Hard Kombucha is our alcoholic range. We take the same fermented green tea and fruit, then ferment it again with champagne yeast until it reaches 4.5% ABV. It is dry, lightly sparkling and sold to adults 18 and over only. The range won a SIAL Paris innovation award in 2022.
A second fermentation with champagne yeast takes the kombucha to 4.5% ABV.
It is an alcoholic drink, sold to adults 18 and over.
Three flavours: Passion Fruit, Guava, and Mandarin & Yuzu.
How it differs from ordinary Rudy's
Ordinary Rudy's Kombucha stops where fermentation naturally slows, under 0.5% ABV, and is a non-alcoholic drink. Hard Kombucha carries on: champagne yeast is added and the ferment runs until the drink reaches 4.5 per cent alcohol by volume. The result is drier and more wine-like, with the same fruit character underneath.
What it tastes like
Dry, tart and lightly sparkling, closer to a sparkling wine or a dry cider than to a beer. The can label states no added sugar, and lists the ingredients as water, fruit puree, symbiotic culture, sweetener (erythritol), hops, tea and champagne yeast.
Awards
The Hard range took an innovation award at SIAL Paris in 2022.
Who it is for
Adults 18 and over. It is an alcoholic drink under Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian law, and it is sold and shipped on that basis.
How strong is Rudy's Hard Kombucha?
4.5% alcohol by volume, printed on every can. That puts it near a light beer or a dry cider and well above ordinary Rudy's Kombucha, which stays under 0.5% ABV. Hard Kombucha is an alcoholic drink under Latvian, Estonian and Lithuanian law and is sold to adults 18 and over.
Hard Kombucha is 4.5% ABV.
Ordinary Rudy's Kombucha is under 0.5% ABV.
The line between the two, in law, sits at 1.2 per cent by volume for drinks that are not beer.
The number and where it sits
4.5 per cent alcohol by volume is in the territory of a light beer or a dry cider. It is printed on the can and on the product title, so you never have to guess which range you are holding.
Against the non-alcoholic range
Ordinary Rudy's Kombucha finishes under 0.5% ABV, which is why it carries no age limit. Hard Kombucha is 4.5% ABV and is an alcoholic beverage under the statutes of all three Baltic states, which set the line at 1.2 per cent by volume for drinks other than beer.
How it gets there
Champagne yeast, and a second fermentation. Ordinary kombucha stops where the culture naturally runs out of momentum; the Hard range is pushed past that point deliberately.
Sold to adults only
18 and over, at checkout and in shops.
Where can I buy Hard Kombucha?
In our online shop, under the Hard range: Passion Fruit, Guava and Mandarin & Yuzu as nine-can packs, plus a mixed Hard Set with three of each. It is sold to adults 18 and over. For bars, shops and restaurants, the Become a stockist form is the way in.
Three flavours as nine-can packs, plus a mixed Hard Set of three each.
Adults 18 and over; trade enquiries go through the stockist form.
What is in the range
Passion Fruit, Guava, and Mandarin & Yuzu, each as a pack of nine 330 ml cans at 4.5% ABV. The HARD Set is the sampler: three cans of each of the three flavours.
Shipping
Hard Kombucha ships on the same carriers and the same rates as the rest of the shop, set out on the Delivery page. Because it is an alcoholic drink, it is sold to adults 18 and over.
For bars, shops and restaurants
Use the Become a stockist form and we will come back to you with trade terms.
Reviewed 2 September 2026 by Rudy's Brewing Co.
Sources
Rudy's Kombucha store, Hard collection: https://rudyskombucha.com/collections/hard (read 02.09.2026)
Hard Kombucha can label, as reproduced in the product listings https://rudyskombucha.com/collections/hard
SIAL Paris 2022 innovation award, Rudy's Hard Kombucha range
Latvia - likums Par akcīzes nodokli, 3. pants: beer above 0.5 per cent by volume, fermented beverages above 1.2 per cent by volume: https://likumi.lv/ta/id/81066-par-akcizes-nodokli
Estonia - Alkoholiseadus, § 2: beer above 0.5 per cent by volume, other drinks above 1.2 per cent by volume: https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/eli/512092025006/consolide
Lithuania - Alkoholio kontrolės įstatymas, 2 straipsnis: drinks above 1.2 per cent by volume, beer above 0.5 per cent by volume: https://e-seimas.lrs.lt/portal/legalAct/lt/TAD/TAIS.17752/asr
