Pickles are having a moment, and as someone who drank the juice from the pickle jar with a straw as a kid (TMI?), this pleases me. I recently learned about a way to drink pickle juice as an adult that's actually beneficial to your health — and it tastes just like kombucha.
It's called the Garlic Dill Pickle Gut Shot [1] from Farmhouse Culture, a company that makes probiotic-rich snacks and drinks, like chips called Kraut Krisps [2]. When a box of Farmhouse Culture's new drinks landed on my desk, I was intrigued by the Ginger Lemon Gut Punch and other flavors like Strawberry Hibiscus, but I let out an audible gasp when I came across the pickle flavor. A savory, briny, sparkling beverage that's good for your immune system? Yes, please!
While this looks and tastes like kombucha, it's not exactly the same. It's made with just five ingredients, none of which is a kombucha culture: green cabbage, water, cucumber, sea salt, and garlic. And unlike another line of Farmhouse Culture beverages called Gut Punch [3], this one is called the Garlic Dill Pickle Gut Shot for a reason — it's meant to be taken as a quick, 1.5-ounce sip. "A 1.5-ounce serving of Gut Shot offers roughly twice as many live probiotics as most leading kombuchas contain in a 16-ounce bottle," a Farmhouse Culture spokesperson said in an email to POPSUGAR.
And a shot-glass-size sip of this is really all you need — it's packed with flavor. A couple other pickle enthusiasts who heard my excitement braved a sip of the Gut Shot with me, and all of our eyes widened when we tasted it . . . "Whoa," all of us said. This stuff is garlicky, perfectly pickle-y, just the right amount of bubbly, and so tasty. It's not something you want to drink before a first date (hi, garlic breath). In fact, a serious pickle hater called this "man-repeller juice" upon smelling it nearby my desk, but if you're into pickle-flavored foods, you'll definitely want to try it.
The cool thing about incorporating pickle juice into your wellness routine is that it aids in muscle recovery [6]. A shot of the pungent Garlic Dill Pickle Gut Shot can help nurse a hangover and promote a healthy level of gut bacteria [7]. This unexpected probiotic beverage is available at most Whole Foods locations and many natural food stores, so put down the pickle jar and grab a bottle of this instead.