In this article, we’ll examine Health Ade to see if it actually lives up to the hype. This means that we will examine Health-Ade Kombucha Review, including how they make it and the precise probiotic species that are present in it.

For those of you who don’t know, kombucha is a fermented tea that promotes a balanced gut microbiome. In addition to helping with digestion, it also improves heart health, increases energy, strengthens the immune system, and aids in weight loss.

We’ll even examine how Health Ade contrasts with other well-liked kombuchas since our research team spent months examining the top kombucha brands for you. Finally, you’ll be able to determine which is best for you. Let’s go!

About Health-Ade

You must be familiar with kombucha if you have any interest in health or nutrition. This super healthy drink has become a craze in the last few years, with consumers loving its delicious taste and nutritional benefits.

Health-Ade is passionate about making the best-tasting, highest-quality kombucha using only natural ingredients. And even though there are a lot of kombucha brands available right now, this one seems to stand out from the competition.

Publications that have featured and recommended Health-Ade include Business Insider, Trend Hunter, EatThis.com, and Forbes. Plus, the company has 155k+ followers on Instagram and 23k+ on Facebook.

So should you buy your next bottle of nourishing goodness from this brand? You can determine that by reading this Health-Ade kombucha review. Keep checking back as we explore the business, its best-sellers, client feedback, and more.

Overview of Health-Ade

In 2012, Justin and Daina Trout, a husband and wife team, and their closest friend Vanessa Drew founded the company Health-Ade in Los Angeles, California. The kombucha was initially sold at LA farmer’s markets, but the brand quickly expanded to include sales in stores and online.

The founders had a dream to make incredibly tasting, healthy, and super high-quality kombucha. With customers’ wellness in mind, the brand focuses on being a “champion of the happiest and healthiest you.“

Today, Health-Ade boasts 29 yummy flavors of kombucha across four different collections. The company offers mixers, which can give your favorite alcoholic or non-alcoholic drink a boost of nutrition, in addition to products that are meant to be consumed as soon as you open the bottle or can.

Traditional Chinese medicine has long utilized the health benefits of kombucha, a fermented tea[1] that has been used for many years. In sweetened green or black tea, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts ferments to produce the beverage. The purported advantages to human health are attributable to this culture, which has the ability to prevent the growth of other microorganisms.

Because fermented foods contain prebiotics and probiotics that have positive effects on health, they have recently attracted a lot of attention[2]. A non-dairy fermented beverage packed with bioactive ingredients is available from Health-Ade Kombucha.

Along with tasting amazing, all Health-Ade kombucha is certified vegan and uses non-USDA organic ingredients and GMOs. The company also supports ethical conditions for all workers involved in the production and distribution of its products.

The company also makes sure to engage the neighborhood. Recently, it partnered with the Garden School Foundation to teach disadvantaged kids about nutrition and gardening.

This Health-Ade kombucha review will examine some highlights now that you are more familiar with the company and its history.

Highlights

• various formulations and flavors (29!)
• Provides health benefits, mostly in terms of gut health
• Many customers argue that this brand’s kombuchas are the best on the market
• Vegan
• Ingredients are non-GMO and USDA Organic Certified
• Can mix the kombucha to make other drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic
• Free shipping in the US
• Shipping packaging keeps product cold and fresh

Whether you prefer fruity, floral, or tangy flavors, this company’s collection includes beverages to appeal to a wide variety of tastes—29 to be exact. And if you’re not sure where to begin, you can get a mixed case to sample some of the favorites of the clientele. Up next, this Health-Ade kombucha review will introduce you to the top-selling drinks.

Health-Ade Kombucha Flavors Review

This Health-Ade kombucha review will now cover some of the brand’s best-selling beverages. There is a flavor for everyone, including juicy watermelon, fruity tropical punch, and elegant bubbly rose.

Health Ade has three main lines: Kombucha, Health-Ade Plus Kombucha, and Pop. Mixers for cocktails or mocktails are also available.

Something to keep in mind is that the Health-Ade kombucha price gets reduced by 15% if you order via a subscription. You can set up a subscription to receive recurrent deliveries of your preferred beverages at specified intervals, ranging from once per week to once every three months.

Health-Ade Daily Essentials Variety – 6 Pack Review

If you’re new to kombucha products, then testing the waters with a Health-AdeDaily Essentials Variety 6 Pack is a great idea to get a taste of what the brand has to offer. The base of this collection is made from kombucha culture, green tea, black tea, and cane sugar.

These benefits of kombucha were highlighted in this article[3]. The presence of organic acids that appear during the fermentation process has been shown in in-vitro studies to have the beverage’s antibacterial activity. Additionally, kombucha was discovered to have hepatoprotective effects against various toxic agents in animal studies, safeguarding your liver. Even kombucha has been shown to have antitumoral activity in some preclinical studies. Although the results are encouraging, larger clinical studies are necessary to support these results.

This essentials pack includes two bottles each of three of the most popular Health-Ade Plus Kombucha flavors. You’ll receive:

1. Health-Ade Plus Kombucha Chill: a grape, vanilla, lavender, and passionflower mix.
2. Health-Ade Plus Kombucha Energy: a lemon and basil flavor with guarana and caffeine.
3. Health-Ade Plus Kombucha Happy: a cold-pressed orange juice, vanilla, and green tea combo.

The Health-Ade Daily Essentials Variety 6 Pack is $32, which works out to be just over $5 per bottle.

Health-Ade Kombucha Sampler – 6 Pack Review

Choosing just one flavor from the many available can be very challenging. That’s where the Health-Ade Kombucha Sampler 6 Pack comes in.

You can almost certainly find your ideal flavor in this pack because it contains six of the company’s top-selling products. In this bundle, you’ll receive one of each of the following:

1. Health-Ade kombucha Pink Lady Apple: a fresh cold-pressed organic pink lady apple flavor.
2. Passion Fruit Tangerine:a tasty and tangy mix of cold-pressed organic tangerine and orange juices, and cold-pressed organic passion fruit juice.
3. Watermelon:a fruity combo of cold-pressed organic watermelon juice and watermelon extract.
4. Bubbly Rose:a luxurious mix of organic pink rose, organic raw mangosteen, and organic hawthorn berry powders.
5. Pomegranate:a delicious cold-pressed organic pomegranate juice flavor.
6. Tropical Punch: an exotic mix of cold-pressed organic pineapple and orange juices, and organic mango puree.

The Sampler 6 Pack is a good choice for new customers. It’s also perfect for people who want to sample a variety of Health-Ade flavors before placing a large order. This bundlecosts $30, which works out to $5 per bottle.

Health-Ade Pop Lemon Lime Review

With this healthy alternative bubbly beverage, you can put an end to your unhealthy soda habit. The Health-AdePop Lemon Lime feels like you’re drinking a deliciously flavored soda, but the company replaces the sugar with gut health-boosting prebiotics.

A review article[4] published in The Journal of Microbiological Methods described the benefits of prebiotics. The composition and activity of your gut microbiome can be altered by these non-absorbable nutrients. Numerous health advantages result from this, including improved calcium and magnesium absorption, increased bone density, lowered risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease, and immune system support.

The best part? This unique beverage includes ingredients you’ll actually recognize: cold-pressed organic ginger juice, calcium and magnesium from seaweed, and cold-pressed organic lemon and lime juices.

Whilethese drinks are delicious as they are, Additionally, Health-Ade advises using them as a distinctive cocktail base. You can find Health-Ade Pop cocktail recipes on the brand’s website.

A refreshing-sounding example includes a spicy watermelon spritz made with Health-Ade Pop Lemon Lime plus watermelon juice, vodka or tequila, and jalapeno. You can grab an eight-pack of this versatile drink for $20.

Health-Ade Grape Vibes Kombucha – 12 Pack Review

If grape soda is your guilty pleasure, then the more nutritious Health-Ade Grape Vibes Kombucha might be worth adding to your diet. Having a complex flavor profile that combines sweet and tangy flavors with a faint floral aftertaste, this beverage offers a wide range of flavor preferences.

The bioactive substances polyphenols and glucuronic acid, which are abundant in kombucha and have a significant impact on health, are highlighted in this article[5]. Together, they seem to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease, control cholesterol metabolism, and prevent hypertension.

This sweet and tasty carbonated kombucha includes cold-pressed organic California grapes. Additionally, there are just three other ingredients that are clearly identifiable: organic black tea, organic green tea, and, of course, kombucha culture.

The Health-Ade Grape Vibes Kombucha 12 Pack costs $48, which works out to $4 per bottle.

Health-Ade Mint Limeade Kombucha – 12 Pack Review

Reminiscent of mojitos on vacation or bootlegs on the beach, the Health-Ade Mint Limeade Kombucha is a fresh and tangy drink for alcohol-free days. However, we’re certain you could also add some vodka or tequila to this one; in fact, the brand suggests it!

This kombucha with lime and mint flavoring is great for hot days or as a cool beverage after exercise. Ingredients include cold-pressed organic lime juice, organic spearmint extract, organic vanilla powder, and probiotics.

A pack of 12 of the Health-Ade Mint Limeade Kombucha is $48. Which ends up being $4 per bottle.

How Well is Health Ade Kombucha Made?

It’s encouraging to see that Health Ade continues to make kombucha largely the same way, despite receiving a sizable investment from Coca-Cola and now being run by private equity.

Brewing Vessel

To begin with, Health Ade continues to brew their kombucha in modest 2.5 gallon glass containers, despite the majority of the industry having switched to producing it in enormous vats that are frequently around the 50 gallon mark. This not only stops plastic or metal from leaking into the kombucha, but it is also exactly how Health Ade founders Daina and Justin first began making their kombucha more than 14 years ago!

Additionally, it is comparable to the proudly employed small batch brewing technique by GTs.

Fermentation Time

Equally intriguing is the fact that Health Ade’s kombucha goes through an appropriate amount of time-consuming fermentation. This is crucial because it gives the SCOBY enough time to do its magic. On their website they say “We let it ferment for a few weeks”.

However, given how ambiguous that is, we did some digging and were able to find an old interview with the founders, in which they claimed to ferment their kombucha for 14 to 21 days.

While some of their rivals use a longer brew period—for example, GTs and Remedy both use a 30-day brew period—others merely withhold their fermentation time. Sadly, many even hide behind statements like “Ours is a proprietary kombucha fermentation process”.

Teas Used

Now, Health Ade brews the tea that goes into their kombucha in a manner that is largely consistent with how everyone else does it. So they combine organic black tea with organic green tea, I suppose.

Sugar Source

Health Ade now makes their tea in a manner that is similar to that of most of their rivals in order for it to be fermented. That implies that they are sweetening their tea with plain cane sugar. And given that the majority of the sugar will be consumed during fermentation and that it primarily serves as a fuel for the process, it is an appropriate source.

Pasteurization

Okay, the next significant issue we want to examine is how Health Ade handles their kombucha after it has 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, we were unable to locate any reference to the kombucha being raw or unpasteurized after reviewing their website and recent marketing materials.

Naturally, we made the decision to email Health Ade to find out what they are 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 yeasts”.

That almost makes pasteurization sound familiar, don’t you think?

Naturally, we cannot say with certainty where this process falls on the processing spectrum without knowing more about it, such as the precise time and temperature.

It goes without saying that when compared to Health Ade’s rivals, it likely falls somewhere between GTs, who produce a fully raw and unpasteurized product, and Kevita’s kombucha, which is unquestionably pasteurized.

Please read our article on Kevita if you’re interested in learning more about our opinions on pasteurization and kombucha.

Flavor

Let’s look at how Health Ade flavors their kombucha after it has been brewed, concentrating on their GINGER-LEMON kombucha in particular.

As you can see, it is simply flavored with cold-pressed juices of lemon and ginger. This is similar to GT’s food-first philosophy, and as a registered dietitian, I appreciate short ingredient lists like this. But I adore it even more when healthy foods are used as flavorings. And it’s wonderful to see ginger root included here because it has well-known anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and digestive health benefits.

In contrast, we discovered that many other companies added ingredients like ginger extract and “natural flavors” when we looked at the flavorings they used for their ginger kombuchas.

Is Health Ade Kombucha Good for You?

So far, we’ve covered a few topics related to Health Ade’s kombucha’s healthfulness. To determine whether Health Ade’s kombucha is actually healthy for us or not, let’s dig even further now.

Probiotic Count

To get right to the point, let’s take a look at Health Ade’s Kombucha’s probiotics. After all, these are arguably the top reasons why people are drinking kombucha today, and they are unquestionably the top health advantages that Health Ade likes to highlight while spreading the hashtag “FOLLOW YOUR GUT” everywhere it can.

Accordingly, there are roughly 1 billion CFUs of probiotics in 1 bottle of Health Ade. Health Ade is essentially providing just enough to meet the criteria given that the industry-leading International Scientific Association for Probiotics & Prebiotics sets a probiotic effect benchmark of 1 billion CFUs.

Type of Probiotics

The types of probiotics found in Health Ade’s kombucha are now discussed…well as you can see, Probiotics from Health Ade are made from the Bacillus Coagulans strain of bacteria. The specific variety of B Coagulans found in Health Ade is identified as MTCC 5856, the same probiotic that can be found in Kevita’s Master Brew kombucha.

LactoSpore is the name of the manufacturer. It is made by a company called Sabinsa and is something you can find in probiotic supplements as well as fortified foods & beverages

To put it another way, it seems that the probiotics listed on Health Ade’s label are added to the kombucha after it has been brewed. Consequently, they are NOT naturally produced by the fermentation process itself. Some find it surprising that the probiotics proudly advertised with commercial kombuchas don’t actually originate from the kombucha. And that’s why we talked at length about it in our review of GTs, the most well-known kombucha.

Is Health Ade Kombucha Bad for You?

Let’s now examine the negative aspects of kombucha and the potentially harmful ingredients that you might find in Health Ade’s kombucha, which are alcohol, caffeine, and sugar.

Alcohol

In kombucha, including Health Ade’s line, there is alcohol, to start with. But given that it’s a by-product of the body’s normal fermentation process, that’s completely understandable.

Fortunately, Health Ade and the other top brands have improved their manufacturing and fulfillment procedures over time, resulting in a level of alcohol that is less than 0.5%.

As long as you’re okay with trace amounts of alcohol, Health Ade’s kombucha line is fine in terms of alcohol.

Caffeine

What about caffeine, now? We are discussing a tea-based product after all.

You’re pretty safe here, to repeat. For instance, the Health Ade line has only 5 to 15 milligrams of caffeine per 16 fluid ounce (473 milliliter) bottle. Consequently, it contains a tiny portion of the caffeine that an equivalent serving of coffee would contain.

With the exception of Kevita, which contains about 70 mg of caffeine per bottle — or, to put it another way, roughly 5 to 8 times as much as Health Ade — this is also true for the majority of other brands.

Sugar

And what about sugar, finally? Well, as we already saw, the SCOBY will consume a significant portion of the sugar added during the brewing process. but not necessarily all of it.

Therefore, if we look at Health Ade’s Ginger kombucha, we can see that 13 grams, or slightly more than 3 teaspoons, of sugar is expected to remain in 1 bottle of their kombucha when you drink it.

The serving size of Health Ade is relatively low in sugar when compared to its rivals’ serving sizes. In comparison to Kevita, it has about 30% less sugar and is roughly equivalent to GTs and Humm.

How Expensive is Kevita Kombucha?

Let’s examine the cost lastly…after all, kombucha is one of the priciest drinks you’ll find in the grocery store! So, at the time this article was written, we learned that Health Ade’s Ginger-Lemon Kombucha usually sells for $4 per bottle.

Nearly ALL of Health Ade’s rivals, however, offer products at slightly lower prices, some of them as low as $3…hello Kevita!

So what we’re saying is that Health Ade is one of the most expensive mainstream brands available in the kombucha market. However, based on their most recent investments from First Bev private equity, we anticipate that this price will decrease as they continue to expand their manufacturing and distribution.

FAQs

Is Health-Ade Worth It?

So, it’s safe to say that we’ve traveled a little. Along the way, it became clear that Health Ade was a kombucha-obsessed business that shared GTs Kombucha’s food-first ethos.

And when it comes to their main kombucha line, we noticed that while there are some aspects of it that we like, like the use of cold-pressed juices, there are also some areas that we think could be improved to bring it more in line with the standards of industry-leading GTs, specifically the probiotic count.

For us at Essential Stacks, Health Ade is a powerful commercial kombucha brand, but it is not yet on par with some of its rivals in terms of promoting gut health (hello, GTs!).).