There’s never a bad time to drink kombucha, but when summertime rolls around, 'booch is everywhere: in party coolers, bars, picnic baskets, even kombucha taprooms. It’s particularly popular among the sober or sober-curious (including in the food industry), though the health benefits of commercially-made kombucha is still an open question. Regardless, the local competition is fierce. How do they stack up?

The Best Kombucha

Camellia Grove Meadow Kombucha

If you can get your hands on it, this is the best kombucha out there, locally made or not. (Portlanders, we found it at Wellspent Market, but not Whole Foods, and it's only available at select New Seasons locations). The Meadow variety is made with Smith Tea rooibos tea leaves and a blend of herbs, which lends it a complex flavor that lands somewhere between an old-fashioned root beer and Mexican Coke. The brand’s tagline is “kombucha for tea lovers,” and this was one of the few varieties where we could really taste the rooibos tea leaves. There’s no added sugar, but its light sweetening is pleasant, with just a hint of funk on the nose. It’s easy to see how this kombucha would play nicely with food, too, since there are no aggressive fruit flavors. No wonder it was a Good Food Awards finalist in 2023 (the company’s oolong variety took the prize).

Very Good Kombuchas 

Happy Mountain Peach Blossom Kombucha

This glass-bottled number walks a delicate balance between lightly floral white peony tea and peach juice, reminiscent of those individually wrapped Japanese peach gummies. “It’s very peachy, but in a good way,” a tester said. “It reminds me of an Arizona tea.” The sweetness is tuned just right, while the bubbles are gentle.

Lion Heart Ginger Fix Dry Kombucha

This was the least sweet of our samples, kind of like a super-dry ginger beer you might use to mix with cocktails. The ginger is assertive but not overbearing. “As a non-sweet kombucha goes, it’s quite good,” said one tester. “I prefer this one—I don’t like super sweet things,” replied another. It has just two grams of sugar per eight ounces.

Humm Mango Passionfruit Kombucha

This kombucha starts off with tangy, fermented notes like a sour beer, then finishes with a hit of mango. “This would be great for people who don’t drink,” one tester said. It’s just the right amount of sweetness, with a pleasant hint of funk for true kombucha lovers.

Okay Kombuchas

Soma Balance Pear and Fennel Jun-Kombucha

Props to Soma for creating an unexpected flavor combo, which starts off fruity and finishes with a strong note of fennel. The sweetness level and fermentation are on point; our critique is that it leans a bit tangy and vinegary for our tastes.

Brew Dr. Prickly Pear Kombucha

This summer-exclusive flavor comes on strong with fruity flavors, but with little tang or funk. We also found it a bit on the sweet side. “This one’s almost soda-like,” a tester said. “It’s definitely less fermented.” It’s not bad, but doesn’t deliver the traits that most people seek in a kombucha.

Do Not Drink These Kombuchas

New Seasons Raspberry Lemonade Kombucha

New Seasons’ store brand kombucha is actually made by Brew Dr., as noted on the can. (Could this be the same product as Brew Dr. Raspberry Limeade Kombucha? Hmmmm….) But we found it to be much sweeter than the prickly pear kombucha—to the point that it was nearly undrinkable. “My kids dump sugar into carbonated water, and this is what it tastes like,” said one tester. “It really tastes like a soda at first—and then it tastes like pickle juice,” said another.

GT’s Synergy Trilogy Kombucha

We sampled the OG kombucha brand that’s been around since 1995 and is known nationwide. Despite having no added sugar (it still contains 12g of total sugars per 16 oz), the taste is super-sweet, dominated by raspberry and lemon—though the ingredients tout that there’s black tea, green tea, kiwi, and ginger in there. It’s passable if you’re at a convenience store with no local options. But consider the fact that GT is in the midst of a number of lawsuits alleging labor law violations in California, regarding working conditions that a judge recently called “deplorable and abusive and disturbing.”  The court cases continue, but that kombucha that at first tasted so sweet now tastes sour.