As someone with terrible digestion, I’m willing to eat or drink anything — or take any supplement — that has even the slightest chance of improving my gut health. I’m always on the lookout for ways to incorporate more probiotics and fermented foods into my diet. Enter kombucha.
For many years, I’ve swilled the stuff, although it’s definitely an acquired taste with its typical vinegary tartness. And even though they’re full of probiotics, many kombuchas are also full of sugar. Also, these drinks can get pretty pricey, so I usually reserve my kombucha drinking for dire moments when I really need some help in the digestion department.
I’ve experimented a little bit with making my own fermented foods, with mixed results. Making homemade yogurt was time-consuming and the results were fine, but not much better than yogurt I can buy from the store (and you have to buy yogurt — or a yogurt starter — to make yogurt). I’ve tried making sauerkraut a few times, and it came out okay, but not great. I had better luck with a sourdough starter that a neighbor gave me, which I kept “alive” for a few years, but it eventually succumbed to my neglect.
A couple of years ago, I acquired a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) to try my hand at homemade kombucha. It was given to me by a friend who happens to be an absolutely brilliant novelist (she also once served me amazing carbonated Georgian mineral water at her home, but my love of carbonated water is another story altogether). My husband balked at the home-brewing of kombucha; he was terrified of an explosion in our basement and begged me to abandon the project. To be honest, I’m always a bit afraid I’ll poison myself with my homemade fermented concoctions. So for the sake of marital bliss and not poisoning myself or my family, I agreed to stop experimenting with fermentation at home.
I discovered Humm Zero Sugar Probiotic Kombucha because, so help me, I’m doing Whole30. Whole30 is a program where you cut just about everything joyful — pasta, bread, alcohol, sugar — out of your diet for 30 days. But I needed a restart after eating my feelings for the past several months. Things were starting to get a little dire. My gut needed some healing. Some (but not all) of the Humm kombuchas are Whole30-approved.
As it turned out, I actually ordered the non-compliant Humm kombucha, because neither sugar nor artificial sweeteners are allowed on Whole30. Oops. But these drinks are delicious. I’ve tried the raspberry lemonade, peach tea, and blueberry mint flavors. I like them all, but if I had to pick a favorite, I’d pick the raspberry lemonade. All of them have a very mild flavor. They’re the least kombucha-y (if you know, you know) kombuchas I’ve ever tried. “Absurdly tasty” is no lie.
My husband is NOT a fan of kombucha, and he typically has an iron stomach. But after he recently had a rare bout of stomach distress, I convinced him to try some of the Humm kombucha. He actually liked it, and is now drinking it on a regular basis.
So whether you’re looking to increase your probiotics, stick to sugar-free and non-alcoholic drinks, or you just want something tasty to drink, you can’t go wrong with Humm Zero Sugar Probiotic Kombucha.