Bar Files

DRINK UP

In our regular drinks column, Kevin Fullerton tries a few tasty beverages and lets you know exactly what he thinks of them. This month we need Kevin to talk about . . . kombucha

In the beard-infested world of hipster cafes, kombucha is the king of healthy drinks. This fermented, lightly flavoured tea has been noted for its myriad health benefits. It’s crammed with antioxidants and probiotics, and can eliminate nasty bacteria in your gut. Plus it’s a world away from the booze and stimulants I usually cover for this column, so sadly I won’t be drunk by the time I meet my word count. Will this reluctant sobriety make me a better or worse drink critic? Let’s find out . . .

First down my gullet is You + I Ginger Kombucha (£3.05 per bottle), a spicy number brewed in Glasgow using handrolled organic Assam tea and fermented with French oak. It’s sharp and zingy on the nose, but that initial olfactory overload doesn’t represent the drink as a whole, which offers light but heady snaps of ginger and black tea. Every flavour here swims in the undercurrent while the overtones ride on a wave of freshness that makes for a cooling, uncomplicated summer beverage.

From the subtle to the brazen, Hip Pop Apple & Elderflower Organic Kombucha (£2.10 per bottle) seeks to usher in a new generation of kombucha drinkers with unpretentious flavours. If it were a person, it would stand in a pub and obnoxiously yell ‘COME ON GRANDAD’ at someone who’d rather drink in the corner than join them in a karaoke rendition of ‘Islands In The Stream’. From colourful packaging to its fruit-filled flavour, this one favours sensation over subtlety, none of which is a bad thing. Hip Pop is a decadent pleasure and is a cut above any bogstandard supermarket soft drink.

The chin-strokers’ fermented tea of choice comes from Left Field Kombucha No 4 Darjeeling (£2.35 per bottle), which self-seriously describes itself as a ‘craft-brewed fermented tea’ ideally ‘paired with cheese or curry’. The packaging is as stern as a headteacher, but after two kombuchas that aimed for accessibility, it was refreshing to taste something that flies its fermented flag with pride. There’s a striking complexity here as the taste moves from a strong black tea to reveal a fruity, berrylike taste and the smoky tang of a light beer. Kombucha purists, welcome to your liquid utopia.

PICTURE: MIKE WILKINSON AND THE SCOTCH MALT WHISKY SOCIETY BAR FILES We ask creative folks to reveal their favourite watering hole

BROADCASTER, AUTHOR & MUSICIAN VIC GALLOWAY

My favourite watering hole near me is Leith Depot. I’ve been in Leith for over two decades now, and always wanted a hub where good music, quality booze, tasty food and friendly people all meet. This is the place! It’s comfortable, unpretentious, the staff are lovely and it ticks all those aforementioned boxes. I can’t believe it was almost shut down too. Anyway, they’ve survived and have a loyal clientele. What’s more, I can stagger home in five minutes at the end of the night . . . n Vic Galloway will host a monthly vinyl night with Andy Wake from The Phantom Band at Leith Depot in their live space which is due to reopen in late summer; his Radio Scotland show airs on Mondays and Wednesdays at 8pm.