Gutsy Kombucha

Sipdown (799)!

I’m so proud of myself for getting back under 800 teas so quickly; and I know it’s going to be short lived because I have a sample order from August Uncommon on the way but I’m really hoping I can keep this momentum going!

This ended up being my favourite of the Gutsy kombuchas (and I actually ordered more in this week’s Lufa/Grocery box) – which did surprise me a little bit. It’s pretty straight forward in its flavours though, and very accurate to the name. It really does just taste like a very bright, tart and juicy hibiscus note matched with that sweet, coating licorice type taste of fennel. I can see it probably being really polarizing because that fennel note is so incredibly strong, but I thought it was unique and refreshing and I latched on to that flavour…

Honestly, none of the kombucha flavours from this company were really bad or unpleasant and in one way or another I’d probably consider ordering all of them again. This one just stands out to me as being so unique in addition to being tasty, though. THe cardamom flavour is a very close second, though!

Picked up one of these in my last grocery shopping haul. It wasn’t something I really liked in the moment when I last had it, but I found myself thinking back on it more fondly than I’d expected. It’s more like a ginger beer than a kombucha and I think I just needed to shift that mentality a bit in order to appreciate it more.

Sipdown (796)!

If I’m ranking the three kombucha flavours I’ve tried from Gutsy so far, then this one is right in the middle. It wasn’t unpleasant at all but it was a whole lot of ginger without ANY raspberry and I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a little bit disappointing. It still tasted good (like a more vinegar-y ginger beer), but I’d have liked a bit of sweetness from the berry…

This most recent can, while delicious, was a bit more fruity than I recall previous batches tasting. Still very cardamom forward with an expected citrusy undertone but I could have sworn this was also a little apple-y?

Something I just cracked open and drank one of the evenings during advent season. By the time the evening hit during advents I was often so tired that I didn’t want to make LLT, but canned drinks were quick and refreshing so I had a decent amount of kombucha. As y’all know, this fizzy cardamom one is my favourite.

Recently found a restaurant that carries Gutsy Kombucha – something I hadn’t had in over a year since I suspended my local produce/craft product delivery service at the start of the pandemic. I got a few of my favourite flavours the last time I ordered – including this one. While the other flavours that I got were as good (if not better) than I remembered, something about this one didn’t quite hit the same spot. It was still very good with a pronounced citrus-y and sweet cardamom note but I just didn’t love it as much as I remembered. Still – it’s very nice to have another source that I can buy these from!

Had this one on the way to work today; I’ve paused my Lufa boxes until everything settles during the Coronavirus craziness so no more kombucha top ups for a little while…

This was nice though; the ginger was the strongest note but deepened by sweet cardamom and a tangy apple type of flavour. All in all an excellent tea, though ginger always makes my throat tickles and I ended up kind of “choke coughing” after a particularly large swig on the metro this morning, and holy hell did that get some INTENSE states…

Aside from the two or three other people on the metro with me though, I didn’t walk past a single other human on my way to the office today. It was eery.

This was the one non-cake tea I had today, and I drank it over lunch.

I don’t remember much about how it tasted today; honestly much of my work day today is a total blur. As I said in a previous tasting note this evening, it has been a SURREAL birthday!

Sipdown (800)!

I liked this kombucha a lot more, in terms of taste, than the first one I tried from the company – not that the last one was exactly bad. I was kind of weirded out by what a cardamom kombucha might taste like, but in practice while the cardamom flavour was pretty clear it wasn’t actually that strong or intense and it worked almost shockingly well with the more acidic/vinegary notes, hints of ginger, and citrus. In fact, I almost wanted more cardamom from the profile!

Ultimately, I still loved this a lot – it was unique and refreshing and a great take on a spiced kombucha flavour profile!

Ordered lunch to the office and my meal came with a kombucha. Unfortunately they were sold out of all my favourite Gutsy flavours, so I ended up grabbing this one as an alternative. It’s been, like, three years since I last had it so it was kind of interesting to revisit and see if my impressions had changed at all. The long and short of it, though, is that they hadn’t. Still a decently delicious kombucha but lacks the “magic” of some of Gutsy’s other flavours.

Sipdown (729)!

There’s a few different kombucha companies carried by Lufa, which is the weekly food delivery box that I do, and I’ve worked my way through their offerings now – but this past week they added a new one so I just picked up all four flavours of kombucha in their collection and added them to my weekly box.

I haven’t had much time to try them out in between my advents teas each day, but I had this one last night. I’m not entirely sure what skullcap is supposed to taste like but I know it’s apparently good for insomnia/helping people fall asleep so I figured this would be a good late night option. Admittedly, not a half hour after I started drinking this tea I was finding it IMPOSSIBLE to keep my eyes open. So, I think it works!?

Taste wise it was also really enjoyable – definitely channeling a bit of a sweeter cider vibe, but with an undertone of lemon/citrus and a nice gingery finish. So, kind of reminded me of a lighter and more nuanced hard cider. Complete with delightful fermentation fizz. If it weren’t for the fact it apparently make me SUPER tired, I think I could probably drink this on the regular – it was really smooth/easy drinking!