Clearly Kombucha is a beverage company that produces artisanal, traditionally brewed kombucha sparkling tea. Here's our Clearly Kombucha Review.
What is Clearly Kombucha?
Clearly Kombucha has a selection of differently flavored sparkling tea drinks, ranging from Asian Pear, Black Currant, Raspberry Ginger, Raspberry Lemonade, Strawberry Hibiscus, and Ginger Mint Lemonade.
Clearly Kombucha Features: How Does It Work?
Clearly Kombucha is brewed using traditional kombucha brewing methods, beginning with black or green tea, combining it with all-natural ingredients like fruit juice from concentrate, and then fermenting it with the help of a “symbiotic ‘colony' of bacteria and yeast” (SCOBY).
Who Makes Clearly Kombucha?
Clearly Kombucha is made by Top Shelf Beverages, Inc., located in the San Francisco Bay area. Founded in 2009 by current CEO Ali Zarrow and President Caleb Cargle, the company employs several talented individuals to brew its kombucha products, oversee its production line, manage its back office, and promote its products over social media.
Top Shelf Beverages also makes other non-kombucha beverages under the “C Botanicals” trademark. These are so-called “functional beverages” that are designed to provide health benefits associated with their ingredients. These include ingredients thought to have holistic or alternative remedies, like ginger root, turmeric cardamom, lemongrass, and others.
Clearly Kombucha Ingredients
Clearly Kombucha is made using traditional, all-natural brewing methods. These methods make use of either green tea or black tea as a base, along with any other natural ingredients used for flavor.
These ingredients, which are certified organic, gluten-free, fair trade, and non-GMO, are then fermented through the use of the aforementioned SCOBY, a carefully-selected colony of specific yeasts and beneficial bacteria.
Using SCOBY to ferment the base changes the flavor profile and also results in lightly carbonating the kombucha. It also creates trace amounts of alcohol as a by-product, but Clearly Kombucha takes great pains to selectively filter the alcohol-producing yeast from the product while preserving the beneficial gut bacteria.
The result is a non-alcoholic, fermented tea that purportedly has health benefits as a functional beverage. These benefits include a stronger immune system and increased physical energy.
Clearly Kombucha Pricing
Clearly Kombucha is distributed nationally, though this distribution tends to favor the US West Coast as it is a product of the San Francisco Bay area. However, for those without a retailer near them that offers Clearly Kombucha for retail, the company’s products are available for order directly from the website.
Customers can order six 14-ounce bottles at a time. These orders can consist of either six bottles of an individual flavor or a six-pack of assorted flavors (one of each). Additionally, individuals interested in sampling Top Shelf Beverages’ other beverage line can order a five-pack of its C Botanicals beverages.
All orders, regardless of content, are $20 USD. Shipping fees and taxes, if any, are applied at checkout.
Clearly Kombucha Reviews: What Do Customers Have to Say?
Clearly Kombucha has been making its own kombucha beverages since 2009, which has made it easy for us to find reviews of the different flavors. These reviews tend to be highly positive overall, with many of the different flavors earning around 4 out of 5 stars on Amazon.
Pros:
Clear – unlike many other kombucha drinks, Clearly Kombucha is carefully and purposefully filtered, resulting in an exceptionally clear beverage. Customers used to cloudier kombucha drinks with leftover yeast sediment have noticed Clearly Kombucha’s lack of sediment. This has been a strong selling point.
Low Sugar Content – Clearly Kombucha tends to be much less sugary than other kombuchas, thanks to the company’s filtration and brewing process. A 12-ounce serving only has around 40 calories and 10 grams of sugar – easily half of other products with similar serving sizes. This makes Clearly Kombucha popular among those watching their sugar intake.
Subtle Taste – Many have reported the taste of Clearly Kombucha is much more subtle and refreshing than other kombucha products out there. Specifically mentioned is the lack of a particularly vinegary note, something that is quite common in other drinks – sometimes a byproduct of too much fermentation.
Health Benefits – While this next point is fuzzy when it comes to scientific evidence to back it up, drinking kombucha is thought to have health benefits such as increased energy, and stronger immune systems. Whether or not you believe that is up to you.
Cons:
Must Stay Refrigerated – These products are usually shipped with cold packs to keep them cold. However, some have reported that, upon receiving their orders in the mail, the kombucha’s flavor was ruined because it hadn’t been kept cold during transport.
Pricey – At $20 for a six-pack, Clearly Kombucha are a little over $3 a bottle before shipping and taxes. This puts the beverage at the high end of the affordability spectrum, especially since each bottle contains only 14 ounces.
Overall, when compared to other kombucha brands, Clearly Kombucha has been reviewed highly positively for its all-natural approach to brewing kombucha. Reviewers have praised the company for being certified gluten-free, fair trade, organic, and created without the use of GMOs.
Should You Buy Clearly Kombucha?
There are any number of reasons why you might be interested in purchasing Clearly Kombucha.
If you’re a kombucha fan but you don’t like the idea of poorly-filtered beverages teeming with “floaties” because of poor filtration, Clearly Kombucha is right up your alley. If you want the health benefits of kombucha without the overpowering vinegary taste, Clearly Kombucha’s subtle flavors are likely to be a crowd-pleaser. Finally, if you prefer your beverages organic and all-natural, Clearly Kombucha has you covered there as well.
The only drawback we can see to this product is that is on the pricey side if you order it directly from the company website. However, if you don’t have a store near you that carries your favorite flavor, this might be the only option open to you for getting that sparkly kombucha goodness in your life. Just be aware that because of the need to keep kombucha cold in transit, shipping prices might be very high indeed.
