Petaluma’s Revive Kombucha bubbles up new drink: sparkling kombucha

Not content to rest on its laurels in the probiotic drink market, Revive Kombucha has added sparkling water with less calories.

The Petaluma company has unveiled sparkling kombucha with only 5 grams of sugar and 20 calories per 12-ounce can. The Revive product will come in four flavors: mango orange; cherry hibiscus; strawberry lemon; and citrus ginger.

The flavored sparkling water soon will be available at the four Oliver’s Market locations in Sonoma County in a test distribution.

Founder Sean Lovett said the water is a natural outgrowth from when he and his wife, Rebekah, formed the business in 2010, enticed by health benefits of fermented organic tea as he tried to kick his soda habit.

“We really see a zero-sugar future. How do we continue to offer great-tasting, fun and healthy beverages that will lead us to this path?” Lovett said in an interview.

Revive, which Lovett sold last year to Peet’s Coffee, isn’t the only company jumping into the sparkling water market, which research firm Acumen estimated will grow at annual rate of 13.5 percent through 2026. At that point, it’s projected to be a $217 billion market globally.

Companies such as Nestle, PepsiCo, Anheuser-Busch InBev and Coca-Cola have introduced products or acquired sparkling water businesses. Locally, Lagunitas Brewing Co. of Petaluma last year introduced a hop tonic water with no calories.

Revive came up with its own pasteurization process that results in a live probiotic inside the drink, then the bacteria awakens when it reaches a person’s gut, Lovett said.

“We always prided ourselves on innovation,” he said. “For my brewmaster, there were many late nights.”

The company was the first to market with a caffeine-free product, as well as kombucha that incorporated coffee.

Unlike kombucha, the drink does not have to be refrigerated and can be transported and sold to a lot more locations.

The sparkling drink has a lighter taste, Lovett said, but still retains a lot of flavor. Revive carved a niche with kombucha that was sweeter than the vinegary taste commonly associated with the drink popularized by hippies.

“We wanted to be flavor forward” with the ingredients being “the star of the show,” he said.

The sparkling water is packaged in cans as opposed to bottles of kombucha. That’s a trend many craft brewers and some wineries have jumped on because of the popularity of cans with younger consumers.

“We want people to have healthier beverages wherever they want to take them out,” Lovett said.

You can reach Staff Writer Bill Swindell at 707-521-5223 or bill.swindell@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @BillSwindell.