SOMA has billions more probiotics than any other kombucha or jun, is naturally carbonated, and naturally sweet.

How does SOMA’s probiotic count stack up against other fermented drinks, supplements, and foods?

We compared CFUs - colony-forming units, or rather the count of living, active organisms (able to reproduce using binary fission) - in a number of fermented probiotic products.

When a brand posts its CFU count, the table lists the brand specifically. Otherwise, the brand is listed generically. This is because, though the results are scientifically proven and indisputable, we don’t feel that a brand that is making the best kombucha they can and not advertising high probiotics doesn’t need to be called out. Any kombucha is better than most commercial sodas or energy drinks, and we want people to continue to choose a lower-CFU count kombucha over those products.

About the testing procedure: SOMA works with OMIC lab, our neighbor in NW Portland and one of the top food science labs in the country, for our CFU testing. Counting colony-forming units requires culturing the microbes and counting only viable cells, in contrast with microscopic examination which counts all cells, living or dead. To perform this test, the scientists at OMIC take a few drops of product and lay them out on several petri dishes, allow several days for the living cells in the sample to reproduce, then count the number of colonies that have developed based on those cells. They then extrapolate the results to be expressed in terms of “CFU per gram”. The CFU test will not determine the type of organism (that requires genetic sequencing, something SOMA also does to make sure no un-helpful species end up in our brews, and to help control over-carbonation), but is still an important data point under the assumption that most if not all kombucha bacteria and yeast are beneficial, even if only to each other.

*It is interesting to note that this brand adds probiotics grown in a lab to their product. This could have 2 possible effects. 1) The bacteria added (C. Coagulans) are not native kombucha organisms, but are considered to be probiotic (healthy). 2) Because the bacteria are added at bottling, they haven’t done any fermenting. Many experts believe that some or most of the benefits of kombucha are the “nutrients” produced during fermentation. It’s unknown how much fermentation actually happened in these products. More on concerns about Kevita’s fermentation techniques here, and GT’s labeling here. And since we’re on the subject: this.

Actual lab reports here: (samples on the reports that aren’t mentioned above are our various products in various stages of fermentation).

Learn more about the benefits of fermentation and make your own ferments in SOMA founder’s book: “Kitchen Sink Farming Volume 2: Fermenting: Easily & Cheaply Ferment Your Own Food for a Healthier Now & a Greener Future.”