Product review: Mojo Kombucha and Kombucha Wonder Drink

The first time I heard the word kombucha was in System Of A Down’s Sugar (“the kombucha mushroom people, sitting around all day…”). Curious as I am, I looked for the term online and found that it was a fermented drink that hippies used to drink. I was incredibly uninterested for years until I heard Angelo Coppola mentioning his kombucha brewing and drinking habits in his podcast. I had been making and eating sauerkraut for a while, tried store-bought and homemade kefir, and was keen on introducing more probiotic-containing fermented foods into my diet.

On a particularly hot day, I bought a bottle of original flavour Mojo Kombucha at my local health shop. It had more gas than what I was expecting, so I spilled a fair bit when opening it (should have let it settle down after the bike ride). I was expecting a slightly off-putting flavour but was immensely surprised when I noticed it tasted almost exactly like chicha de jora, a Peruvian drink made from fermented maize, with the huge plus of being grain-free and having beneficial bacteria.

Still, I decided not to drink it in a regular basis because it does contain sugar. Thus, I decided not to make it at home because that would mean drinking it like crazy (the SCOBY – symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast is a living organism that grows and multiplies), but I have it once in a while.

This time I bought one of each of the two brands that my local shop carries, both in original flavours, to compare between them. Mojo Kombucha comes in a 330 ml bottle and is made in Australia. Kombucha Wonder Drink comes in a can (8.4 oz or 250 ml, they also do 14 oz bottles) and is made in the USA.

Wonder Drink was darker in colour and seemed to be thicker. Mojo seemed to have finer bubbles, making it fizzier. Mojo tasted more like tangy chicha de jora, Wonder Drink felt sweeter and didn’t taste as fermented.

Here’s a nutrient comparison table per 100 ml.

	Mojo Kombucha	Kombucha wonder drink
Calories	27	24
Carbohydrate	16 g	6.4 g
Sugars	3.8 g	3.2 g
Protein	Less than .1g	0 g
Fat	Less than .1g	0 g
Sodium	9 mg	0 mg
Potassium	7 mg	N/A
Lactic Acid	20mg	N/A

Finally, these are other flavours that I hope to eventually try… perhaps if the manufacturers/distributors are willing to send some free samples my way 😉

Mojo Kombucha

• ginger tonic
• lemon citrus

Kombucha Wonder Drink

• 14 oz. bottles
  • asian pear & ginger
  • essence of lemon
  • niagara grape
  • cherry cassis
  • essence of peach
  • essence of juniper berry, spearmint & lemon myrtle
  • essence of mango
• 8.4 oz. cans
  • asian pear & ginger
  • green tea & lemon

More information about kombucha and how to make your own:

• Kombucha in Wikipedia
• Easy recipe: Home-brewed kombucha from Balanced Bites
• Refreshing homebrewed kombucha tea from Mark’s Daily Apple

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