JuneShine: The World’s First Hard Kombucha Bar

I have never heard anyone dispute the fact that there are a plenty of perks to living in San Diego. To name a few of the obvious ones: 263 days of sunshine, welcoming and friendly people, and the ability to escape to the mountains, the beach, the desert, the lake – all within a two hour drive.

Those perks aside, perhaps one of the best and least recognized benefits is living in a city that breeds originality in it’s food and beverage culture. Holy Matcha, for instance, made a splash with matcha-themed drinks and bites. Pokirito pioneered the sushi burrito. Every once in a while San Diego introduces a truly innovative concept that brings a culinary punch back into the status quo.Enter: JuneShine. The world’s first kombucha bar made its debut in our own backyard in June. The new North Park brewery and tasting room combines two things San Diegans are most passionate about – a healthy lifestyle and good booze. The basis of the drink is jun kombucha, a type of kombucha that is brought to life with honey and tea and doesn’t require added sugar to bring forward it’s sweetness. It checks the standard health nut boxes: gluten-free, organic and contains extra goodies like probiotics, antioxidants and vitamins. Coming in at 6% alcohol, you’ll start feeling the magic of fermentation pretty quickly.The tasting room itself is worthy of a visit and feels like the lovechild of a North Park hipster and Pacific Beach surfer. The space is airy with exposed wood and white walls, and a retractable glass door opens to fill the room with ambient summer light. You can see large fermentation tanks doing their thing off to the left and there are plenty of bar tops, couches and community tables available to observe the process. Potted plants dangle from the ceiling and a projector flashes videos on the wall of surfers shredding waves, the California coastline and sailboats dotting the horizon. It’s basically a Pinterest board come to life.You can select from 7 different hard kombucha flavors for $7-8 per full pour and $4-5 per half pour. I went the flight sampler route and tried the Blood Orange Mint, Beet Berry, Cucumber Mojito, and Honey Ginger Lemon for $10. The first three are very light and refreshing, but if you’re looking for a stronger kombucha flavor I would go for the Honey Ginger Lemon. If you’re not feeling boozy, there’s 3 additional flavors with low or no alcohol content to choose from.

Fresh, ingenious and ideal for summer days – JuneShine has managed to find a way to bring a bit of health into a San Diego favorite pastime. At last, we can finally feel good about drinking.