It's All About the Tea
Why Laughing Gut Starts With Loose Leaf, Not Tea Bags
Every can of Laughing Gut starts the same way: not with kombucha, but with tea. Tea is the main ingredient in kombucha, and every brew begins with a big batch of sweetened tea before fermentation ever enters the picture. That means the quality of the tea isn't a footnote in our process, it's the foundation of it.
As a tea-forward brand, we focus on organically-grown, high-quality loose leaf teas rather than the tea bags found in many commercial kombucha. It's a deliberate choice. Tea bags are often filled with lower-grade leaf fragments and dust left over after the best leaves are sorted out. Fine for a quick cup, but not what we want anchoring a slow, natural fermentation. Loose leaf tea gives us more control over flavor, character, and quality from the very first step.
A World Map in Every Batch
Because we work across black, green, white, oolong, and pu'ehr teas, our sourcing takes us well beyond one region or supplier. Here's some of what goes into the Laughing Gut lineup:
Kukicha Green Tea — Kagoshima, Japan. A twig-and-stem green tea known for a mellow, slightly nutty profile, sourced from one of Japan's well-known tea-growing regions.
White Peony Tea — Fujian, China. A delicate white tea from the province considered the birthplace of white tea production, prized for its subtlety.
Bao Zhong Oolong Tea — Mingjian Village, Taiwan. A lightly oxidized oolong from a village known for high-elevation tea growing.
Kanchanjangha Noir Tea — Mt. Kanchenjunga, Nepal. A black tea grown near the base of the world's third-highest peak, added for depth and character in select brews.
Each type of tea adds its own unique properties to a brew, its own body, aroma, and level of natural tannins that shape how a batch ferments and tastes. That's why tea comes first in our process, not as an ingredient among many, but as the decision that shapes everything after it.
Herbs and Botanicals, Not Shortcuts
Alongside true teas that are all derived from just one plant, the Camellia Sinensis, we use herbal teas, also called botanicals or tisanes to add flavor to our kombucha, along with additional herbs and spices. These aren't sweeteners standing in for real flavor, they're layered on top of a tea base that's already doing the heavy lifting, which is why our flavors read as complex rather than sugary.
Rooibos — South Africa. A naturally caffeine-free herbal tea with a warm, slightly sweet character, it enhances the Oolong tea base in our Rooibos Ginger flavor
Chamomile — Croatia. Soft, floral, and calming, this is the botanical behind our Chamomile Mint brew.
Butterfly Pea Flower — Southeast Asia. Subtle taste and a beautiful shade of blue, it pairs well with Nepali Black Tea and rosemary herb.
Taste the Sourcing Yourself
Curious what a particular tea tastes like on its own, outside of a fermented brew? Our Poughkeepsie taproom carries packaged loose leaf teas so you can taste the building blocks behind your favorite Laughing Gut flavor or discover a new one entirely.
Visit our Poughkeepsie taproom to shop our loose leaf tea selection, or find your favorite Laughing Gut flavor at farmers markets and retailers throughout the Hudson Valley.
