Energy drinks give you a boost of energy, but their high amounts of sugar and empty calories leave you crashed and feeling tired after. A great, new alternative to classic energy drinks is a unique take on the popular health drink, kombucha.
Kombucha energy drinks are a healthier alternative to classic energy drinks. With 80-130mg of caffeine per bottle, they provide a boost of energy, while being low in sugar and including the beneficial probiotics and antioxidants in classic kombucha.
Lets talk more about kombucha energy drinks, why you may want to give them a try, and which brands make the best ones.
What is a Kombucha Energy Drink?
Energy drinks have almost always been considered unhealthy. Most are full of sugar, calories and artificial flavorings, with little to no nutrients or health benefits. A few kombucha brands have decided to bridge the gap between healthy choices and energy with the creation of kombucha energy drinks.
The goal of kombucha energy drinks is to allow those that are drinking kombucha and energy drinks separately, to be able to get the energy boost they need solely from kombucha.
They also provide a healthy alternative to those who drink unhealthy energy drinks regularly, since they not only give you caffeine, but also all the healthy probiotics and antioxidants that are normally in kombucha.
Health Benefits of Kombucha Energy Drinks
Your body, especially your gut, is filled with good and bad bacteria. It’s believed that the modern diet which is so full of sugar and processed foods harms the good bacteria in our gut. This is bad because a lack of beneficial bacteria in the body can lead to digestive problems, diarrhea, and candida infection .
Fermented foods with probiotics like kombucha energy drinks replace and replenish these beneficial bacteria and may
Kombucha may also control blood sugar, and reduce risk of heart disease
What Exactly is Caffeine?
Caffeine is a natural stimulant that affects your nervous system, helping you stay alert and preventing tiredness. The drug does these things by attaching to receptors in your brain, blocking the chemicals that normally make you feel tired.
It also releases “feel good” chemicals in the brain and even raises adrenaline levels in the bloodstream.
How much Caffeine is in Kombucha
Store bought kombucha is usually made from a combination of green and black tea, which has about 30-50mg of caffeine per bag. Some of this caffeine is eaten by kombucha's living bacteria culture during the brewing process, so the average store bought booch when finished brewing will have caffeine levels of somewhere around 15mg.
For reference, a typical cup of coffee has about 95mg of caffeine and some energy drinks have as much as 300mg.
Most coffee brands and energy drink brands have very standard levels of caffeine. But, because kombucha is made from a living bacteria, even a slight difference in the brewing can change the levels of caffeine drastically.
To help you know which brands have the most and least caffeine, I decided to create a table comparing them.
Caffeine Reference Table
Note that the table states the mg of caffeine per 8oz, not per bottle. Some drinks may be lower on the list but because they come in larger bottles, drinking a bottle of them will give you more caffeine than something higher on the list that comes in a smaller bottle.
Mg of Caffeine Per 8oz of Kombucha and Other Caffeinated Drinks
The Top 4 Kombucha Energy Drinks
Although there are only a few brands that sell kombucha energy drinks, I've found 4 of the best ones and reviewed them for you below.
1. Brew Dr Uplift Kombucha
Uplift combines live and active bacteria cultures with 130mg of caffeine per bottle using a blend of green tea, guayusa (an Amazonian plant), and yerba mate. The flavor tastes sort of like ice tea.
What's Good
This kombucha has the highest amount of caffeine per bottle of any on the list.
What's Bad
Brew Dr Uplift has 16g of sugar per bottle. This is significantly lower than most other energy drinks, but is still something to keep in mind.
The best place to get Brew Dr Uplift is at your local supermarket if they have it, but if you want to save a trip and get it online, you can buy it on Amazon here.
2. Theory of Kombucha Powdered Drink Mix
Theory of Kombucha is an extra caffeinated kombucha that comes in packets of powder rather than a glass or a can. The flavor is raspberry lemonade, and every packet comes with over 2 billion probiotics and 150mg of caffeine.
What's Good
Because it comes in packets, Theory of Kombucha is really easy and convenient to take places. Plus its 150mg of caffeine per packet will give you the caffeine boost you need.
What's Bad
If you want a really strong, vinegary tasting booch with a throat kick, powdered kombucha might not be for you.
If you want to give Theory of Kombucha's caffeinated powdered booch a try, you can check it out on Amazon here.
3. Remedy Good Energy Kombucha
Remedy Good Energy is packed with probiotics and contains 83-99mg of caffeine per bottle, depending on which of the 3 flavors you're drinking. The caffeine comes from raw green coffee bean extract, green tea, and ginseng. The green tea and ginseng also have antioxidant benefits.
What's Good
This kombucha has no sugar or artificial ingredients, making it the healthiest kombucha energy drink on this list!
What's Bad
While it is healthy and tastes great, Remedy Good Energy does have the lowest amount of caffeine per bottle of the kombuchas on this list.
4. Karvana Kombucha Energy Shot
Karvana Kombucha Energy Shot contains over 4 billion active probiotics and 110mg of caffeine per bottle. The caffeine is from guarana (an Amazonian fruit), and green tea.
What's Good
Karvana Kombucha Energy is a “shot” so each bottle packs all the probiotics and caffeine into 4.5 fl oz. This makes it really quick and easy to get the probiotics and caffeine into your body. What's Bad
Since all of Karvana is packed into 4.5fl oz, it doesn’t taste as good as the other 2 kombuchas on this list. So if you’re looking to sit down and slowly sip on and enjoy your kombucha, Karvana may not be for you.
Final Thoughts
Kombucha energy drinks provide a great way to get a healthy boost of energy. My only wish is that more brands made them so they weren’t as difficult to find.
If you’re someone who drinks sugary energy drinks regularly, I’d recommend giving a kombucha energy drink a shot to see if you like it.
And if you want to learn more about kombucha, how it relates to your health, and even how to brew it yourself, check out the rest of my website!
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