The A-Z of the best kombuchas

I’m increasingly of the view that a lot of the best and most grown-up-tasting non-alcs are those based on tea: kombuchas, sparkling teas and botanical blends built around Camellia sinensis. They tend to have a complexity, nuance and structure you just don’t find in regular soft drinks.

Some tea-based drinks, like kombucha, are fermented, which gives the end result a lively fizz and tangy pungency (some also contain a trace of alcohol – all the ones here, except Ama, are 0.5 per cent abv or less, which is less than many loaves of bread). 

Some, like Saicho, are simply made with a cold infusion of very-high‑quality leaves – a gentle extraction process that helps to preserve the tea’s fruity, floral and woody notes. Others are made using a mixture of both techniques. 

Tea-based drinks often have a wine-like acidity and tannin that makes them great for food-matching. And the range of styles is huge.

Ferments for fine dining

Ama’s artisanal brews from the Basque country are designed to speak to wine lovers – they’re fermented from fine tea like kombucha, and cellar-aged on the lees like champagne to create a sparkling “pét-nat” tea with an abv of 1.5 per cent. Bost is based around a botanical blend of jasmine silver-needle tea, which gives it a fabulous acacia-honey perfume and a fine, dry finish like a very delicate white wine. From £29 for 75cl, amabrewery.com, sagerandwinebottleshop.com

The maverick fermenters

Counter Culture brings a vibrant pop of colour to the worthy world of kombucha. And its flavours are about as subtle as a bag of 1p sweets – Against The Current is a petal-pink explosion of sweet rhubarb, hibiscus, lemongrass and ginger juice. TXT in a Bottle tastes like Ribena spiked with star anise. The Bristol-based company also donates five per cent of all its profits to social initiatives. £3 for 330ml, counterculturedrinks.com, kombuchawarehouse.com

The A-list enterprise

Brad Pitt was among the founders of California-based B-Corp Enroot, which supports the James Beard Foundation’s women’s leadership programme to address the lack of parity and diversity in the food and drink industry. Its sparkling tea is made from a reviving blend of yerba mate tea, fruit and warming cayenne. $7 for 355ml, boisson.co

The thirst-quencher

Unlike some more commercial kombuchas, Hip Pop don’t use sweeteners like erythritol or stevia, resulting in refreshing brews that really let the flavour of the base tea shine through. The nori-like notes of green tea in its Ginger & Yuzu kombucha blend are a great partner for the main ingredients. It also does a range of flavours pimped with CBD. £2 for 330ml, drinkhippop.com, superfood-market.com 

Kombucha with a conscience

Holos makes great kombucha, but it’s its work with victims of human trafficking that really sets it apart. The company offers training and job opportunities to slavery survivors, and works with a number of charitable organisations that provide refuge and rehabilitation. Its award-winning Citra Hops kombucha is made from a blend of green tea, earl grey, yerba mate and rooibos teas, laced with citra hops – deliciously tangy and dry. £32.99 for 12 x 330ml, amazon.co.uk

The summery sparkler

Leafy Suffolk – rather than LA – is where you’ll find the LA Brewery, a tiny outfit which specialises in making kombuchas laced with vernacular ingredients such as rhubarb, flowers and hops. This floral sparkler is brewed from a base of assam and white monkey tea and flavoured with organic white rose petals and wild elderflower. A summer garden party in a glass. £10 for 750ml, labrewery.co.uk

For the Saturday night Thai

A mix of organic assam and sencha teas gives Mighty Brew’s pale-gold Lemongrass kombucha a lip-smacking fermenty tang. The organic lemongrass adds ethereal citrus and herbal notes. It would make a great partner for Thai or Vietnamese dishes. £2.60 for 275ml, ocado.com

For a hit of spice 

The London-based company Momo makes kombucha in the old style: organic, unfiltered and fermented in 10-litre glass jars. Turmeric and pineapple juice give this blend an appetising spiciness. One of the best-tasting traditional kombuchas I’ve tried. £26.50 for six bottles, momo-kombucha.com

Champagne alternative

Muri’s founders include alumni of the trail-blazing distillers Empirical Spirits. Passing Clouds, its sparkling blend of white currants, quince, geranium and woodruff kvass and jasmine tea, is brewed using a mix of different ferments, which give it complex yet delicate notes of stone fruit and tropical fruit, and a touch of vinous funkiness reminiscent of a brut-nature champagne. £24 for 75cl, provisionslondon.co.uk

For the rosé lover

The Bucks-based producer Real uses a mix of fermentation and infusion techniques to create its sophisticated tea-based sparklers. This tangy Peony Blush rosé is made with white-peony tea: it’s fresh and elegant with subtle notes of pomegranate and raspberry. £59.70 for 6 x 75cl, realdrinks.co

For tea purists

Saicho’s sparkling teas are cold-infused and carbonated, rather than fermented – so you get a much purer expression of the actual tea leaf. The jasmine and Darjeeling are both excellent, but for something a bit different try the amber Hojicha infusion, made from a roasted Japanese green tea that’s wonderfully aromatic, smoky and nutty. Great with mushroom, meat and cheese dishes. £17.99 for 75cl, saichodrinks.com

The functional ferment

Cold-brewed tea and fermented fruits form the base of Three Spirit’s Blurred Vines, a pair of non-alc sparkling “functional” drinks that scratch a similar itch to wine. Sharp, which is based on manuka-leaf tea, promises a high that is caffeine-free – it’s enhanced with herbal remedies including clary sage, Californian poppy, minerals and vitamins, as well as adaptogenic ingredients such as cognition-enhancing L-theanine and L-histidine. It tastes great – like a spritzy blend of cucumber, gooseberry, apricot and hay, with a tickle of spice on the finish. An evening of drinking it was followed by a night of very vivid dreams. £18.50 for 75cl, modalwines.com

For orange wine fans

Brooklyn-based Unified Ferments describes its kombucha-like Snow Chrysanthemum brew as its answer to “a juicy orange wine”. Made from snow chrysanthemums harvested in China’s Kunlun Mountains, it marries the flower’s signature honeyed fruitiness with notes of tart starfruit and more blousy chamomile. $97 for a four-pack sampler, unifiedferments.com 

The organic soother

The You + I kombuchas and botanical teas are so pretty it almost seems a shame to store them in the fridge – the branding has something of the apothecary about it. This subtly floral Lemon Lavender kombucha is made with organic assam tea and soothing lavender oils. The zesty Lime Sea Salt is also fun. £3.30 for 330ml, kombuchawarehouse.com, youandi.co

@alicelascelles