kombucha, which is something Health-Ade already makes. I didn’t try this alongside Health-Ade Lemon-Ginger kombucha, but I would be very surprised if there were a big difference in their flavor profiles. Health-Ade Holiday Cheers tastes good—really, it’s fine—but it’s not going to have you singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” at the top of your lungs.
Howdy! I’m Gwynedd, Sporked’s managing editor. I live in Los Angeles and have access to the best tacos the U.S. has to offer—but I’m a sucker for a crunchy Old El Paso taco night every now and then. I’ve been at Sporked since 2022 and I’m still searching frozen mozzarella sticks that can hold a candle to restaurant sticks.
Why you should trust me: I’ve been a journalist for 20 years (yikes), a consumer of food for 40-plus years, and I’m truly hard pressed to think of foods I don’t like (or that I can’t tolerate at the very least). Oh and one time I cooked my way through Guy Fieri’s cookbook and wrote about the journey through Flavortown.
What I buy every week: Trader Joe’s Original Savory Thins. Fat free plain yogurt (usually Fage or Nancy’s). Honeycrisp apples. Sweet cream coffee creamer for my at-home Americanos. A frozen cauliflower crust pizza and some jarred mushrooms to top it with. Old El Paso Stand ‘N Stuff taco shells and Gardein Ground Be’f, even though I think “be’f” is a nightmarish contraction.
Favorite ranking: Stouffer’s frozen dinners. I don’t own a microwave (I get my cancers the old fashioned way!), so I love taste testing things that I don’t really buy to eat at home.
Least favorite ranking: Soy sauce. Don’t get me wrong, I love soy sauce—but consuming that much sodium in one sitting is probably illegal in some countries. Our frozen enchilada taste test was a close second; the smell of microwaved corn tortillas still haunts me.
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Gwynedd Stuart
Jordan Myrick
Ariana Losch
Vinz Karl
Sporked Staff
