This story is part of our September 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.

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

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

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

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

From farmers markets to local menus

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

“Farmers markets are where we see the majority of our refills,” KC Kombucha owner and master brewer Michelle Grubbs says. “The last couple of times we’ve brought out kombucha to any of our markets, we can’t keep enough in stock.” Grubbs works with farms in Chico, Delhi, Monterey and Marysville to source seasonal ingredients. “I get it directly from them at the farmers market, so it’s at the peak of freshness.”

Although KC force-carbonates to keep its kombucha below the legally non-alcoholic threshold of 0.5 percent ABV, Grubbs says taste matters more than potential probiotic benefits. “There could be 1,000 health benefits, but if you don’t like it, you shouldn’t drink it,” she says.

While kombucha drinkers are increasingly diverse, Grubbs identifies three core audiences for her products. “One is the health-conscious group who is looking to increase the number of probiotics they’re getting in their diet,” she says. “And then we have people who are trying to decrease the amount of soda or alcohol they’re drinking. But I think the number one reason is the taste.”

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

“That space on Broadway didn’t have a way to get pallets in and out,” she says. “It just made it very difficult to transfer all the kombucha from one location to another.” A winner of the Sacramento County Sustainable Business Award in 2025, KC also decided to eliminate cans and bottles, focusing on a keg-first approach to bulk distribution. “We just want to be as sustainable as possible,” Grubbs says.

A wider world of fermentation

If KC shows how kombucha can spread across local menus, Mindscape shows how far fermentation can stretch. Founded in 2022 by beer industry veterans, Mindscape is the only business in the area to produce both craft beer and hard kombucha. It is also the only fully female-owned and -operated brewery in the Capital Region. “Beer and kombucha was definitely the first original baby vision,” co-founder Lauren Houston says. “The idea was that we want to feel good about what we’re putting in people’s bodies and keep things exciting for the customer.”

Today, Mindscape’s menu stretches well beyond beer and kombucha, with hard seltzers, kefir waters, probiotic sodas and a wide variety of fermented foods.

For Houston, quality, freshness and sustainability matter more than wellness claims. “The biggest thing that we try to do is balance flavor and character,” she says. “There’s a lot of kombuchas out there that are either overly sweet, or they’re really sour almost like vinegar, and so we try to find the balance right in between with the way we ferment it and how long we ferment it.”

That leads to Plum Crazy, whose silky vanilla backbone supports lovely plum flavors so hyper-local that they came from Houston’s neighbor’s yard. “We actually know a lot of people locally that just have too much fruit on their trees, and so we welcome them to bring it in as long as they don’t use pesticides,” she says. “They’ll bring in their excess, and we’ll make something delicious out of it.”

Finding a place on tap

Is Sacramento a good kombucha town? “Well, honestly, I don’t know that it is,” Grubbs says. Besides Zeal Kombucha, other recent closures include short-lived hard kombucha brewery Shorebirds Brewing Company in Rancho Cordova, as well as Nash’s Kombucha in Auburn. Gold Vibe Kombuchary, which produces both hard and non-alcoholic kombucha, continues to operate in Grass Valley.

Bike Dog has even started blending non-alcoholic KC Kombucha with its sour beers to create a more flavorful yet lower-alcohol option. “We’ve got a lot of people who come in and want either a low- or no-alcohol option,” Porter says. “People say, ‘I like your sour, but I don’t want an 8 percent beer,’ so we’ll put a little kombucha in there and bring it down.”

Mindscape’s hard kombucha also turns up alongside craft beer at nearby establishments like the Moksa Barrel House in Roseville. Moksa Brewing Company owner and CEO Scott Williams estimates that the Barrel House goes through a keg of Mindscape kombucha a week. “We like to bring in things for that alternative stuff that we just don’t make,” he says. “I don’t necessarily know if it’s healthier for you, but a lot of people think that it is, even though it’s got alcohol in it.”

That same shift is reaching beyond breweries and into coffee shops, where Old Soul Co. sees an opportunity for evening-friendly non-alcoholic drinks. “We are seeing the trend of where alcohol is heading,” Daniel Bear, director of operations at Old Soul Co., says. “I feel a lot of Americans are opening their eyes to the fact that we don’t need to have an alcoholic beverage every night.”

Old Soul is testing out kombucha mocktails in its coffee shops, blending fruity KC Kombucha with a vinegar shrub to create a flavorful, full-bodied drink built for slower sipping. “It’s this great, full, intense drink without alcohol,” Bear says. “You start to really evaluate it like you would with a nice wine or a great cocktail.”

Back at Mindscape Fermentations in Rocklin, Houston has noticed that fruity kombuchas have become an easier sell. “The demographic is much wider than we initially thought it would be,” she says. “We’ll get the stereotypical macho man in here that will only drink beer. And the next thing we look, every guy in the bar has a pink drink in front of him.”

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