Kombucha catches Dry January wave
Aura of health benefits, partly driven by social-media, boost sales of fizzy drink
B“There is an increased desire to have non-alcoholic and carbonated drinks,” Yiyi Mendoza said. Yesfolk adds additional carbonation to kombucha, which Mendoza said offers “a sense of having a fun, social and festive drink.”
lame the influencers when it comes to kombucha. Boosted by latter day Instagram health gurus touting its supposed benefits, the slightly fizzy fermented drink is one of the star sellers in the beverage world. In the first month of the year, when “dry January” promises are made and New Year’s resolutions include healthy eating and weight loss, kombucha’s many accolades make it primed for increased popularity.
Kombucha is a beverage form of ethanol fermentation, starting with brewed tea leaves and a little sweetener (in the form of sugar, fruit, juice or honey), then inoculated with something called a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, or scoby. Everything percolates and ferments together until sugars are converted into ethanol (a type of alcohol) and carbon dioxide. The process resembles those for producting wine, cider, beer and spirits, but commercial kombucha is labeled non-alcoholic, having less than half of a percentage point of alcohol.
This makes kombucha (sometimes called kombucha tea to differentiate from the “kombucha” fungus used to ferment the beverage) an option for those looking for booze-free drinks. While the practice of making kombucha dates back two millennia to China, it has only started to appear on conventional grocery store shelves in the last five years. Its popularity has soared. According to a report by SPINS market research group, U.S. sales of refrigerated kombucha and similar fermented beverages increased by 2.4 percent between July 2019 and July 2020, bringing total domestic sales to $703.2 million. A 14 percent annual growth rate is predicted through 2023, especially with international beverage conglomerates acquiring kombucha makers for a hefty sum. (Pepsico purchased the Kevita kombucha brand for
$200 million in 2019.)
While few studies back up claims that kombucha delivers measurable health benefits, those who make or consume it say the nutrients produced from the fermentation process and the microflora of good-for-you bacteria and yeast improve gut health and aid in digestion. “From a wellness perspective, it
can be part of your fermented food and beverage palate. It offers good bacteria for the gut,” said Yiyi Mendoza, co-founder of Yesfolk Tonics in Troy. Mendoza said her customers generally buy her single origin, organic, whole-leaf kombuchas as an alternative to alcohol or more sugary products.
The founders of Seek North Kombucha, based in Kingston and sold throughout the Capital Region, do not list health benefits on the packages but do insist on the benefits of kombucha on their website. Phillipe Trinh, co-founder of Seek North, said “kombucha is super low in sugar and packed in essential vitamins and nutrients.” His partner and co-founder, Julian Lesser, said, “Kombucha has effervescences and sweetness, but it is an extremely natural product. It has healing qualities for your body and your soul.” The pair founded Seek North after Trinh started making kombucha for Lesser to introduce natural probiotics into his digestive system after he was diagnosed with neurological Lyme disease and underwent intensive antibiotic treatment. Many other kombucha companies and probiotic companies rely on synthetic probiotics made in a lab, Lesser said, but Seek North’s kombucha is unpasteurized and unfiltered, keeping all naturally occurring beneficial bacteria and yeast in the drink.
Trinh and Lesser said it is important to buy refrigerated products that have not been filtered or pasteurized, which remove living bacteria. (Seek North, via its website, recommends refrigerating its products.) “If it is on the shelf and not refrigerated, it’s a bad sign that it’s not a living drink,” Trinh said. Sediment is a good indicator that there are living bacteria in the kombucha. The term “kombucha” has become trendy and marketers slap it on products as a gimmick, said Trinh, adding that the industry group Kombucha Brewers International is working to introduce legislation on a federal level for a formal definition on what can be called kombucha.
As for the drink’s claimed health benefits, Laura Ligos, a registered dietitian and founder of the website www.thesassydietitian.com, said the facts are unclear. “It’s hard to make any claims (on health) because we can’t test every bottle,” she said, adding, “There’s not
a set standard for how many probiotics you are getting.” She said she drinks kombucha and gives it a green light for her readers and clients, provided it does not include excess added sugar. A federal food database says commercially made
kombucha contains 30 calories and between 2 and 8 grams of sugar per 8-ounce serving, on average.
Ligos said kombucha increases hydration and offers a flavorful alternative to plain water but warns that the probiotics in kombucha may aggravate symptoms of Crohn’s disease or irritable bowel syndrome. Lesser said kombucha is a great option for other individuals. “A healthy gut is a healthy person,” Lesser said.
And kombucha does have some feeling of a party beverage. “I like the idea of kombucha being an alcohol alternative,” Ligos said, adding that she has seen it on brewery tap lists more regularly in her travels outside of the Capital Region. Before the pandemic, Mendoza said, Yesfolk had several keg accounts at restaurants, bars and breweries in the area, but most sales in the past year have been for canned kombucha and a growler fill station for Yesfolk’s kombucha at Honest Weight Food Coop in Albany. “There is an increased desire to have nonalcoholic and carbonated drinks,” Mendoza said. Yesfolk adds additional carbonation to kombucha, which Mendoza said offers “a sense of having a fun, social and festive drink.”