Hard Kombucha 101: What It Is, How It’s Brewed & What Sets It Apart

You’ve seen it in the wild—on menus, in your grocery aisle, maybe even in your friend’s fridge. As more people ditch overly sweet seltzers and mystery malt drinks, they’re reaching for something real, a drink made with better ingredients, crafted to connect (not escape), and built to savor the moment, not just blur through it. 

So, what exactly is hard kombucha and what makes Boochcraft different? Let’s break it down. 

What Is Hard Kombucha? 

Think of it as kombucha’s wild cousin. It starts as traditional kombucha (fermented tea) but gets an extra fermentation step that cranks up the ABV. Most hard kombuchas sit between 4–7% alcohol by volume — Boochcraft lands right at 7%. But not all hard kombuchas are created equal. Some spike theirs with spirits, others use artificial flavorings or rush the process.  

At Boochcraft, we do things differently. Our secret? Real ingredients, cold-pressed fruit, natural fermentation, and a quality control process that’s borderline obsessive (in a good way). 

How Boochcraft Is Made 

This isn’t just any hard kombucha. We craft ours using organic ingredients, cold-pressed fruit, and zero shortcuts. 

Here’s where it gets juicy — literally. We go beyond basic fermentation. Our process takes up to 20 days and includes three taste tests, two fermentation stages, and ten steps of quality control. No fake flavors, no shortcuts. 

1. The Base

We start with a blend of organic tea, sugar, water, and our trusty SCOBY. 

2. The Mother 

We test the SCOBY for peak health before fermentation starts. No green light, no booch. 

3. The Science

Throughout both fermentations, we monitor sugar levels, ABV, acidity, and (most importantly) taste. 

4. The Special Sauce 

This is where Boochcraft shines — we juice organic fruit in-house and infuse our booch with real ingredients you can pronounce (and taste). None of those second-class natural flavors in our Booch. Just real, organic fruit. 

5–10. The Rest 

We check packaging. We run temperature tests (insider scoop: if you’re lucky, you may actually find one of our temperature gauges inside your packages. If you find one, let us know, and we’ll reward your investigative skills). We sample batches at 10 and 20 days to make sure the flavor holds. Finally, we ship your Booch in refrigerated trucks, so it’s cold, crisp, and infinitely crushable. 

You can taste the difference — because we never cut corners. Only fruit.