How much caffeine is there in traditional kombucha? Can you make caffeine-free kombucha? Is there alcohol in kombucha? Find out more!
The short answer is, yes, traditionally brewed kombucha always contains caffeine and alcohol. However, there are some considerations.
How much caffeine is in traditional kombucha?
A kombucha SCOBY needs to be fed a diet of sweetened caffeinated tea. The exact amount of caffeine will depend on whether it was brewed with a strong English breakfast tea (47 mg/cup) or a more mild green tea (28 mg/cup). It can also be brewed with decaffeinated black tea (2 mg/cup).
On average, kombucha has about 1/3 the amount of caffeine for a similar serving of tea. So if 1 cup of black tea has 45 mg of caffeine, one cup of kombucha brewed with black tea has 15 mg of caffeine. This is not because fermenting decreases the caffeine… it’s because kombucha isn’t a strongly brewed cup of tea. By the time you drink it, the tea has been diluted by other flavors.
Can you make caffeine-free kombucha?
If you want a very low-caffeine kombucha, brew it with decaf black tea! Kombucha can also be brewed with herbal tea, however, that requires a bit more work to make sure you maintain a healthy SCOBY.
If caffeine-free kombucha is something you’re interested in, check out this post on brewing herbal kombucha.
How much alcohol is in Kombucha?
Yeast breaks down sugar and turns it into carbon dioxide and alcohol. This is what is happening with the yeast when you bake bread. It is how beer, wine, and hard cider are brewed. It also is part of the fermentation process of all naturally fermented sparkling beverages.
However, that doesn’t make kombucha an alcoholic beverage.
Unless you are brewing your own kombucha, and test the alcohol levels, it’s hard to say exactly how alcoholic it is. Alcohol is typically measured by the decrease in the sugar of a beverage. (If you’re keen here is my step-by-step guide on how to use a hydrometer.)
However, kombucha is a mix of yeast and bacteria. The acetic acid bacteria turns alcohol into acetic acid. This is why kombucha can have an acidic (vinegary) flavor.
The exact amount of alcohol in kombucha will depend on:
- The amount of sugar in the initial beverage.
- How long it has been fermented.
- Whether it is fermented in an open-air container (acetic acid bacteria need oxygen to convert alcohol to acetic acid).
- Refrigeration slows down fermentation, thereby slowing down alcohol production.
In general, homemade kombucha is between 0.5% ABV and 2% ABV. However, if it’s left in a capped bottle for a long period, kombucha can get up to 7% ABV.
If you want a lower alcohol kombucha, don’t add more than the required amount of sugar (that includes fruit sugar or juice). And drink your kombucha within 1 week of bottling.
What about store-bought kombucha?
If the kombucha is live, it will keep fermenting. That is simply how kombucha works. Most government regulations state that store-bought kombucha must not have higher than 0.5% ABV.
Commercial kombucha brewers maintain this standard in two ways:
- Large manufacturers distribute non-live kombucha. (Unfortunately, probiotic isn’t a regulated term. If your kombucha is from a major manufacturer… it’s probably not probiotic. If you’re curious, here’s a test I did on 3 brands of kombucha.)
- Small manufacturers offer kombucha that is packed with probiotics. To prevent it from over-carbonating and becoming very alcoholic they keep it refrigerated the whole time and have a short best-before date.
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