Kombucha has always been one of those things that I really wanted to like, but it just never did it for me. My college friends would say things like “wow, you know what sounds SO refreshing right now? An ice cold kombucha!” and wanting to be a part of it, I would drop $4.99 on a bottle of slightly effervescent, vinegary water and begrudgingly drink it, wishing it were, well, anything else.
So when I heard about this trendy hard kombucha brand called JuneShine, I was unmoved. If I feel like drinking canned booze, I’ll typically reach for a hard seltzer over beer. But when a case of hard kombucha appeared at my birthday picnic last month, I felt almost obligated to try one. I’m a sucker for cool packaging, and the first thing that caught my eye was the Midnight Painkiller flavor, which has upside-down writing on it.
The reason for that? On top of being organic, probiotic, and gluten-free, that particular flavor also contains activated charcoal. How cool is that? Essentially, it’s the “healthiest” alcoholic beverage that I’ve crossed paths with.
As a kombucha-skeptic, I was pleasantly surprised by JuneShine from the very first sip. It was sweet, but not overwhelmingly so, and the coconut, pineapple, mango, and nutmeg (crazy, huh?) blend made it the perfect bevvie to drink on a steamy summer day. No gross vinegary aftertaste either — just a smooth, refreshing, and supremely drinkable finish. At a mellow 6% ABV, I could see myself sipping a few of those without feeling too hazy, and once I got home from the picnic, I immediately hit up their website to check out what other wacky flavors they’ve crafted up.
On top of the Midnight Painkiller, the Hopical Citrus, Blood Orange Mint, and Acai Berry caught my eye, so I decided to spring for their Sampler Pack. It’s pre-set with four popular flavors, but you can customize your own with four different flavors that get shipped straight to your door. I’d definitely recommend that option, because all four flavors were equally delightful. Over the last month, I’ve managed to try almost all of JuneShine’s flavors, except for their Grapefruit Paloma flavor, which I have a feeling will be my new favorite (brb, adding to cart now).
Besides the flavor, my favorite part about drinking JuneShine is that, unlike most seltzers, I can drink a few cans and wake up the next morning without feeling terrible. I’m guessing that’s because they don’t use any heavily processed syrups or artificial flavors, but I’m no expert. I’m unfortunately still not a fan of normal kombucha, but I can say with conviction that JuneShine has knocked hard seltzer from its position as my #1 summer drink.
