Beverages in Maryland

Maryland's allowed foods list specifically includes blended dried teas. You can blend, package, and sell your own custom loose-leaf tea mixes — herbal, green, black, rooibos, or blend combinations. The key is that the product must be fully dried — no fresh or moistened herbs, no infused liquids.

Maryland's cottage food rules include roasted coffee beans as an allowable product. You can roast, grind, and sell whole or ground coffee from your home under the cottage food exemption. The roasting process drives moisture to a very low level, making coffee a genuinely shelf-stable product.

A pure dry cocoa and sugar blend is shelf-stable and likely qualifies as a cottage food. However, mixes containing dried milk powder, creamer, or protein powder aren't explicitly listed as allowed products and carry some regulatory uncertainty. Confirm with MDH at (410) 767-8444 before investing in production.

Cold brew concentrate and ready-to-drink cold brew are liquid products with water activity levels that support microbial growth. They require refrigeration throughout production, storage, and distribution — making them TCS products outside the scope of Maryland's cottage food rules. Selling cold brew commercially requires a food establishment license and likely an FDA facility registration if distributing broadly.

Juice is explicitly listed as a prohibited cottage food product in Maryland. Fresh-pressed juice that hasn't been pasteurized carries significant risks from E. coli, Salmonella, and Listeria. FDA regulations under FSMA require juice processors to either pasteurize or implement HACCP controls — neither of which is possible in a home kitchen. Selling juice requires an FDA-registered facility and likely a Maryland food establishment license.

Kombucha involves a live fermentation process using a SCOBY culture that produces both lactic acid and alcohol. Maryland's cottage food rules do not permit fermented food or beverage production. Additionally, kombucha that exceeds 0.5% ABV is legally classified as an alcoholic beverage under federal and state law, triggering TTB registration and Maryland alcohol licensing requirements. Even below that threshold, fermented beverages require a licensed facility.

Shrubs (also called drinking vinegars) combine fruit, sugar, and vinegar. While the vinegar base is acidic, the fruit additions and varying recipes mean these products fall into the acidified foods category under FDA regulations. Acidified foods require an FDA-registered facility, process authority approval, and often state licensing. They are explicitly outside Maryland's cottage food rules.

Despite feeling simple and low-risk, freshly squeezed lemonade and other mixed beverages made to order are liquid food products with water activity levels that allow rapid bacterial growth. Selling them commercially requires a food establishment license. A dry lemonade mix (crystallized citric acid, sugar, dried flavoring) would be a different story and may qualify as cottage food — but the liquid product does not.