{"id":459598,"date":"2026-09-10T17:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/459598\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T17:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T17:52:12","slug":"sacramentos-craft-beverage-scene-makes-room-for-kombucha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/459598\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento\u2019s Craft Beverage Scene Makes Room for Kombucha"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

This story is part of our September 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.<\/a><\/p>\n


\n
\n <\/p>\n

\n Not long ago, the idea that a fizzy, flavored, fermented tea
\n could earn its place alongside craft beer and coffee might have
\n seemed plum crazy. But Plum Crazy, a hard kombucha from
\n Rocklin-based Mindscape Fermentations, clocks in at 3.0 percent
\n ABV and shows why this once-niche drink is finding a place on
\n craft beverage menus. Part of a rotating series made with
\n seasonal ingredients, Plum Crazy is fruity and refreshing yet
\n complex, without the funky aftertaste found in many store-bought
\n kombuchas.\n<\/p>\n

\n Kombucha is made by fermenting sweetened tea with a culture of
\n bacteria and yeast, producing a tart, fizzy drink commonly
\n associated with probiotics and gut health. Though the name is
\n Japanese for \u201cseaweed tea,\u201d it is neither Japanese nor made with
\n seaweed; an unknown Westerner gave it the name in the 20th
\n century in reference to the algae-like SCOBY (symbiotic culture
\n of bacteria and yeast) that forms on top of the brew.\n<\/p>\n

\n Grand View Research estimates the global kombucha market will
\n reach $5.5 billion in 2026 and top $9 billion by 2033. The local
\n kombucha scene has been slower to take root, with three
\n commercial kombucha makers operating in the 10-county Capital
\n Region compared with dozens of craft breweries.\n<\/p>\n

\n Even so, kombucha has found its way onto menus at restaurants,
\n breweries and coffee shops, offering another option for customers
\n looking beyond beer, coffee and soda. Recent closures, however,
\n underline the challenges local kombucha still faces in a crowded
\n craft beverage scene.\n<\/p>\n

From farmers markets to local menus<\/p>\n

\n Born in Oak Park, KC Kombucha has become widely available
\n throughout the Sacramento area, with close to 50 wholesale
\n accounts, from restaurants like The Kitchen and Bacon & Butter to
\n craft breweries and all five Old Soul Co. locations. KC also
\n continues to pour where it started: farmers markets.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cFarmers markets are where we see the majority of our refills,\u201d
\n KC Kombucha owner and master brewer Michelle Grubbs says. \u201cThe
\n last couple of times we\u2019ve brought out kombucha to any of our
\n markets, we can\u2019t keep enough in stock.\u201d Grubbs works with farms
\n in Chico, Delhi, Monterey and Marysville to source seasonal
\n ingredients. \u201cI get it directly from them at the farmers market,
\n so it\u2019s at the peak of freshness.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Courtney Edwards is co-founder of KC Kombucha, which is available
\n at restaurants, breweries and Old Soul coffee shops in the
\n Sacramento area. (Photo by Rachel Valley)\n<\/p>\n

Grubbs first got involved with KC Kombucha by
\n donating fruit from her backyard trees to the fledgling company.
\n She became friends and coworkers with original KC owners Courtney
\n Edwards and Kevin O\u2019Toole before purchasing the company in 2025.\n<\/p>\n

\n Although KC force-carbonates to keep its kombucha below the
\n legally non-alcoholic threshold of 0.5 percent ABV, Grubbs says
\n taste matters more than potential probiotic benefits. \u201cThere
\n could be 1,000 health benefits, but if you don\u2019t like it, you
\n shouldn\u2019t drink it,\u201d she says.\n<\/p>\n

\n While kombucha drinkers are increasingly diverse, Grubbs
\n identifies three core audiences for her products. \u201cOne is the
\n health-conscious group who is looking to increase the number of
\n probiotics they\u2019re getting in their diet,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then we
\n have people who are trying to decrease the amount of soda or
\n alcohol they\u2019re drinking. But I think the number one reason is
\n the taste.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Growing demand helped KC Kombucha expand, but it also exposed the
\n limitations of its tiny Oak Park taproom. After taking over the
\n recently closed Zeal Kombucha\u2019s brewing space and equipment in
\n 2023, KC increased capacity for wholesale accounts. Maintaining a
\n taproom separate from its brewing space became impractical, and
\n Grubbs made the difficult decision to close the Broadway location
\n in April 2025.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThat space on Broadway didn\u2019t have a way to get pallets in and
\n out,\u201d she says. \u201cIt just made it very difficult to transfer all
\n the kombucha from one location to another.\u201d A winner of the
\n Sacramento County Sustainable Business Award in 2025, KC also
\n decided to eliminate cans and bottles, focusing on a keg-first
\n approach to bulk distribution. \u201cWe just want to be as sustainable
\n as possible,\u201d Grubbs says.\n<\/p>\n

A wider world of fermentation<\/p>\n

\n If KC shows how kombucha can spread across local menus, Mindscape
\n shows how far fermentation can stretch. Founded in 2022 by beer
\n industry veterans, Mindscape is the only business in the area to
\n produce both craft beer and hard kombucha. It is also the only
\n fully female-owned and -operated brewery in the Capital Region.
\n \u201cBeer and kombucha was definitely the first original baby
\n vision,\u201d co-founder Lauren Houston says. \u201cThe idea was that we
\n want to feel good about what we\u2019re putting in people\u2019s bodies and
\n keep things exciting for the customer.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Today, Mindscape\u2019s menu stretches well beyond beer and kombucha,
\n with hard seltzers, kefir waters, probiotic sodas and a wide
\n variety of fermented foods.\n<\/p>\n

\n For Houston, quality, freshness and sustainability matter more
\n than wellness claims. \u201cThe biggest thing that we try to do is
\n balance flavor and character,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of
\n kombuchas out there that are either overly sweet, or they\u2019re
\n really sour almost like vinegar, and so we try to find the
\n balance right in between with the way we ferment it and how long
\n we ferment it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n That leads to Plum Crazy, whose silky vanilla backbone supports
\n lovely plum flavors so hyper-local that they came from Houston\u2019s
\n neighbor\u2019s yard. \u201cWe actually know a lot of people locally that
\n just have too much fruit on their trees, and so we welcome them
\n to bring it in as long as they don\u2019t use pesticides,\u201d she says.
\n \u201cThey\u2019ll bring in their excess, and we\u2019ll make something
\n delicious out of it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Finding a place on tap<\/p>\n

\n Is Sacramento a good kombucha town? \u201cWell, honestly, I don\u2019t know
\n that it is,\u201d Grubbs says. Besides Zeal Kombucha, other recent
\n closures include short-lived hard kombucha brewery Shorebirds
\n Brewing Company in Rancho Cordova, as well as Nash\u2019s Kombucha in
\n Auburn. Gold Vibe Kombuchary, which produces both hard and
\n non-alcoholic kombucha, continues to operate in Grass Valley.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Brewer and bartender Darian Chanelle pours some of Mindscape
\n Fermentations\u2019 offerings at the Rocklin location. (Photo by
\n Rachel Valley)\n<\/p>\n

Still, KC Kombucha is on tap all over town,
\n including at all three Bike Dog Brewing Company taprooms. \u201cWe
\n didn\u2019t want to dabble in kombucha ourselves,\u201d Bike Dog co-owner
\n Raef Porter says. \u201cBut we did want to have more non-alcoholic or
\n low-alcoholic options.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Bike Dog has even started blending non-alcoholic KC Kombucha with
\n its sour beers to create a more flavorful yet lower-alcohol
\n option. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of people who come in and want either a
\n low- or no-alcohol option,\u201d Porter says. \u201cPeople say, \u2018I like
\n your sour, but I don\u2019t want an 8 percent beer,\u2019 so we\u2019ll put a
\n little kombucha in there and bring it down.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Mindscape\u2019s hard kombucha also turns up alongside craft beer at
\n nearby establishments like the Moksa Barrel House in Roseville.
\n Moksa Brewing Company owner and CEO Scott Williams estimates that
\n the Barrel House goes through a keg of Mindscape kombucha a week.
\n \u201cWe like to bring in things for that alternative stuff that we
\n just don\u2019t make,\u201d he says. \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily know if it\u2019s
\n healthier for you, but a lot of people think that it is, even
\n though it\u2019s got alcohol in it.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n That same shift is reaching beyond breweries and into coffee
\n shops, where Old Soul Co. sees an opportunity for
\n evening-friendly non-alcoholic drinks. \u201cWe are seeing the trend
\n of where alcohol is heading,\u201d Daniel Bear, director of operations
\n at Old Soul Co., says. \u201cI feel a lot of Americans are opening
\n their eyes to the fact that we don\u2019t need to have an alcoholic
\n beverage every night.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Old Soul is testing out kombucha mocktails in its coffee shops,
\n blending fruity KC Kombucha with a vinegar shrub to create a
\n flavorful, full-bodied drink built for slower sipping. \u201cIt\u2019s this
\n great, full, intense drink without alcohol,\u201d Bear says. \u201cYou
\n start to really evaluate it like you would with a nice wine or a
\n great cocktail.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Back at Mindscape Fermentations in Rocklin, Houston has noticed
\n that fruity kombuchas have become an easier sell. \u201cThe
\n demographic is much wider than we initially thought it would be,\u201d
\n she says. \u201cWe\u2019ll get the stereotypical macho man in here that
\n will only drink beer. And the next thing we look, every guy in
\n the bar has a pink drink in front of him.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n \u2013\n<\/p>\n

\n Stay up to date on business in the Capital Region:
\n Subscribe to the Comstock\u2019s newsletter
\n today.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story is part of our September 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here. …\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":459599,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-459598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459598"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459598\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/459599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}