{"id":24164,"date":"2017-06-22T12:18:58","date_gmt":"2017-06-22T12:18:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/natural-organic-blog\/?p=24164"},"modified":"2019-06-04T23:06:49","modified_gmt":"2019-06-04T21:06:49","slug":"things-kombucha-touch-base-meghan-growth-theonista-real-origin-scoby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/blog\/things-kombucha-touch-base-meghan-growth-theonista-real-origin-scoby\/","title":{"rendered":"All things Kombucha: We touch base with Meghan on the growth of Theonista (and the real origin of her SCOBY)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Timing is everything. For a product or brand to make a remarkable impression on a consumer, they almost need to come into existence just when the newly aware potential customer is realising that it might quite like just such a product. I personally felt this way about the Theonista brand of natural, fermented craft beverages. One day I was learning about kombucha and its powers of gut flora transformation, but still quite sceptical on this whole \u2018nurturing-my-own-SCOBY\u2019 commitment, and the next I was pushing my trolley along only to discover a ready-made, kombucha brew blinking at me from behind the orange juice concentrates. I\u2019ve loved the brand ever since and so when the opportunity to pick Meghan\u2019s brain, the founder and brewmistress of this much-loved brand, I was practically fizzy with enthusiasm. Want to know how a perfectly timed product like kombucha enters the marketplace? Read on.<\/p>\n

Meghan Werner\u2019s story begins in the land of the free and brave, in New Mexico. After a fair bit of relocation via Southern California, Maryland and Seattle, she graduated with a BA in Cultural Studies and a Masters in Public Policy in Public Health and Economic Development, both from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, Maryland.<\/p>\n

Her career saw her first working in the public health field doing research and project management when an opportunity to do similar research via a paediatric and maternal malnutrition and HIV\/ AIDS-related job in Lesotho lured her across the pond.<\/p>\n

At this juncture, I find myself, even more, curios as to how that particular trajectory turned into the brewing of colonies of symbiotic cultures. So, I asked.<\/p>\n

So, not that your work in Lesotho doesn\u2019t interest me \u2013 because almost everything does. But where\/ how did your love for kombucha come into the mix? Is it only new to us here in far-away-SA and more of a trend you were familiar with from the US?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I discovered kombucha in my early 20s while trying to find ways to address years of digestive issues despite nearly a decade on a pretty clean plant-based diet. What I learnt was that it was a really powerful healing tool for my body. When I arrived in Cape Town five years ago, I was excited to even find kombucha but dismayed that the products available here didn\u2019t have the same flavour profile to those I was accustomed to. Nor did they, and this is the most important, cultivate the same health and energetic effects in my body.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m surprised you found any at all, yours was the first brand that seemed genuinely \u2018visible\u2019 to me.<\/p>\n

Well, I also couldn\u2019t seem to find anyone brewing it locally, from whom I could get my own SCOBY.<\/p>\n

Quick pause \u2013 to those still new to the kombucha trend a SCOBY is a Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast that resembles a disc of solidified jelly. You were saying?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Well, the city I lived in before (Seattle) was the kind of place you could just swing a stick and hit someone brewing their own kombucha, not to mention kefir and kimchi. Of course, there have been people in South Africa brewing kombucha for decades, but it was more popular among the older generation of folks who are currently grandparents. It\u2019s only recently resurfaced as a more well-known (if still not yet quite mainstream) practice.<\/p>\n

After about a month of striking out on my quest for a culture, I arranged for a SCOBY to be brought over from the US with a friend and that one tiny starter culture has now created a massive family tree of offspring in our brewery as well as all over South Africa via our home-brew kits.<\/p>\n

Fascinating! So a large part of the SA kombucha market is offspring from Seattle? I love it. So, how did you turn yourself from your previous career in public health into a bustling kombucha brewer here in Cape Town?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

When I first arrived, I was totally burnt on public health and policy so I taught yoga for a couple of years (something I\u2019d been doing since 2007 on the side of my more conventional career). That\u2019s how I supported myself in Cape Town in the beginning while running Theonista on the side as a passion project. I was also making organic chocolate products to sell at markets mainly just to keep myself busy when I started making kombucha. Friends would ask for a few bottles here and there and it eventually reached a few of the right people who requested to sell my kombucha in their stores and restaurants.<\/p>\n

Is that the official title \u2013 \u2018 kombucha brewer\u2019?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

My \u2018title\u2019 is brewmistress \u2013 it always raises some eyebrows, but it\u2019s just more accurate and less self-important than \u201cfounder\/CEO\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You spoke of the benefits you discovered regarding drinking kombucha. Tell me, why should I add kombucha to my lifestyle?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Purported benefits of kombucha include enhanced digestion, immunity, energy, improved condition of skin & hair, and detoxification.<\/p>\n

Traditionally fermented raw Kombucha is full of living probiotics, organic enzymes, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, and organic acids.<\/p>\n

All great things that I assume we don\u2019t get in sufficient quantities these days.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Yep, and rumour has it, it\u2019s also an excellent hangover cure\u2026<\/p>\n

Gosh, who started that rumour I wonder. I\u2019ll have to put that theory to the test. Speaking of putting it to the test, I\u2019ve been trying to ween my mother on to it, but she struggles with the acidic taste (which I, of course, don\u2019t mind as it\u2019s quite similar to craft cider to me) But is there a way to ween oneself onto kombucha?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Absolutely \u2013 try putting as little as 100ml into your fruit-based, nondairy smoothies. You may also just need to find the right flavour to suit your preference. That said, as much as I love kombucha, I realise it isn\u2019t for everyone and I don’t think you need to torture yourself. If you hate it, there\u2019s no need to force it. You can get your probiotics in another way.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get back to the flavours though. Tell me a bit about Theonista\u2019s flavours. How did you choose them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

I normally have 10\u201312 flavours at any given time. We have a really extensive core range of over 10 options right now but in the past year, I\u2019ve also introduced seasonal flavours (i.e. Summer, Equinox, etc) that allow me to offer new flavours using botanicals, spices, and\/or fruits to create options which are seasonally inspired.<\/p>\n

I love that! There\u2019s probably also an underlying natural health synergy towards consuming what is seasonally abundant. What\u2019s the most popular seasonal flavour to date and do you take requests? ; p<\/strong><\/h4>\n

That would probably the Equinox, a citrusy, floral blend made of various lemon-scented botanicals sourced from Good Hope Gardens near Cape Point. We\u2019re always open to suggestions and do make some small custom blends especially when we have a limited supply of something special. For example, the Secret Gin Bar behind Honest Chocolate in Cape Town offers our kombucha on tap both straight-up and as a mixer for special cocktails, they create to go with the flavours we infuse into the kombucha. Sometimes it isn\u2019t sustainable to offer certain flavours on a mainstream level but that makes it extra special to work with chefs or mixologists to utilise the small amount available.<\/p>\n

Gin bar? Got it \u2013 \u00a0say no more. So now, how come if I can get all this great tasting kombucha from Theonista and neighbourhood gin bars, should I bother buying and understanding SCOBYs and how to brew my own?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

It\u2019s a bit like baking bread, making your own yoghurt, or even growing your own vegetables. Brewing your own Kombucha gives you a more intimate connection to the end product and also allows you to personalise it along the way. We\u2019ve also had lots of people tell us it gives them a whole new appreciation of how challenging it can be to make high quality, and especially consistent, kombucha. But even if every batch turns out different it can be a fun way to get more involved with the source of your food and ultimately I\u2019d like to believe that kind of thing has a positive influence on the food culture and food system overall.<\/p>\n

So true. Your most recent kombucha flavour that caught my eye is the activated charcoal infusion. That’s like two great trends in one. Can you tell me more about that one?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Activated charcoal is a powerful detoxifying agent that works by adsorbing\u00a0chemicals throughout the entirety of the GI tract. It is commonly used\u00a0medicinally to reduce bloating and as an antidote to many organic toxins,\u00a0chemicals, and poisons. \u00a0The charcoal we used is derived from coconut shell.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/em> Because of activated charcoal’s ability to adsorb chemicals, is\u00a0recommended that you wait two hours between consuming this product and\u00a0taking any vitamin supplements or medications.<\/p>\n

Okay, so what are the top 3 things that home kombucha makers get wrong and what advice have you got for perfecting home brews or getting creative with them?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Mistaking normal yeast buildup for mould<\/li>\n
  2. Bottling too soon<\/li>\n
  3. Bottling too late<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    (Laughs) Like I said before, timing is everything. If you can make beer bread with cider \u2013 can you make kombucha bread too?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Definitely, but I don\u2019t have much personal experience doing this.<\/p>\n

    Ah, challenge accepted. And for that matter \u2013 are there any other awesome ways I can get kombucha into my lifestyle? Kombucha popsicles? Warm Kombucha Winter alcohol-free cider? The Gin bar already beat me to the cocktails\u2026<\/strong><\/h4>\n

    Sure! Try slowly simmering a fruit flavoured kombucha (rooibos pomegranate, for example) with berries until it\u2019s concentrated enough to make a coulis to drizzle over ice cream or pancakes. Other ideas to try:<\/p>\n