Hard kombucha is having a moment, and for good reason. It’s refreshing, lighter than most alcoholic drinks, and often brewed with natural ingredients that give it character beyond the usual. But like most good things, not all hard kombuchas are made the same. And if you’ve ever tried BUCI, you’ve probably noticed it doesn’t taste quite like anything else out there.
That’s because it isn’t. From day one, BUCI was designed to be something different. Not just a flavour or a cool-looking can. A drink that actually holds up.
So we thought we’d give you a bit of insight into how we brew BUCI.
We Start With Tea, Not Grain
Unlike beer or cider, which usually begin with grain-based fermentation, BUCI starts with something else. We brew a strong base using green tea, then add raw cane sugar. The sugar isn’t for sweetness in the final product, it’s there to feed the fermentation process.
This tea-sugar mix is then introduced to a SCOBY, which stands for Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast. It’s the living, breathing heart of any kombucha. As the SCOBY digests the sugar, it transforms the tea into traditional kombucha. This stage creates natural acids, trace amounts of alcohol, and that slightly tangy edge that defines the category.
At this point, it’s still a soft drink. Fermented, yes — but not hard. That comes next.
Following Fermentation, The Hard Stuff
To produce a clean, consistent 5% ABV, we blend our kombucha with a gluten-free flavourless spirit. This highly controlled spirit allows us to achieve precise alcohol levels while preserving the integrity and flavour profile of the kombucha.
While it is technically possible to create alcohol through a secondary fermentation, maintaining a consistent ABV at scale presents significant operational challenges. By adding the spirit separately, we ensure accuracy, stability, and quality in every batch.
We didn’t want BUCI to just be ‘kombucha with more booze.’ We wanted BUCI to have its own feel. Its own distinctive flavour structure. Something you’d want to reach for again, not just once out of curiosity. That comes down to our rigorous recipe development process, we have worked with award winning drink developers to bring you the best tasting alcoholic kombucha in the UK.
Flavour First, Always
Every BUCI flavour starts at the foundation: during the brewing process. Each can you drink was built from the ground up with flavour in mind.
Ginger & Lemon is fresh, sharp, and balanced. Pear & Elderflower is soft, dry, and floral. Wild Berries is fruit-forward without being sweet. We wanted to build the kind of flavour profiles that actually develop across a sip instead of hitting you all at once and tasting artificial. Our drinks are all natural, nothing artificial ever.
Each recipe went through blind taste tests against leading global brands, especially from the US, to make sure what we were building could hold its own not just in the UK, but anywhere. We refined them again and again until they felt right.
Low Sugar, Because Fermentation Does the Work
BUCI is naturally low in sugar because we let the fermentation process do its job. And unlike other drinks that use artificial sweeteners or flavour masking, we don’t need to. The sugar added at the start exists purely to feed the yeast. As fermentation continues, that sugar is consumed, leaving behind a clean, dry finish. The result is a drink that doesn’t coat your mouth or crash your energy. It tastes real because it is.
This also means BUCI doesn’t rely on carbonation or sugar content to feel alive. It’s got its own structure.
What Makes It Different
BUCI isn’t made to imitate what’s already on the market. It’s not beer with a twist, and it’s not kombucha pretending to be a cocktail. It’s its own thing, and that’s entirely intentional. We spent a long time tasting, tweaking, refining, and rebuilding BUCI.
When people ask us what it is that makes BUCI different, this is it. Flavour first, and all natural. We’re not the first to make hard kombucha, but we want to make it better.
