On a snowy Tuesday in March, Kat Schwarz zoomed into Fifth
Frame Brewing with visibly intense purpose. She placed two amber glass bottles
on the table in front of me, each labeled “KATBOOCHA” in bold typeface. “These
are brand new!,” she exclaimed. As I admired the
bottle, Schwarz hopped over to the bar and returned with two glasses full of
vibrant fuchsia-colored liquid. I took a sip.
“Do you like
it?,” she asked hopefully.
Her
beet-flavored kombucha (com-BOOCH-uh) had an
expectedly earthy taste, elevated by the freshness of the tea. It went down
smoothly. “I love it,” I replied.
For the
health conscious, kombucha is a great alternative to
a sugary cocktail. The fermented tea drink is low-carb, low-sugar, and packed
with probiotics, vitamins, and antioxidants. According to the Mayo Clinic,
there is evidence to suggest that drinking kombucha
may produce similar effects to taking probiotic supplements, including improved
digestion and immune function.
The
explosive kombucha movement is similar to that of
craft beer and third wave coffee, driven by millennial trendsetters — a group
with a growing number seeking sober alternatives to a night out.
“Young
people are thinking more about what they’re putting in their bodies,” Schwarz
explains. “They want it to be something special.”
Full disclosure:
because
kombucha is a fermented drink (it’s a tea that
contains a combination of bacteria and yeast in it), there is a trace amount of
alcohol in it, but by law that amount must be below 0.5 percent if it’s being
sold as a non-alcoholic beverage. And there are over-21 kombuchas
and kombucha beers on the market.
Katboocha joins a handful of local kombucha
breweries including Rocbucha, KOGAbucha,
and Timbucha. Schwarz currently sells two flavors by
the bottle: ginger and beet, which are widely available at area restaurants,
grocery stories, and breweries, including Fifth Frame Brewing Co., Fuego Coffee
Roasters, Rohrbach Brewing Company, Boxcar, The Red
Fern, Root 31 Cafe and Eatery, and Eat Me Ice Cream.
“I wanted to
offer simple flavors that I knew people would love,” she says.
Fairport
Brewing Company Founder Tim Garman began selling the drink to his craft beer
customers in 2016. Today, the Fairport Brewing Company Tap Room features six kombucha taps, and Timbucha comes
bottled in a variety of flavors including citrus, peach, cranberry-pear, and
turmeric-rose. Garman says they routinely test new flavors in the Tap Room that
aren’t yet available in stores.
“It’s a
cocktail of health, and people love it,” Garman says. “We have a lot of people
come to the Tap Room fill growlers with kombucha.”
Kombucha is being served on tap growing number of other
local businesses — especially health-centric establishments such as Fifth Frame
Brewing, Rohrbach Beer Hall, and Park Avenue vegan
restaurant The Red Fern.
“Kombucha has been on our menu since day one,” says Red Fern
owner Andrea Parros. “We knew about its popularity
with health-conscious customers, so we decided to offer it on tap. We go
through about 10-12 gallons a week.”
If you want
to stash some in your fridge, the probiotics-packed drink is sold by the bottle
at local grocery stores including Wegmans, Hart’s Local Grocers, and Lori’s
Natural Foods. But when it comes to buying bottled kombucha
at the grocery store, beware. Garman says that not all kombucha
is created equal.
“You’ve got
a lot of dead product hitting the market. When people buy kombucha,
they expect it to be alive,” he says, referring to the live probiotics in the
drink that aid in digestion.
Some large kombucha brands such as Kevita
have recently come under fire for pasteurizing product for shelf stability — an
act that can kill the good-for-your-gut bacteria that makes the drink so
popular. Schwarz and Garman agree that pasteurizing kills all the good stuff.
With these concerns at play, buying local product makes even more sense. “Why
not?,” Garman says. “You’re supporting your friends
and neighbors.”
Ginger is a
popular kombucha flavor, and Katboocha,
Rocbucha, and KOGAbucha all
offer it. The spicy root plays well with the drink’s vinegar-y bite and light
carbonation. Other popular flavor choices include various fruits and berries,
which add a sweetness to the drink that helps the medicine go down. Rocbucha makes strawberry-basil and blueberry-mint flavors,
which are both floral and light. Katboocha’s beet
flavor is a standout — the unmistakable earthy flavor and irresistible pink
color keep you coming back. Wade Reed, co-founder of Fifth Frame Brewing, said
they keep Katboocha’s beet flavor on tap because it’s
a customer favorite.
If you
really prefer a boozy beverage, you can add kombucha
to your cocktail — Fairport Brewing Company offers kombucha
cocktails on their Tap Room menu. But with kombucha
on tap at more and more local establishments, there are a growing number of
beverage choices for those who don’t drink. “I hope Rochester becomes a place
where there is a non-alcoholic option at every bar,” Schwarz says.
This article appears in May 9-15, 2018.
