Liberty kombucha review
Here we will give a hands-on, taste-tested review of Liberty kombucha. We’ll look into the benefits, ingredients, nutrition and flavour of this kombucha.
For this review we have taste-tested the pomegranate version.
Liberty kombucha is available in some health food stores in Australia. We bought it in a Coles Local supermarket, but it is not usually available in a normal Coles store.
Liberty is based in Coburg, Melbourne.
Ingredients of Liberty kombucha
The pomegranate flavour in this kombucha comes from both real ingredients - ie pomegranate juice - and natural flavourings.
It doesn’t however contain any sweeteners which is good news. This is in contrast to a lot of widely available kombuchas in Australia which do add sweeteners for taste (eg Remedy or Lo Bros).
The specific ingredients are: filtered water, organic sugar, organic black tea, organic pomegranate juice (1%), organic kombucha culture and natural flavour.
So there’s nothing concerning in the ingredients, even if I’d prefer that all the pomegranate flavour came from real ingredients, rather than flavourings.
Liberty kombucha is impressively low in calories for a kombucha which doesn’t rely on sweeteners. It has 6.5 calories per 100ml, whereas Buchi kombucha - which is a full real-ingredient kombucha - has 13 calories.
Benefits of Liberty kombucha
This kombucha comes with the usual health benefits associated with kombucha, however more information is needed in some respects.
Live cultures
This kombucha is obviously fermented with and contains live cultures (ie bacteria and yeasts). However, there is no information on the strains included so we don’t know whether they are probiotic - which means they have been proven to provide health benefits.
There’s also no indication of the actual amount of microbes present ie colony forming units.
Learn more about the benefits of probiotics.
Postbiotics
In very simple terms, postbiotics are essentially beneficial things microorganisms produce during fermentation. These include healthy short-chain fatty acids which nourish our gut lining and may help reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Black tea
Black tea is rich in antioxidants which help fight free radicals, protect cells from damage and reduce inflammation.
Studies have shown black tea may also:
improve heart health
improve cholesterol levels
reduce blood pressure
reduce blood sugar levels
Read more about the evidence-based benefits of black tea.
Pomegranate juice
Pomegranate juice is also rich in antioxidants and contains various vitamins (C, K, and folate) and minerals (potassium and magnesium).
However, this kombucha has only 1% pomegranate juice so the benefits might be limited.
Appearance
It is very clear with a yellow tinge.
Flavour
The aroma is fairly unnatural and reminds me of children’s medicine.
The taste is quite lemony with this same strange medicine characteristic. I’m not getting much usual kombucha flavour from it. Even though the ingredients are all natural, the taste comes across as artificial. I imagine this is from the use of natural flavourings which often create an unnatural, unrealistic, one-dimensional or too-strong taste.
The acidity is fairly high which makes it quite refreshing.
The carbonation is okay, but maybe a touch too high when you first sip it.
In summary, the flavour is a bit strange, but not bad.
Cost of Liberty kombucha
We bought a 330ml can for $4.30 from a Coles Local store.
Summary
3.25 stars out of 5.
A kombucha which uses some real ingredients, but is let down by an artificial-seeming taste and no information on its probiotic content.
Pros
uses some real ingredients (and no sweeteners)
contains antioxidants
fairly low in calories
Cons
strange taste (but not awful)
no information on the probiotics included or the amount of them
Your reviewer
This article was reviewed by Travis, the founder of this website, long-time gut enthusiast and passionate kombucha maker!
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