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Greenbelt Kombucha Joins the Austin Craft Beverage Scene

Kombucha hunting is an essential party of our travels. We were shopping recently at our favorite HEB grocery store when we came across Greenbelt Kombucha. The beverage from this newcomer to the local scene comes is in a can which is what caught our eye.

However, the entrepreneurs behind the product are not new to the local food and beverage scene. As this story in the school newspaper reports, five co-founders, including three University of Texas Business Grads, have been working on a series of fermented food and beverage offerings over the past few years.

Initially, their products were pickled/preserved items for Hat Creek Burgers. That business was spun off into a separate food entity, Barrel Creek Provisions, when we encountered them at the local Fermentation Fair. Their next ventures were into fermented beverages — Strange Land Brewery, Texas Sake Company, and now, Greenbelt Kombucha.

Strange Land initially offered bottle-conditioned beer before evolving into cans to provide more stable shelf life. It appears they are following the same path with their kombucha.

Lessons learned from beer production have been applied to the kombucha production. Evolution from glass bottles to cans makes the product more portable for Austinites. The kombucha is created to be accessible to everyone, with familiar flavors and a lower price point than their competition. They are raw, vegan and utilize four different teas for their four products.  We tried two of the flavors — Hibiscus Berry Black Tea and Blood Orange Yerba Mate. The tastes are mild and refreshing, with minimal fizziness, and are very drinkable. They would be ideal with a meal, as a mixer or sitting at an outdoor concert.

Appealing to the environmentalists in Austin, the entire manufacturing process is utilizing wind powered energy. To us, that just seems to go hand in hand with the good stuff that kombucha does to the body.

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Kombucha: The Centuries Old Overnight Sensation

In the world of fashion, it is common to see an old trend become new again, like mini skirts or bell-bottom jeans. When it comes to food, new trends often reflect something from the past as well. We are seeing this now with the trend of fermented foods, like kombucha, pickles and kvass.

In recent memory, the pickled items were reflective of an Eastern European heritage. Kombucha’s lineage, on the other hand, includes stops in Russia, Manchuria and Japan. And, it’s in Japan where kombucha is getting a new life after a successful run in the ‘70s.

A recent story in the Honolulu Star Advertiser talks about the success of Oizumi Kojo, Japan’s only brewer of raw kombucha. And while kombucha is most often brewed using a fungus made from mushrooms, Japan’s version uses a base made from seaweed. The Japan fermented beverage comes in 30 flavors and is available at a notable Tokyo restaurant as well as via delivery to bars and eateries that serve beverages on tap.

Continuing with the adage “everything old is new again,” Kvass is making a comeback–or perhaps it just laid low in its Eastern European roots until recently. Kvass is fermented beet juice that is making its way into mainstream supermarket shelves after spending a few years testing the waters at health food stores and the occasional “gourmet” market.

Natural Producers Insider, a trade B2B magazine, offers a white paper for those interested in fermented beet juice and its alkaline brethren which speaks to the future of this refreshing, healthy drink. Whether you are a consumer looking to expand your horizons or someone interested from a commercial perspective, the report provides interesting reading.