The Best Thing I Drank All Week: Arlo Kombucha Makes a Play for Drink of the Summer

And it just might be it, folks.

Am I obsessed with crowning things the ____ of the summer? It’s very possible. Almost exactly two months after dubbing 33 Acres’ Mezcal Gose the beer of the summer, your boy is at it again.

This time, things are a little different. Back then, the song of the summer debate was raging amongst pop culture prognosticators. Little did I know it would be settled a couple weeks after I wrote that post.

Fortunately, I still think the Mezcal Gose is the beer of the summer. But I do think it now faces a very serious challenger for drink of the summer in the form of Arlo Boozy Kombucha.

I had never tried hard kombucha (apparently all the rage in the States), but I am a fan of the non-alcoholic version. So I was certainly intrigued when I stumbled upon Arlo Hard Kombucha, made by the minds behind well-known Vancouver kombucha producer Bucha Brew.

And then it just sorta blew my mind.

Arlo is naturally fermented (no additional alcohols are added) and comes in at four percent that you could never taste if your life depended on it (well at least I couldn’t.)

Really it just tastes like a very good combination of kombucha and fresh juice. And you’re never going to miss me with that.

Currently, Arlo has three flavours on offer: grapefruit, mango and raspberry, with two more reportedly on the way. (My personal ranking: raspberry, grapefruit, mango, but I say this honestly and as a person who is only so-so on mango at the best of times. All of them are very good.)

Be warned, though. That four percent will catch up to you in a hurry if you’re not careful, like a damn sociopath. 

Arlo Kombucha is currently avaliable at select liquor stores in Vancouver, including Darby’s in Kits and Robson Wine Beer and Spirits downtown.