Seattle Kombucha owner, Wayne Greenfield, has been busy managing his rapidly growing business.  We caught up with him and asked a few questions:

How was Seattle Kombucha founded?

Seattle Kombucha was founded out of a need to create better tasting kombucha. When I was first introduced to kombucha in 2012 I got really excited. It was kind of like wine, but nonalcoholic and good for digestion. And, unlike wine, I actually felt better the next morning after drinking kombucha.

I became kombucha obsessed and tried several different flavors and brands but couldn’t find the taste and quality I was looking for.. As any entrepreneur thinks from time to time, “I can do better!” and so it began. I believed that I could use my winemaking and culinary skills to make kombucha that actually tasted and smelled better. So I did what anyone would do and got to work learning about tea and brewed hundreds of gallons of kombucha in our living room!

What’s happened since?

After the living room brewery days, we found a space and built a proper brewery. We met with other brewers from all over the country who made flavors we enjoyed and compared notes. We built a team and learned how to brew in large quantities. We are now making and selling as much kombucha as we can, as fast as we can, to keep up with growing demand.

So far we’ve made more than 100 flavors, but have settled on about a dozen that we sell regularly, with new experimental and seasonal flavors available each season.

We also spend a lot of time serving free samples and selling bottles of our kombucha to customers at Pike Place Market, where we have a pop up tent every other weekend.

Can you give us a glimpse of the future for Seattle Kombucha?

Short term we are focusing on having as many people in Western WA try our kombucha so that they can experience the difference in flavors. We are expanding our team, building a larger brewery, raising more investment money and making as much delicious, authentic kombucha as we can while keeping the quality and consistency very high. Long term we are working to become one of the largest kombucha companies in the world, with unique flavors and styles of kombucha that are both delicious and make our customers feel amazing!

Can you explain just what Kombucha is?

Kombucha is an ancient, rediscovered elixir made by fermenting sweetened tea. For centuries, people from the eastern world have been consuming this beverage for digestive health and other health benefits. Recently, Australia and the western world have discovered the benefits and unique taste of kombucha.

To make kombucha you brew tea (usually green or black tea), add sugar, then cool it down. Once cool, you add some raw, live kombucha from a previous batch to get the fermentation process going. It takes about 7-30 days of fermentation before it’s ready, depending on how you like your kombucha to taste.

To make Seattle Kombucha taste different than other brands, we focus on the unique qualities and tastes of specific teas. Instead of using the same green and black tea starter for all of our flavors like other brands do, we use specific, individual teas to make each flavor. For instance, to make our Lady Grey kombucha we use an earl grey tea kombucha starter in order to bring out and highlight the malty, citrus flavors of earl grey we love so that they show up in the finished kombucha.

To learn more about kombucha, and the various flavors we’re introducing, look out for our new YouTube channel, That Kombucha Guy.

Sounds great. Where can I find your kombucha?

Right now Seattle Kombucha flavors are available at all Metropolitan Markets, Co-ops, Thriftway markets, and at Pike Place Market (see our webpage for more details). We also offer kegs, and free home delivery. Plus we ship 12 bottles anywhere in the USA and Canada through our website.