Adding Juice to Kombucha, Shelf Life and Bacteria

A Pure Luck® PSA 😉

We always bottle Pure Kombucha™ strictly without adding juice. The first and simplest reason is because science informs us that the maximum nutrients in fresh juice only last about 20 minutes after juicing. Degrading quickly. What was once nutrient rich juice turns into mostly just sugar and fiber. 

However, there is another, slightly more sinister, unseen reason. The juicing process adds bacteria. Let’s imagine how far fruits travel, the place of origin, the handlers and the machines. Hands, planes, boats and trucks. The scale is incredible, it’s hard to fully comprehend. In America, Listeria is a great example of bacterial contamination in fruit. If the juice processors are not heating the juice to kill bacteria. Then by consuming kombucha with juices you are exposing your gut to potential bad bacteria that you may not want. 

What about kombucha being an “acidified” food? It’s true that having a pH below 4.0 is acidified and therefore considered a safe threshold for “bad” bacterial contamination. In other words these bacteria can’t survive. However, Listeria and E-Coli both happen to be acid tolerant. A short fermented kombucha may have a pH between 3.5 and 4.0. At this pH both Listeria and E-Coli have been found to be tolerant and can survive.

If kombucha is more than a couple months old, doesn’t the bacteria become less potent? The last point is about shelf life is this. Ask the European space agency. They sent kombucha bacteria to space because how strong it is in surviving even the harshest conditions. Our thought, kombucha likes warm temperatures, and is most active at these temperatures. So by refrigerating kombucha you are making it – less active – since you are essentially putting it into hibernation.

The reality is, being able to store kombucha at room temperature and not adding juice is the only way to get the best, proven health benefits. If you drink kombucha for the health benefits, then Pure Kombucha™️ is the only way to go!