Kombucha beverages are a vital component of the alternative beverage category. Boasting a variety of health benefits, one of kombucha’s more noteworthy claims has been its ability to deliver beneficial probiotics. However, that is a misleading misnomer, according to Ventura, CA-based KeVita Inc., whose own range of fermented sparkling probiotic beverages have been formulated to preserve the live, raw health benefits of health-imparting bacteria found in traditional dairy kefir from the Middle East.
 
KeVita contends that while kombucha contains bacteria and yeasts, they are not those that were necessarily identified or clinically studied. What’s more, after drawing scrutiny for containing minute amounts of alcohol, many kombucha beverages were pulled from the shelves and subsequently pasteurized—rendering their live and active cultures dead on arrival.
 
“Several kombucha manufacturers utilize pasteurization that kill the live cultures in order to limit alcohol production,” said KeVita’s Bill Moses, CEO and co-founder. “However, at KeVita, we’ve devised a proprietary technique that enables us to deliver a delicious, live and active raw culture through the end of shelf-life.”
 
Both KeVita and kombucha are made with SCOBYs (Symbiotic Cultures of Bacteria and Yeast) but the SCOBYs are markedly different. Kombucha is traditionally made using sweetened black tea while KeVita uses either purified water, organic coconut water or organic tea as the base. In addition, KeVita’s proprietary and certified organic probiotic culture is made from fresh kefir-derived cultures, which contain the beneficial bacteria Lactobacillus paracasei.
 
Following fermentation, the mixture is blended with a combination of cold pressed plant extracts, organic fruit puree or concentrates and organic flavors, which add a lightly flavored complement to the beverage’s digestive and immune enhancing probiotics. The beverages are cold-processed, non-pasteurized and kept chilled during manufacturing, bottling and transportation. They are not heated during production in order to maintain the integrity of KeVita’s certified organic living cultures and to preserve the antioxidants, organic acids, polysaccharides, trace elements, nutrients and live probiotics inside each bottle.
 
The line is comprised of nine, stevia-sweetened flavors: Coconut, Mango Coconut, Strawberry Acai, Pomegranate Coconut, Lemon Ginger, Pomegranate Black Tea, Pomegranate, Living Greens and Green Tea.
 
Chakra Earthsong Levy, KeVita’s chief formulator and co-founder, explained that while the inspiration behind the creation of the beverages was to create a healthy alternative to soda, the journey from concept to finished product took a long and winding route. “KeVita emerged quite naturally actually. After decades of culturing sauerkraut, seed and nut cheeses, traditional kefir and yogurt, I created what I fondly call ‘my best ferment,’” Ms. Levy said. “A year in development, Lemon Ginger was the first flavor, followed by Living Greens and Green Tea. Living Greens is such a powerful blend of superfoods with just the right amount of green tea.”
 
Two flavors, Green Tea and Living Greens each contain 50 grams of caffeine per 8-oz. serving (coffee contains 100 mg of caffeine per 8-oz. serving). The “lift” from drinking Living Greens is attributed to its green phytoalgae superfood blend and green tea. Lemon Ginger and the coconut-based flavors are caffeine-free.
 
All of the beverages are naturally fermented lightly infused with carbon dioxide, however, the company says they contain less than one-quarter the carbonation of soda.
 
All nine of the KeVita flavors are certified organic and have a 6-month shelf life, providing the cold chain is honored. “KeVita must be kept refrigerated and we invest significant resources upholding our cold chain policy,” noted Ms. Levy. “Naturally cultured or fermented drinks cannot be shipped warm then chilled, unless they have been pasteurized.”
 
Though the brand launched two years ago it recently expanded nationally and, according to the company, has become the leading sparkling probiotic drink sold in Whole Foods market venues. This spring the company will transition into a new, expanded production facility which contains larger tanks to assist in increased production demands. For more information about KeVita, follow this link.