Let’s face it, we’re in college and going out usually means having a couple of drinks. The easiest way to make the alcohol go down (because I know you don’t drink it straight) is to have some soda or juice as a chaser to kill the taste. After the rise of Updog Kombucha in my community, I became increasingly interested in the drink. Not only did it taste good, but it’s low-cal, low-carb, and healthy compared to other drinks that are artificially sweetened. So…shouldn’t we use it as chaser with alcohol?
1. It actually kills the taste of alcohol
Some places actually ID you when you buy kombucha because it does have a trace amount of alcohol in it (1-2%, nothing crazy). That small percentage actually kills the taste of the (probably cheap) alcohol you mix it with. I would recommend using it to chase vodka or make a mixed drink with it to get the best taste.
2. Its sweetness doesn’t mean extra carbs
Sugary cocktails and mixed drinks are the number one culprit of the worst hangovers. Kombucha tastes just as sweet as the fruit juice you need for a cosmopolitan, but it only contains 7g of sugar per serving (at most). That also makes it less caloric so you don’t have to feel bad about all the pizza you eat later that night.
3. It diminishes your hangover
There are a lot of good things in a bottle of kombucha, one of the main things being probiotics. Probiotics are good bacteria that are crucial for digestion. I’m convinced that somehow mixing these health benefits with alcohol diminishes and even gets rid of your hangover the next morning. It may be because you digest the alcohol more efficiently due to the probiotics, or because the gluconic acid in it targets the liver, but I know it works from experience.
I used to get made fun for using kombucha as a chaser, but somehow the trend has really caught on to people that already enjoy the taste of the beverage as is. If you don’t believe it, give kombucha a shot next time you go out (no pun intended). I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed the next morning.