My latest print article for The Bulletin is out today: Humm, Deschutes partner on ‘kom-brew-cha’. (No I did not come up with that headline, I’m sorry to say.)

But I do delve a bit into kombucha, and Bend’s Humm Kombucha, and the Humm Zinger kombucha radler brewed in collaboration with Deschutes Brewery.

According to a statement from Humm, the kombucha component is “a custom brewed kombucha from fermentation to flavoring” brewed specially for this purpose. The company also revealed that the blend consists of at least 40 percent kombucha.

I cracked open a can of Humm Zinger to taste for myself. It pours a hazy golden color with a crisp white head of foam, and my first impression of the aroma was of a Belgian witbier — creamy with light coriander spice. (I don’t know if coriander is used in the formulation.) Grapefruit asserts itself and blends well with grainy, crisp malt.

The flavor offers up what I would describe as a fairly traditional radler, light with lemon and citrus flavors, lightly tart and a hint of herbal bitterness. There is a hint of herbal tea earthiness that comes from the kombucha, but it is much less pronounced than I expected. It finishes crisp and juicy with a grapefruit note, with a light-bodied, soft mouthfeel.

Overall, Humm Zinger drinks much more like a traditional citrusy radler than a kombucha-flavored beer. For those that might be uncertain about tasting kombucha for the first time, this would be a good introduction to begin exploring Humm’s other offerings.

Humm is big business, too; the company is headquartered in Bend, but has a production plant in Sweden(!), and is building another in Roanoke. Right now Humm produces approximately 100,000 barrels of kombucha annually. Expect that to grow quite a bit in the next few years.

And Hummfest 2018, the fourth annual event, takes place this Saturday, June 9 at Humm in Bend. It takes place all day from 10am to 8pm, and is all ages.

This year, 5 years after creating the world’s first kombucha Tap Room, the party will be hosted in new and improved digs to create a place where the community can come together to do more than just drink kombucha!

The refreshed Humm Tap Room will now offer food, keep the brews flowing with 28-rotating taps, including the newly-released Humm Zinger, a Humm and Deschutes Brewery collaboration radler, a new seating area, Grab’n’Go food cooler stocked by local restaurants, rotating food carts, new Humm apparel and merchandise and a private meeting space available for rent.

At HummFest, Bend locals and visitors will enjoy kombucha specials, beer, games, giveaways, rock out to local live music, and grab yummy food from local vendors.

A bit of a different pace than a beer event, but worth checking out.