Between +2 and +25 °C, out of direct sun. The label does not require a fridge; cool storage is enough, and the shelf life is 365 days, with the best-before date printed on the can. We like it cold, so chill a can for a few hours before you open it.
The label says store at +2 to +25 °C.
A fridge is not required, but storage above +25 °C is outside the label range.
Shelf life is 365 days; the best-before date is on the can.
What the certificate says
Storage conditions on every ingredients and quality certificate read +2 to +25 °C. That is a range, not an instruction to refrigerate. A cool cupboard or a pantry is within it. Direct sun and a hot car are not.
Why the range has an upper end
Rudy's Kombucha is unpasteurised, so the culture is still working, slowly. Warmth speeds that up: the drink turns more sour over time and the can builds more pressure. Keeping cans under +25 °C keeps that drift slow enough that the 365-day shelf life holds.
Cold is a preference, not a rule
We like it cold, so chill for a few hours before serving. Cold cans also hold their carbon dioxide better, so they foam less on opening. Chilling is a preference, not a storage requirement.
Hard Kombucha
The Hard range stores the same way. It is 4.5% ABV and sold to adults 18 and over.
How long does kombucha keep, and can it go off?
The shelf life is 365 days, and the best-before date is printed on the can. Because the culture is still alive, an old can turns more sour and can build more pressure, so open it over a sink. Past the best-before date the drink changes; the date is the honest guide.
Shelf life is 365 days, with the best-before date on the can.
The culture keeps working, so the drink drifts more sour and more fizzy with age.
Store between +2 and +25 °C to keep that drift slow.
What the date means
Best before is a quality date, not a hard stop: it is the point up to which we stand behind how the drink tastes. Rudy's states a shelf life of 365 days on the certificates, and the date itself is printed on each can.
What changes with time
Fermentation does not stop in an unpasteurised can, it only slows down. An older can, and especially a warm one, tastes sharper, more vinegary, and can carry more pressure. Chill it first and open it over a sink. That is the culture at work rather than a fault.
When not to drink it
If a can is bulging, leaks, smells wrong, or the drink looks unlike the others in the pack, pour it away and get in touch with the batch code. We would rather replace it than have you finish it.
Once it is open
Open cans lose their fizz quickly and pick up the flavour of whatever else is in the fridge. Finish one the day you open it.
Why are there strands or sediment in my can?
Because the culture is still in there. Rudy's Kombucha is unpasteurised, so small strands or a little sediment from the kombucha culture can settle in the can. It is a sign the drink is alive, not a fault. Turn the can gently before opening if you would rather not see it.
Rudy's Kombucha is unpasteurised, so the culture stays in the can.
Strands and light sediment are the culture, and they are normal.
A gentle turn of the can before opening mixes them back in.
What you are looking at
A SCOBY grows as a soft mat of cellulose produced by the bacteria. Small pieces of that, plus yeast, travel with the liquid. In the can they can settle out as pale threads or a fine haze at the bottom. Pasteurised drinks do not do this, because their culture has been ended by heat. Ours has not.
When it is not the culture
Sediment that looks like the culture is normal. A can that bulges, hisses far more than usual, leaks, or smells wrong is not. In that case do not drink it and get in touch with the code from the base of the can.
If you would rather not see it
Turn the can over once, gently, before you open it, and pour into a glass rather than drinking from the can. Chilling first helps too, because cold liquid holds its fizz and disturbs the sediment less.
Why is kombucha fizzy?
Fermentation makes carbon dioxide. The kombucha culture produces it as it works through the sugars in the tea and fruit, and the sealed can holds it in, so the drink pours with a natural sparkle. Warm cans build more pressure than cold ones, which is why we suggest chilling before opening.
The bubbles come from fermentation, not from a carbonation machine alone.
The culture is still alive in the can, so it keeps producing a little carbon dioxide.
Warm cans hold more pressure; chill before you open.
Where the gas comes from
Yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In an open tank that gas escapes. In a sealed can it dissolves into the liquid, and it comes back out of solution the moment you break the seal. That is the sparkle.
Why an old or warm can is livelier
Rudy's Kombucha is unpasteurised, so the culture keeps ticking over. The warmer the can and the longer it sits, the more gas builds up. Storing between +2 and +25 °C keeps that in hand; chilling for a few hours before opening does the rest.
Opening a lively can
Cold, upright, over a sink, and slowly. Crack the tab a little and let the pressure ease before you open it fully.
