Brewing
What “raw and living” actually means on a kombucha label
Two words with no legal definition and a lot of marketing behind them. Here is what they mean in our brew room.
Journal
Topic
5 min read
Reading time
2026
Published
Two words with no legal definition and a lot of marketing behind them. Here is what they mean in our brew room.
Heat kills the culture. A pasteurised kombucha is shelf-stable, travels beautifully and contains nothing alive. Ours ships cold and has a date on it because it is still fermenting slowly in the bottle, which is also why the flavour shifts a little over its life.
We do not add cultures back after filtering, because we do not filter to that level. The haze at the bottom of a Reserve bottle is the point, not a fault. Roll it gently before you open it; do not shake it unless you like redecorating.