Fountain Cola
Sold as a cola, but according to its producer, Fountain Cola is actually a cola-flavored kombucha. The drink was introduced in 2018 by Live Soda, a company founded in Austin, Texas, in 2012 and now headquartered in Ventura, California. Although the company had already spent several years producing kombucha, Fountain Cola became part of a new range of probiotic sodas.
Live Soda originally focused on organic kombucha, including a cola-flavoured variety called Culture Cola. In 2013, the company adopted the name Live Kombucha Soda, a rebranding that received BevNET’s “Best Product Revamp of 2013” award. The original Live Soda name returned in 2017, and the following year the company introduced its probiotic soda range. At the time, it described the new beverages as distinct from kombucha, calling them zero-calorie, zero-sugar sodas with probiotics.
The original Fountain Cola was sweetened with monk fruit extract. In the summer of 2024, the soda range received new packaging and an updated recipe sweetened with apple juice and stevia leaf extract, while the kombucha range was discontinued. The company’s current FAQ now explains that every can of Live Soda begins as traditionally fermented kombucha made from black tea. According to the company, the original sugars are fermented away before the drink is naturally sweetened with apple juice and stevia, giving it the taste of a soft drink while remaining kombucha at its core.
