Roasted coffee, dry mixes, shrubs, juice, kombucha — mixed rules by type
DEPENDS ON TYPE
Bottom line: Dry, shelf-stable beverage bases ride the cottage food exemption for free; anything wet, fermented, or fresh-pressed needs its own separate license track, and alcohol is a different world entirely.
The Path
This category splits three ways. Shelf-stable dry goods — roasted coffee, loose-leaf tea, drink mix packets with no dairy or fresh produce — qualify as cottage food under § 500.80 with no license needed. Fresh-pressed or unpasteurized juice sold beyond the point of harvest falls under FDA Juice HACCP (21 CFR 120) and needs an FDACS food establishment permit plus a mandatory unpasteurized-juice warning label. Kombucha and any dairy-based drink are excluded from cottage food outright because they're fermented or time/temperature-control-for-safety products. And any alcoholic beverage — mead, cider, wine — is regulated entirely separately by Florida's Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, with its own licensing process that has nothing to do with FDACS.
What You Need
Dry mixes/roasted coffee/tea: cottage food label with all 6 required elements
Fresh juice sold beyond harvest: FDA Juice HACCP compliance plus FDACS permit
Alcoholic beverages: separate DBPR/ABT license before any sale
Watch Out For
Kombucha and dairy-based drinks are not cottage food eligible — fermentation and refrigeration needs disqualify them
Don't sell unpasteurized juice without the required warning statement
Don't assume a cottage food registration covers any beverage containing alcohol