Key Takeaways
- Functional beverages are drinks built around a purposeful ingredient or botanical.
- The category spans kava, adaptogens, L-theanine, and more.
- Kava seltzers are a distinctive corner of the space.
- Look for low sugar and a real point of difference.
Written by Maya Ellison, Uchie Editorial. Last updated July 17, 2026.
What is a functional beverage?
A functional beverage is a drink built around a purposeful ingredient or botanical, rather than just flavor and fizz. The category has exploded as people look for drinks that fit a specific moment, and it now spans everything from botanicals to amino acids like L-theanine.
Uchie sits in this world as a sparkling kava seltzer, built on a botanical with centuries of tradition and blended with magnesium and L-theanine.
Where do kava seltzers fit in?
Kava seltzers are one of the more distinctive corners of the functional-drinks space. Where many functional drinks lean on newer ingredients, kava brings a centuries-old social tradition to the modern can.
That heritage is part of what makes a kava seltzer like Uchie feel different from a generic functional soda, it is built on something real.
How do you choose a good functional beverage?
Look past the buzzwords: favor low sugar, a genuine point of difference, and a flavor you would drink even without the function. The best functional drinks earn a place in your routine on taste alone.
Uchie aims to clear that bar, low sugar, a unique kava-magnesium-L-theanine blend, and two flavors people actually reach for. For adults 18+.
Sources
- National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) — Kava.