Does Remedy Kombucha Need to Be Refrigerated?

One of the most common questions we get is whether Remedy Kombucha needs to be refrigerated. 

The short answer is no! But the same doesn't apply to all raw, unpasteurised kombucha.

Wanna know why and how? Read on, friends...

Does Remedy Kombucha need to be refrigerated?

In short, there are three key reasons why our kombucha is A-OK out of the fridge:

1. It contains no sugar
2. The live culture we use is very strong and healthy
3. We're crazy about quality

And for those of you who want to stick around, grab a booch and get comfy. We'll be diving into each of these reasons in depth!

Remedy Kombucha contains no sugar, naturally

At Remedy, our 30-day small batch fermentation process results in kombucha that contains no sugar, naturally. We test every batch to make sure of it.

This is not the case for all kombucha. If a kombucha is raw, live and unpasteurised and still contains sugar, or has sugar added (not Remedy!), then it could re-ferment if left out of the fridge (= exploding bottles and/or boozy booch).

When it comes to Remedy Kombucha, ALL of the sugar is brewed out during our fermentation process, leaving none in the bottle. Nada. Zilch. Zero! This means there’s no risk of re-fermentation if left out of the fridge.

Our live culture is super strong

The live culture we use to make Remedy Kombucha is extremely strong and healthy.

Every single batch we brew uses a descendant of the first kombucha culture (aka SCOBY) that Sarah and Emmet started out with on their kitchen counter. Over time, thanks to the love and care we give our brewing process, this culture has grown incredibly strong, healthy and right at home in our kombucha.

It's a myth that all live cultures need to be kept refrigerated to stay alive. When it comes to Remedy, our live culture is totally cool with being out of the fridge. We've tested throughout shelf life to be sure. Here's why:

• During the Remedy long-aged fermentation process, our SCOBY uses sugar as a food source for the live cultures to grow in number and produce metabolites such as organic acids.
• At the end of the 30-day process, the sugar is all gone but the culture is still very much alive. While it doesn't have any sugar left to feed off, it conserves energy within its cells.
• Because these live cultures are the same ones that have conducted the fermentation, they are very happy in that environment and it contributes to how and why they stay alive.

And if you're worried about good bacteria turning bad, fear not. There is never any risk of the good bacteria in our booch turning bad. Our live culture thrives in our low pH fermented tea environment, and it inhibits the growth of bad bacteria.

We’re crazy about quality

We test every batch we make to make sure it’s the best booch going ‘round - on quality and taste. This includes checking the sugar content and live cultures, along with a bunch of other factors.

We’ve also completed methodical shelf life testing which shows that our live cultures survive in and out of the fridge, right throughout shelf life.

It all gets a bit science-y when you start looking into how kombucha is made, but if you still have questions, we have the answers.