- Say hello to Health-Ade Kombucha.
(gentle music) It's pretty, right?
And it kind of looks like it was born for the Gram.
But does it live up to the expectation
of its sexy packaging and trendy tagline,
follow your gut?
That means we're going to look at everything
from how they brew their kombucha
to exactly which probiotic species are in their drinks.
And since our research team spent months
analyzing the leading kombucha brands for you,
we'll even look at how Health-Ade compares
to other popular kombuchas.
Finally, you'll be able to work out which is best for you.
Let's go.
(upbeat music)
So Health-Ade was founded in 2012 by wife and husband team,
Daina and Justin Trout,
alongside their good friend, Vanessa Dew.
Funny enough, their kombucha brewing journey
actually began out of a desire
to fix Justin's thinning hair.
Anyways, like with most good startup stories,
they started small, brewing kombucha at home
and selling at the local farmer's market
in Brentwood, California.
Since then, Health-Ade has become a hit with consumers.
In fact, they sold more than $200 million of kombucha
the last year, or around 50 million bottles.
That's a lot of fermenting.
This success, you can imagine investors have come flocking.
And indeed, they have,
with Coca-Cola one of the key investors in Health-Ade.
But even more importantly,
a private equity firm called First Bev,
has recently taken a controlling stake in Health-Ade.
So, while the founders will remain a part of the company,
things are changing fast.
And as such, we will be paying extra attention
to the quality of Health-Ade's products
and formulations in the years to come.
Especially since the main owner of Health-Ade now,
being First Bev, has a track record of making over brands
and then selling them to industry giants like Nestle,
as they did with Essentia water.
And just before we move on to the next point,
Health-Ade is not the only kombucha company
that has welcomed outside money.
For example, Kevita's founder sold the entire company
to Pepsi in 2016.
But the one holdout of all the major players is,
of course, GT's Kombucha,
which has as of the date of this video
never taking a single dollar of outside funding,
with GT Dave remaining 100% in control of his company.
Bravo, GT, for keeping the mission going full steam.
Health-Ade has expanded its product range over the years
and now has several distinct categories.
I'll quickly run through them so they make sense,
and also show you what we're focusing on in this video.
So first up, they have their flagship kombucha line.
And of course, this is a focus of this video.
Next up, they have their advanced kombucha range.
They call it Health-Ade Plus.
And basically, this is their normal kombucha
but spruced up with additional functional health ingredients
like turmeric, biotin, guarana, et cetera.
Each product aims to support a healthy goal,
like immunity, skin, energy, et cetera.
Meanwhile, Health-Ade has two other product lines
which include kombucha mixers for cocktails,
like Moscow Mule and Whiskey Sour.
As well as prebiotic infused kombuchas,
which are an interesting mix
of kombucha and prebiotic fiber from corn.
Anyways, enough about these new products.
It's time to focus on Health-Ade's Kombucha.
In the rest of this video, I want us to take the gloves off
and really shine a spotlight
on what's actually inside Health-Ade's Kombucha
so we can answer four questions.
One, how well is it made?
Two, does it taste good?
Three, is it in fact good for you?
Four, and is it worth your money?
Of course, to make this analysis even more useful,
we'll also look at how Health-Ade compares
to other kombucha brands.
Naturally, to make this comparison fair,
we need to make sure we're comparing apples with apples.
And after a bit of research,
we found all major brands have one flavor
in common with Health-Ade's, which is ginger.
So in other words,
we're going to compare ginger with ginger.
In this analysis, when we're comparing brands
on things like flavoring agents used,
sugar content, et cetera,
we'll be referencing Health-Ade's Ginger-Lemon Kombucha.
Despite receiving a sizeable investment from Coca-Cola
and now being controlled by private equity,
Health-Ade retains a largely traditional approach
to making kombucha, which is so great to see.
For starters, while most of the industry has moved
to brewing kombucha in huge vats,
often around the 50-gallon mark,
Health-Ade still brews their kombuchas
in small 2 1/2-gallon glass vessels.
Not only does this prevent plastic
or metal leaching into the kombucha,
but it is also exactly how Health-Ade's founders,
Daina and Justin, started brewing their kombucha
some 14 years ago.
And it is also similar to the small batch brewing process
GT's proudly uses.
Just as interestingly, Health-Ade's Kombucha undergoes
a suitably long fermentation period, which is important,
as it gives the scoby time to work its magic.
On the website, they say we let it ferment for a few weeks.
But given how vague that is, we did a bit of investigating.
The return of GI Investigations.
And managed to track down an old interview with the founders
where they stated that they ferment their kombucha
for 14 to 21 days.
While some of their competitors do a longer brew period,
such as GT's and Remedy, which both go for 30 days,
others simply do not disclose their fermentation period.
Sadly, many even hide behind statements like,
"Ours is a proprietary kombucha fermentation process."
Now, when it comes to how Health-Ade brews the tea
that goes into their kombucha,
well, they're doing it fairly similar to everyone else.
Which means they're using a combination of organic black tea
and organic green tea.
Now, in terms of how they prepare their tea
so it can be fermented,
Health-Ade is doing it similar to most of their competitors.
That means they're adding simple cane sugar to their tea.
And given that the sugar is largely just fuel
for the fermentation process
and that most of it will be eaten up during fermentation,
it is a suitable source.
Okay, so the next big thing we want to look at
is how Health-Ade treats their kombucha
after it's been brewed.
And from our research, we were initially happy to read
about how the founders of Health-Ade were kombucha-purists
and devoted fans of raw and unpasteurized kombucha.
However, in analyzing their website
and recent marketing materials,
we couldn't find any mention of their kombucha
being raw or unpasteurized.
Of course, we decided to email Health-Ade
to see what they were actually doing.
And the response we got was,
"Once our kombucha is fully fermented
using our very own diverse cultures,
we gently and quickly heat the liquid to prevent the growth
of unwanted pathogens and limit the amount
of alcohol produced by naturally-occurring yeast."
That sounds a little like pasteurization, doesn't it?
Of course, without knowing more about this process,
such as exact time and temperature,
it is hard for us to definitely conclude where it sits
on the spectrum in terms of processing.
Needless to say, if we compare it
to Health-Ade's competitors,
it probably sits somewhere between GT's,
who make a fully raw and unpasteurized product,
and Kevita's Kombucha, which is definitely pasteurized.
And if you would like to know more
about our thoughts on pasteurization and kombucha,
check out our video on Kevita,
linked in the description below.
Finally, let's look at how Health-Ade flavors their kombucha
once it has been brewed,
focusing specifically on their Ginger-Lemon Kombucha.
As you can see here, it is simply flavored
with cold-pressed ginger juice and cold-pressed lemon juice.
That's it.
This is very similar to GT's Food-First Approach.
And as a registered dietitian,
I love simple ingredient lists like this.
But even more so, I love when beneficial foods
are used as flavorings.
And since ginger root has known anti-inflammatory,
antioxidant, and digestive health benefits,
it is great to see it included here.
By contrast, when we analyze the flavorings used
by other companies for their ginger kombucha,
we saw many adding in ingredients
like ginger extract and natural flavors.
Okay, so I think it's time for a quick break.
And I bet you're wondering, hey Richelle,
tell us what you think of the taste.
I hear you.
So, let's pour a glass of Health-Ade's Ginger-Lemon Kombucha
and give it a try.
(bottle hisses)
Ooh, it's quite bubbly, look at that.
Ooh, that's fun.
Very strong flavors of ginger.
It definitely has some effervescence,.
But still has some of that vinegary notes.
But that lemon really comes in strong, and that ginger.
Overall, it's a nice kombucha.
So, in doing this taste test,
the biggest thing I noticed is how this tastes
like GT-Kevita's love child.
For starters, it is nice and bubbly like GT's,
but not as effervescent as Kevita,
which relies on carbonated water.
Meanwhile, it tastes sour and tart like real kombucha,
similar to GT's, but packs a stronger flavor punch,
probably due to the addition of lemon juice.
By contrast, Kevita's Ginger Kombucha tastes sweeter
and more like kombucha soda,
which is not surprising given it's derived its flavors
from extracts, natural flavors,
and higher amounts of added sugar.
So, we've already touched on a few things that relate
to the healthiness of Health-Ade's Kombucha.
But now, let's go even deeper to find out
whether Health-Ade's Kombucha is really good for us or not.
I wanna cut straight to the chase here
and look at the probiotics inside Health-Ade's Kombucha.
After all, these are perhaps the number one reason
people are drinking kombucha these days.
And definitely, the number one health benefit
that Health-Ade likes to tell
as it drops the hashtag, follow your gut, everywhere it can.
So, in one bottle of Health-Ade,
you'll find approximately 1 billion CFUs of probiotics.
And given the benchmark from the world-leading
International Scientific Association
for Probiotics and Prebiotics is 1 billion CFUs,
Health-Ade is basically delivering just enough to qualify.
Now, in terms of the types of probiotics
in Health-Ade's Kombucha,
well, as you can see here,
Health-Ade's probiotics come from one type of bacteria,
being Bacillus coagulans.
The specific type of B. coagulans in Health-Ade
is listed as MTCC 5856,
which is actually the exact same probiotic you'll find
in Kevita's Master Brew Kombucha.
And the brand name of this is LactoSpore.
It is made by a company called Sabinsa,
and it's something you can find in probiotic supplements,
as well as fortified foods and beverages.
In other words, it appears the probiotics stated
on Health-Ade's label are added into the kombucha
after it has been brewed,
meaning they are not naturally produced
by the fermentation process itself.
Some people find it surprising
that the probiotics proudly marketed
with commercial kombuchas
don't actually come from the kombucha itself.
And that's why we spent a lot of our time talking about this
in our review of the most popular kombucha: GT's.
And you can find a link to that video
in the description below.
Now, let's look at how good the B. coagulans
MTCC 5856 strain is.
We covered this in our video on Kevita,
but I'll do a quick summary here for you.
So for starters, the probiotic strain
has been clinically studied to confer benefits
on humans when administered in adequate amounts,
and thus meet the WHO's technical definition of a probiotic.
In terms of acid resistance,
it will likely stand up well
to a low pH or highly acidic environment
of both kombucha and your stomach,
meaning it will likely make its way to your GI tract.
It should also be easily tolerated by most people.
And perhaps most interesting, it is extremely stable,
retaining almost 100% of its power over three months
at room temp, or 12 months at a refrigerated temp.
Meaning that by the time you go to drink it,
most of the probiotics should still be alive and kicking.
All things considered, Health-Ade's Kombucha
contains a solid probiotic strain.
Now, with that out of the way,
let's see how Health-Ade's competitors compare
on the probiotic front.
And to make this fair,
we'll standardize the serving size to 12 ounces or 355 mls.
So, with this standardization,
we can see Health-Ade offers roughly 0.75 billion CFUs
for this amount,
and this is nearly double the amount in Remedy,
but much less than its other major competitors.
For example, Humm contains twice as many probiotics
than Health-Ade.
Kevita contains around 2 1/2 times as many probiotics.
Finally, GT's packs their kombucha
with about nine times as many probiotics.
In other words, Health-Ade delivers a probiotic dose,
but nothing close to their major competitors.
Now, with that said, Health-Ade does sell a special kombucha
in their Health-Ade Plus range, called Belly Reset.
And that comes with a much higher dose of probiotics.
But since it's a one-off product
and outside their normal line,
we are not bringing it into our comparison.
Now, let's look at the darker side of kombucha
and analyze the potentially bad stuff
you will find in Health-Ade's Kombucha,
being alcohol, caffeine, and sugar.
So first up, alcohol.
Yes, there is some in kombucha, including Health-Ade's line,
but that's totally understandable given it's a byproduct
of the natural fermentation process.
Thankfully, over the years, Health-Ade,
along with the other leading brands,
have fine-tuned their manufacturing
and fulfillment processes such that this amount
is under 0.5% alcohol.
So, when it comes to alcohol,
as long as you're fine with trace amounts of alcohol,
there's nothing wrong with Health-Ade's Kombucha range.
Now, what about caffeine?
After all, we're talking about a tea-based product.
Well, once again, you are pretty safe here.
For example, Health-Ade's range contains
just 5 to 15 milligrams of caffeine
per 16 fluid ounces or 473 ml bottle,
making it a fraction of the caffeine you'd find
in an equivalent serving of coffee.
And this is a similar story for most other brands,
with the exception of Kevita,
which comes in at roughly 70 milligrams
of caffeine per bottle.
Or said differently, roughly five to eight times more
than Health-Ade.
Lastly, what about sugar?
Well, as we saw earlier, a lot of the sugar added in
during the brewing process will get eaten up by the scoby,
but not necessarily all of it.
So, if we look at Health-Ade's ginger kombucha,
we can see see 13 grams, or just over three teaspoons
of sugar is expected to remain in one bottle
of their kombucha when you drink it.
If you standardize the serving size against its competitors,
Health-Ade is pretty low in sugar.
For example, it's roughly equal to GT's and Humm's,
and about 30% lower in sugar than Kevita.
Finally, let's look at price.
After all, kombucha is one of the priciest drinks
you'll find in the grocery store.
So at the time of this video,
we found Health-Ade's Ginger-Lemon Kombucha
typically retails for $4 per bottle.
Meanwhile, almost all of Health-Ade's competitors
come in slightly cheaper,
with some even going as low as $3.
Hello, Kevita.
So, what we're saying here is that in the kombucha world,
Health-Ade is one of the most expensive mainstream brands
on the market.
But given their recent investment
from First Bev private equity,
we would imagine this price will come down as they continue
to scale their manufacturing and distribution.
So, we've been on a bit of a journey.
And along the way, we've seen that Health-Ade
is a kombucha-obsessed company
and shares a food-first philosophy,
similar to GT's Kombucha.
And when it comes to their main kombucha line,
we saw there are some things we like about it,
such as the use of cold-pressed juices.
And some things we believe could be improved
to bring it closer to the standards
of industry-leading GT's.
Namely, the probiotic count.
Health-Ade is a strong commercial kombucha brand,
but not yet at the same level in terms
of supporting gut health as some of its competitors.
Hello GT's.
If you want to look
at our free Kombucha Brands Comparison Tool
which analyzes the quality of all
the top-selling kombucha brands,
including their exact probiotic count, sugar content,
and more, check out the link in the description below.
And as I mentioned at the start of this video,
we have no affiliations with any of the kombucha brands,
so it is 100% independent and should save you some time.
And if you wanna make your own kombucha at home,
then check out our Ultimate Guide to Kombucha Ebook.
It's free, and the link is also in the description below.
What do you think about Health-Ade's kombucha?
And which is your favorite flavor?
Leave a comment below.
We're fascinated to hear what you've experienced.
And if you enjoyed this video
as part of our Fermented Food Series,
I'd love for you to join our Essential Stacks community
by clicking the Subscribe button below.
We research the most important ways
you can improve your digestive health
so you can love your gut again.
Bye for now.
(air whooshing) (upbeat music)