What does kombucha taste like?
Kombucha tastes like a tangy, lightly fizzy tea soda: sour like apple cider vinegar, a little sweet, with a funky, fermented edge.
Kombucha
tangy, funky tea fizz
Kombucha is sweetened tea fermented with a culture of yeast and bacteria, which eats most of the sugar and leaves behind a tart, vinegary tang and natural bubbles. The base tea adds a light, dry bitterness. Plain kombucha tastes a bit like sparkling apple cider vinegar with a hint of sweetness, and it's an acquired taste for some. Flavored versions, like ginger, berry or citrus, are fruitier and easier to love. It can have a slightly yeasty, funky smell, similar to a sour beer.
Where you’ll see it
At cafés, juice bars and health-minded restaurants, in bottles or cans, or on tap at some bars. A few places use it as a mixer in cocktails or mocktails.
Order it if you like sour, fizzy drinks and want something less sweet than soda.
Quick questions
- Does kombucha have alcohol?
- A trace. Fermentation leaves a little alcohol, and most store-bought kombucha is kept under 0.5%. Hard kombucha is a separate, boozier drink.
- Why does kombucha taste like vinegar?
- The fermentation makes acetic acid, the same acid in vinegar. That gives kombucha its sour, tangy bite.