If you are embarking on a dry January, the grown-up, complex flavours of good kombucha may help you stay on the straight and narrow.
If you haven’t come across it before, kombucha is a lightly fizzy drink produced by the fermentation of sweetened green or black tea using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (scoby). It is probiotic and rich in antioxidants, which many believe is good for your gut and promotes a healthy immune system. You can make it at home, and All About Kombucha sell kits on their website, but many consumers prefer to buy it. Like alcohol-free beer, it has less than 0.5 per cent alcohol.
Friends and founders Emmett Kerrigan and Keith Loftus emigrated together to Vancouver, Canada, back in 2014. Both Galway natives, they set up their first business, a gardening services company, in Canada aged 20 and 21.
“It was a big challenge and an adventure,” Emmett says. “We formed a great bond. We first came across Kombucha there, drinking it while working. It was popular, but back then there was only one company in Ireland making genuine kombucha.” After two years, they moved home.
The company started in Emmett’s kitchen, and has now expanded with a factory in Claregalway in the Galway Gaeltacht, assisted by Údarás na Gaeltachta. In 2020, they won the Grow With Aldi programme. They now supply three flavours of kombucha for Dunnes Simply Better range, available in cans. They can sell directly to customers anywhere in the country via a subscription model, weekly or monthly.
[ Taking a break from wine? Kombucha and kefir are great alternativesOpens in new window ]
Their kombuchas are organic, unpasteurised and live. “It is really important to us,” says Emmett. “We have spent a lot of time, money and effort providing a real unpasteurised kombucha. If you pasteurise it, you lose all the benefits. In 2025 we plan on doing a lot more initiatives towards sustainability, real-life events bringing people together. We are very excited and will be out and about a lot more.”
Prokulture Organic Blood Orange & Turmeric Kombucha 330ml Specially Selected
€2.29, 330ml can
A delicious and keenly priced kombucha with a spicy, earthy quality and mouth-watering orange fruits. Sounds strange, but it really works beautifully.
From Aldi
All About Kombucha Organic Ginger & Lemon
€4, 330ml can
Spicy and fresh with tangy citrus and a nice ginger kick.
From allaboutkombucha.ie
All About Kombucha Organic Raspberry
€4, 330ml can
Pure juicy ripe raspberry fruits with a refreshing acidity.
From allaboutkombucha.ie
All About Kombucha Organic Blueberry & Mint
€4, 330ml can
Thirst-quenching dark fruits with a subtle herbal touch.
From allaboutkombucha.ie
