Cultured

Yes it’s a little expensive but they have the most unique selection of tasty fermented items. Service is very friendly flavors are amazing. I recommend the pumpkin and leek with lemon zest and green coriander. Also the raw sauerkraut, lemon, garlic, dill.

The quality of their products is unparalleled, but they make the mistake of having owner Alex Hozven as the front of the house at local farmers markets. She is a talented chef a la ferment, but is generally actively mean and dismissive to her patrons at the market. I, and a number of my friends, have had repeated bad experiences with her, and are now sadly reluctant to buy from her, even though many of us work in and support the bay’s other local foods businesses. Cultured should rethink who they want representing their wonderful brand, or Alex should perhaps think more deeply about how her negative attitude affects others who want nothing more than for her to succeed.

This place sells the best pickled things I have ever eaten (and drank) bar none.
First, the pickles. You may perhaps be lucky enough to find traditional dill pickles, as we were. These are fresh, crispy, briny and so so good that the first bottle we bought did not make it out the door of the shop. Pro Tip: after the pickles are gone, use the brine to make an awesome pickle-​tini! Many other pickled items on offer, depending on season and availability, and all are fantastic.
Next, the krauts. Again, all amazing, and a wide variety from traditional to out there. The kimchi is particularly zippy – you’ll break a sweat.
Finally, the kombucha. I have to say, this kombucha is so good I don’t want to drink any other kind anymore. The theme of varied, seasonal ingredients continues here. Whatever you try you will love. Just don’t forget to open S L O W L Y!
None of this stuff comes particularly cheap, but I consider the prices fair given that all of the products are made by hand, on premises. If I lived anywhere near here I would be in here so often they’d know me by name. Some of the best food I’ve eaten this year, no kidding. GET CULTURED.

Dropped by this place with a friend from Berkeley due to their recommendation. At first blush a little pricey but it’s a startup and I love supporting new business. Why one star? We’ll after purchasing my first jar of pickled carrots, I noticed once I’d taken the jar out of the fridge that it felt wet but the assistant assured me it was condensation. I paid my $ 20 and merrily tottered off. I was halfway down 4^th Street when I noticed the bag I was carrying the jar in was wet at the bottom. I took it back and asked the assistant if I could switch it out for another. She said she have to ask the owner and promptly took it over to a woman working at the back. The woman looked over at me and accusingly asked if I’d tipped it over! I was kinda pissed off that I was treated that way, ergo, I’ll never go back and I’ll go home and write a crappy review. Advice: the customer is ALWAYS right.

One of my favorite places to stop at when I’m in Berkeley. I love the ferments they sell. Each time I try something delicious and exciting!

Great products! Yum! So creative and fun and delicious. Next time I’ll ask for samples, didn’t know that was an option.

In South bay, the whole foods in cupertino and almaden carries their products (nothing in palo alto and los gatos)
love kimchee and beet drink!!!

The products are a little expensive but so ridiculously delicious that I don’t mind paying extra. I’m a little bit obsessed with sauerkraut, so I have tried a lot of different bands, and you just can’t compete with the flavors that they develop here.

Their pickles are very juicy and flavorful. Tastes way better than the ones you buy from your grocery store.

Picked up a jar of kim chee at Whole Foods Cupertino today and it has to be the best I’ve ever had. Crunchy, spicy, tangy, clean tasting goodness and worth every penny. The only bummer is that I live in the Southbay. Guess I have a reason to go to Berkeley now! Dying to try their seasonal speciality items.

Cultured is one of the gems of the Bay Area food scene. Alex helps make us all proud to be fermentation geeks. Even though I teach, eat and make fermented foods every day, I always enjoy Cultured’s products. Her products encourage us to expand our horizons and try new things. I am grateful to Alex and her team for having the courage to start the business and build a community around it.
If you go to the store, look closely for the sign as it is hidden. And yes, parking there isn’t always easy. But it is worth it! You get to see the inside of the factory and it is so cool!

We had surprising difficulty finding parking here and then some trouble finding the shop itself, which fronts on Fifth Street, but we managed both issues. We walked in to the show/​sales room. On the wall facing the door is a description of their 10(!!) types of sauerkraut. In the cold case off to the left were jars of sauerkraut and pickles and other products. The kitchen is adjacent and overhead they were playing what we thought was a funny radio program but what turned out to be the audio book of Bill Bryson’s ««At Home», which we read several months ago for our book group. The segment was on the bathroom and we stood there listening and laughing. We chose a jar of the original sauerkraut and one of the Super Sauerkraut Salad, a combination of green cabbage, beets, carrots, ginger and sea salt colored red by the beets. Each 16 oz jar is $ 8. A friendly man helped us.
Today we had bagel dogs for lunch and opened the two sauerkrauts to serve w/​them, along w/​some leftover potato salad from Kensington Fine Foods. The sauerkraut was vibrant and strong. I loved it. It was a little overpowering for Alan, who likes his a bit milder. I think either one will be fabulous on Reubens, but I doubt we’ll buy more because Alan eats more sauerkraut than I do and Boar’s Head makes sauerkraut about the right intensity for him. If you love strong, interesting sauerkraut this will be wonderful for you. Go to their website and see the range of products they make, then go over to their shop. There’s a private lot for the building, accessible from Bancroft, but that’s not immediately obvious and you have to go down the stairs to Fifth and to the left to the shop itself.

I love Cultured products — they make such excellent krauts and pickles that it is tempting to give up my Harsch crock and just rely on them for my cabbage-​y goodness (except that the cost of one of their jars would more than cover the produce needed to entirely stuff a 7.5L harsch crock for kim chee or kraut).
They have such excellent flavor combinations that I find them to be a real inspiration — I’ll pick some flavors and test them, then experiment in reproducing them at home.
The kombucha offered at the farmer’s markets is also a delight — you can get Cultured products at the Saturday downtown Berkeley Farmer’s Market. Yum!

For my 400^th review, I wanted it to be someplace special, and Cultured fits the bill perfectly. I’ve been making my own pickles for three years now and it’s always interesting to see how others make pickles too.
So, a friend and I drove over from San Francisco to check out Cultured.
We walked in and said hello. After a few minutes, Kevin, one of the owners came over. Once he warmed up, he was very willing to let us try the various items. One delicious item is their beets with fennel. It’s $ 8 for an 8 oz jar, so I’ll be using it as an accent rather than dishing it out in big quantities. Another delicious item is their raw Khitchari Kraut which is cabbage, turmeric, cumin, coriander, fennel seed, paprika, fenugreek, black mustard seed, black pepper and Celtic sea salt. Whew! It’s $ 9 a bottle for 16 oz. The taste is unlike anything I’ve had. Can’t wait to pair with some good sausage.
All of Cultured products are organic and unpasteurized, so take something to keep the products cool if you’re going to be doing other errands.
I spent $ 76 which qualified for a free organic (of course) cotton tote bag.
I left with yummy products and ideas for trying out on my own for my next batch of pickles.

I have the utmost respect for Alex Hozven and Cultured Pickle Shop. They are definitely pioneers of artisanal food and I have the highest praise for their products.
Just a note: Make sure if you’re buying one of the sugar-​rich kombuchas (like watermelon-​jalapeño kombucha) you are very careful when opening it! There wasn’t any noticeable signage or warning around, and my friend opened the bottle in the shop and about half of the liquid inside exploded all over the floor because it was way over-​carbonated.
We got a replacement bottle and sat down outside and had to spend literally ten minutes opening this second bottle in order to not have it explode. We would unscrew the cap a bit, let pressure out, close it before bubbles exploded out, then repeat. For ten minutes.
Otherwise, Alex is one of my sustainable foods heroes and I love what she does.

This is a neat, small little shop where everything is pickled (fermented!). And I mean real pickling. We got the spicy dill pickles and the kimchi. The pickles are really good, but interesting. They have a lot of flavor and they sort have an effervescent feel on your tongue. We haven’t yet tried the kimchi but looks awesome. It’s a little expensive but understandably so.

If you’re a fan of pickled foods, Joy of Joys is what you will find in this place so small if you wink you will miss it. ;)
I love that you walk in, and you are right in the middle of where all the action happens… Barrels of delicious fermenting treats brewing right before your very eyes.
I saw a video about Alex and her small family business on
, and we came in the very next day!!! I recognized the Brand label because one of my best friends buys their brand of Sauerkraut at Rainbow Grocery, it is so yummy.
Alex was sweet, mellow and super informed. The 2 guys were full of humble smiles. I am in the process of learning about fermented foods right now, so this was more then perfect. I knew she knew her stuff, and I was quite inspired. I may even try to intern with her because I am so excited about what they do!
My love and I settled on a Tangerine and Turnip Kombucha as well as a jar of Spicy Pickles. It was the most refreshing and alive Kombucha I have ever tasted! Like a jolt of delicious and satisfying energy.
I hope to be back very very soon!
Thanks Alex and Fam! YOU ROCK!

While on a foodie adventure with my best friend we decided to drive to Berkeley just for pickles. These pickled products are special since all that is added is salt. They pickle in their own juices, that means no vinegar and no water.
Upon entering it looks just like a factory, but there is a small display case. All of the products they make are in this display. Whoever helps you will provide you will samples of anything you wish except the kombucha.
We ended up walking away with vintage kraut, sea kraut, pickled sunchokes, pickled okra and many others.
The Kombucha is to die for, gotta love naturally fermented vegetable soda. I choose the celery flavor since I love Cel-​Ray. This was amaing, although it is a trial in patience. Since it is a fermented product you must open and close it many times. I believe mine took about five minutes to open but it was well worth the wait.

I was introduced to kombucha with her version of the drink at the farmer’s market, and since then I’ve tasted it from many other places, but hers is the best.
A big fan of the sea kraut and nutra kraut. Slightly more tangy and less sweet than what I expected in the beginning (being used to Japanese tsukemono), but it’s really easy to eat. My toddler loves it as well and eats heaps of it with rice.
Nice, straightforward ingredients and I love the passion that the owner has for fermented things.
Would like to try the nuka stuff in the future, as I’m scared of making my own nuka.

This is the reason I get up on Saturday mornings! Yummy samples, a big smiles.
This woman makes the best treats in the world — from Organic raw sauerkraut to other yummy preserves. She loves carrots, daikon raddishes, fennel, garlic, dill, ginger, rutabeggas, turnips, cabbage, beets, and all the other goodies that go into health food.
She also brews a mean Kombucha, in 4 different flavors! You get $ 0.25 towards your purchase if you return the (cleaned) container to her at the Farmer’s market!
Contact: Alex & Kevin Hozven
P.O. Box 2717 Berkeley, CA 94 702
(510) 540‑5185