First, they came for the wine bottle. Now, aluminum cans are primed to join the kombucha world.

Oregonians are familiar with canned wine, debuted locally several year ago by Tualatin's Union Wine, and the travel-friendly format seems like a natural for other beverages--but kombucha has been a hold-out. Many kombucha brands, from national juggernaut GT's to Portland's own Brew Dr. Kombucha, come in glass, a recyclable but breakable way to contain the fermented tea.

Overheard in SF: "I fell down the escalator at Trader Joe's and almost broke my bottle of kombucha" — Abeer Agrawal (@abeerag) April 3, 2017

In some ways, Portland is on the cutting edge of kombucha culture: between Brew Dr., Happy Mountain and other local brewers, the city is bursting with fermented flavors. Southeast Belmont is now home to SOMA's Kombucha Taproom, which might be the growler shop of the future: the store is self-serve, clerk-free and accessible by a credit card. Think of it as Portland's version of the cupcake ATM

But there's one thing Portland's not doing yet: cans.

Over the weekend at the debut Upstream Music Fest + Summit, I found out we're behind the kombucha times. On the shelf at the Cone & Stein General market, I found them waiting: glistening, 16-ounce cans of Kombucha Town, offering honest pints of flavors from Lavender to Guayusa Mint. That's two ounces more than a (delicious) bottle of Brew Dr. Kombucha, and ready to go to camping trips, picnics, Edgefield concerts, and more without fear of shattered glass.

There is one way to get a kombucha can without driving three hours north: Trader Joe's just launched a house brand, its Organic Gently Gingered Kombucha Tea. We have to warn you: as kombucha enthusiasts, it's a bit too gentle on the ginger and any fermented kombucha tang--and it has 19 grams of sugar, much more than comes in its bottled competitors.

I'm a die-hard trader Joe's fan....Love pretty much every product butttt Im very dissapointed in their brand name kombucha tea... Ehh lol pic.twitter.com/skStVeiLMs — Samuel Stevenson (@SamsPTraining) April 13, 2017

The arc of history bends toward kombucha convenience, and we're sure someone in town will start canning sooner than later. Until then, we'll keep trying our best not to drop our groceries.

-- David Greenwald

dgreenwald@oregonian.com

503-294-7625; @davidegreenwald

Instagram: Oregonianmusic

