Wild Tonic Hard Kombucha

I'm a huge fan of kombucha.

In case you have been living on another planet for the past decade, kombucha is a fermented tea. It can be brewed with just black tea and sugar, then fermented. But most commercially available brands of kombucha are flavored with ginger, other spices, honey, and/or fruit juices.

Before I moved to Florida, I always had a batch of kombucha brewing in my closet. A friend gave me a mother SCOBY (symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast) to start my first batch, and I kept it going for years! My homemade kombucha varied greatly--from bubbly and delicious to so sour it was barely drinkable. I tried lots of varieties, adding fresh fruit, juices, raisins, candied ginger, honey, and other spices. At times, my experiments overflowed and made a mess all over the closet where the kombucha was stored. Good times!

Here in Florida, I no longer attempt to brew my own kombucha. Instead, I usually buy it at Aldi. They sell their own brand in a couple of different flavors: ginger and berry. Both are organic, delicious, and cost about $2.50 for a 16 ounce bottle. This is a great deal! Aldi also carries other well known brands which range in price from about $3-4 per bottle.

Recently I saw some interesting ads on Facebook for "hard" kombucha. All kombucha is fermented and contains a very small amount of alcohol. However, hard kombucha contains about 5-6% alcohol which is similar to beer. I asked my hubby to get me some hard kombucha to taste. (I have to ask him to purchase some things for me because if I looked at the price, I'd just turn around and walk out of the store!)

He got me 2 flavors of Wild Tonic Hard Kombucha: blueberry basil and tropical turmeric. (Sorry, I still have no idea how much these cost!) Both flavors were very yummy! The blueberry was pretty subtle. I don't think I would have guessed the flavor if I didn't read the label. The turmeric was a bit more pronounced, but not overwhelmingly so. Both were sweet and bubbly and very similar to regular kombucha but with a little more kick. I'd definitely recommend this brand.

So, what about you? Have you tried kombucha? How about hard kombucha? Do you have a favorite flavor or brand?