Costco is selling Kirkland Signature Organic Ginger Lemonade Kombucha and I finally decided to buy a case and give it a try. I have been seeing references to kombucha being able to improve digestive health and was curious what the fuss was about.
The label says that each bottle has two billion live and active probiotic cultures and while that is supposed to be a good thing I will admit that it made me a little hesitant to try the product. I couldn’t imagine two billion probiotic cultures tasting good 🙂
The quick review is that the Costco kumbucha has a strong, sweet ginger flavor that is perfectly acceptable. However, the 16 ounce serving size is too large given the concentration of probiotics and added sugar.
Probiotic Information
The Costco kombucha is Raw which means it has not been pasteurized.
Some manufactures of kombucha will pasteurize their drinks to make sure any harmful bacteria that were produced during fermentation are destroyed. While pasteurization is effective at destroying harmful bacteria it also destroys the healthy probiotics.
The Kirkland product has not been pasteurized and contains 2 billion CFUs of live probiotics per bottle. (CFUs = Colony Forming Units)
The primary probiotics in this drink are added as an ingredient and are not naturally occurring. The specific probiotic that is used, DE111 Bacillus Subtilis, is one of the more useful strains as it has been clinically demonstrated to survive the harsh conditions of a human stomach and can make its way to, and thrive in, our intestinal tracks.
Nutrition and Calories
You get eight bottles per case with each bottle holding 16 ounces of kombucha. One bottle is considered a single serving and has the following nutritional information:
- Calories: 70
- Fat: 0g
- Cholesterol: 0mg
- Sodium: 20 mg (1% DV)
- Total Carbs: 19g (7%DV)
- Protein: 0g
Ingredient List
The drink contains:
- Kombucha (fermented tea)
- Ginger Juice
- Lemon Juice
- DE111 Bacillus Subtilis (probiotic)
The product is certified Organic and Raw.
Sugar and Alcohol Content
There are 18 grams of sugar in the Kirkland kombucha. Since kombucha is a fermented product and contains sugar, there is a chance that some alcohol is present.
The box has the statement that if any alcohol is present in the drink then it is at a concentration of less than 0.5%.
Taste Test
The kombucha is lightly carbonated from fermentation which gives it a sparkling and slightly acidic bite that grabs your attention. I enjoy the flavor of fermented foods (check out Costco’s fermented kimchi!) and it was nice to get those slightly acidic, “twangy” flavors in this drink.
The flavor is interesting, pleasing and VERY heavy on the ginger. I think a more appropriate name for the drink would be Gingerade with lemon.
The sweetness is noticeable and acceptable for a lemonade type product that does a nice job of taming some of the ginger flavor.
I didn’t love the flavor, but I didn’t hate it either, and I suspect it is a flavor profile that grows on you.
As far as the two billion probiotic cultures are concerned, you can see their presence by the cloudiness of the drink but I don’t believe they impacted the flavor in any meaningful way.
I haven’t drank enough of these to make any statements about whether kombucha is good for you or not but here is an interesting read about the health benefits of this drink.
Storage
The kombucha contains a lot of live and active cultures along with a bunch of sugar. This means that the drink is not shelf stable and must be refrigerated.
Keeping the drink refrigerated is also important as, at warmer temperatures, the residual yeast can continue to ferment the sugar and the resulting pressure could rupture the bottles.
The box is marked with a “Use By” date that is usually about seven months after your purchase date. If you have any bottles left after seven months go ahead and pitch them in the trash.
Consumption Guide
If you are new to the kombucha scene then it is best to start by only drinking 3-4 ounces (a quarter of a bottle) per day. This will give your body time to adjust to the probiotics from the drink and will limit the amount of added sugars that you will be consuming.
A four ounce serving of the Kirkland drink will have 500,000,000 probiotic cultures and only 4.5 grams of sugar.
When you split each bottle into four servings, and then drink one serving per day, then the eight pack of bottles becomes a month’s worth of kombucha.
After a month you should have a good feel for whether or not you are getting any benefits from the drink.
Not for Everyone
The Cleveland Clinic has published an article that the kombucha is not recommended for the following people:
- Pregnant women
- People with compromised immune systems
- Children
Competing Brands to Consider
My Costco has two other brands of kombucha for sale so you might want to see what options your warehouse carries.
The first alternate brand is a variety pack from Brew Dr. Nutritionally the Brew Dr kombucha is equivalent to the Kirkland product as it is also a Raw and Organic kombucha with 2 billion CFUs per bottle.
The nice thing about the variety pack is that you get to try three different flavors instead of the single flavor offered by the Kirkland product.
The second alternate brand is a six pack of Mango Passionfruit kombucha from Humm. The main selling point of the Humm drink is that it has about 30% less sugar than Kirkland’s. On the negative side, the Humm brand does not state that it is Raw so it has probably been pasteurized.
Item Number and Location
The Costco kombucha is Item Number 1243287.
You can find the drink in the refrigerated coolers with the other healthily drinks like the Pomegranate Juice.
The kombucha is not a seasonal item so you should be able to find it in the coolers all year long.
Price
I bought the eight pack of 16 ounce bottles for $12.99 at Costco which works out to a cost of $1.62 per 16 ounces.
I saw that you can buy a six pack of 16 ounce bottles for a different brand at Walmart for $17.48 which works out to a cost of $2.91 per 16 ounce bottle.
This means that you will save $1.29 per bottle (44%) when you buy your kombucha at Costco.
