The “tea of immortality” has come a long way from its reported beginning in China more than 2,000 years ago. In Western countries, the health drink called kombucha has been around for a while and is rather popular. Kin Kombucha, a newly-launched Kuching-based business is introducing its own version of the kombucha as a healthy substitute for sugary drinks.
A good alternative to sugary drinks
If you are not familiar, kombucha is a fermented and sweetened tea often made with black or green tea. It is largely classified as a functional beverage, meaning that it is a drink that contains vitamins, amino acids or other nutrients associated with health benefits.
Even though the drink is not new, it seems to have a very limited market in Sarawak, and despite the health benefits, it is still very much underappreciated.
Melvin Teo, co-founder of ‘Kin Kombucha,’ explained why he shifted from sugary drinks to kombucha. “There are three main reasons: Firstly, kombucha aids in promoting a healthy gut and may aid overall digestion. Because of the probiotics in kombucha, you may have less bloating, indigestion, and reflux.
“Secondly, kombucha has polyphenols that function as powerful antioxidants for the body. So you’ll get both the benefits of tea and probiotics in one bottle. “
Finally, the 26-year-old said that kombucha is a good alternative to sugary drinks as it contains a very low amount of sugar. “Even though we feed sugar to it, the sugar gets eaten up to produce the carbonation.”
Despite its benefits, Melvin emphasised that kombucha is not a miracle drink. “While it is beneficial, it is not a substitute for medicine or true nutritional supplements.” And, like everything else, there must be a balance. Drinking too much kombucha can cause gassiness because it is a fermented drink with naturally occurring carbonation.”
The beginning
Melvin co-founded “Kin Kombucha” with Jeanette Tagal, his partner and long-time friend. He admitted that although he had been brewing kombucha for more than two years, he was sceptical about selling his homemade kombucha. “However, Jeanette and my other kombucha-loving friends encouraged me.”
Melvin revealed that their first launch on December 1 was a success, introducing a new flavour to the Kuching market. When asked what the beginner kombucha drinkers had to say, Melvin said they were impressed by how strong the kombucha was.
“Because they expected the drink to taste like tea or fruit juice, the first-time drinkers noted on how strong it was. The bacteria, on the other hand, change the compounds in the tea, the sugar, and the flavour during the fermentation process.” Melvin also mentioned that kombucha is a drink that falls somewhere between tea and beer, as well as tuak or apple cider vinegar.
Beginners should treat it like wine, he added. “I would advise them to take it slowly, not to rush, and not to go through the entire bottle. It may appear strong at first, but after a few sips, it becomes more drinkable.”
Is kombucha a good alcohol substitute? Melvin and Jeanette both rejected the idea. “Kombucha is a naturally occurring alcoholic beverage with an alcohol content of less than 0.5 percent. We don’t recommend it for pregnant women or individuals who have alcohol intolerances, despite its low alcohol content.”
“However, it cannot be a substitute for beer if a person is going for it for the flavour. With that being said, we are currently working on a kombucha that tastes like beer,” revealed Melvin.
The kombucha experience
Melvin’s love for kombucha stemmed from his addiction to sugary drinks. Having spent most of his adulthood studying and working in Australia, Melvin was well aware that drinking too much soda was not healthy. “We get into it because it feels nice, just like many other addictions. I couldn’t quit because I enjoyed the fizzy sensation that the drinks gave me.”
He first heard of kombucha five years ago and was intrigued. He gave it a try and when he first tasted it, he had mixed feelings. “I was looking for a substitute for my addiction, so I tried store-bought kombucha. My first impression was that it tasted weird.”
However, once he began brewing his own kombucha, Melvin found out that it was able to give him the same rush that sugary drinks gave him. “When I brewed and tried it for the first time, I was blown away by how good it was. I decided to keep going.”
Jeanette, on the other hand, had the exact opposite idea about the drink. This was due to her perception of kombucha as a gimmick health drink. But as she took her first sip of ginger and lemon kombucha, the Urban Planner graduate fell in love with it.
“I didn’t think I’d like it at first, but after giving it a try, I changed my opinion. The fermenting process piqued my interest, and the rest, as they say, is history,” she added.
After tasting a variety of commercially-made kombuchas, the pair agreed that home-brewed kombucha tasted significantly better.
A delicate process
According to Melvin, to make kombucha, one would need basic ingredients such as the kombucha culture, tea, and organic sugar cane. “The culture resembles vinegar in that it feeds on sugar, but it requires tea as a medium. The culture needs the caffeine in the tea to survive.
“When the bacteria becomes accustomed to the tea and recognises the sugar as food, it produces a consumable beverage. Although kombucha can be made in a week, we’ve found that a month of fermentation produces the best results,” he added.
Melvin recommends that people drink kombucha within two weeks. However, as long as the drink is refrigerated, it has no shelf life.
When asked about the difficulties of brewing, the two admitted to having had their fair share of experience during their early years of brewing. “As a result, we usually have a good idea of what to expect. When making kombucha, the temperature, the air, and the light all play an important role. It needs to be kept at a controlled temperature.”
Melvin went on to say that while they don’t monitor the fermentation process on a daily basis, they do monitor it regularly to see if anything is out of the ordinary.
Behind the name
For both, the name ‘Kin’ has a profound and valuable meaning. Melvin and Jeanette emphasised the connection and kinship underlying the term ‘kin,’ as they have been childhood friends until today.
“Kindness is an important part of what we do and why we do it. It is not to make money, although that is one of the services’ benefits. But, as Melvin noted, “we want ‘Kin Kombucha’ to be a brewery where everyone feels like kin, where it signifies family.”
Through the pandemic, they both realised that kindness is very important. “We want people to remember that even when Covid-19 is over. We’re hoping that every bottle of Kin Kombucha that gets shared around will spread not only kindness but also a sense of belonging.”
In the future, the duo hopes to be more than just a business, as according to them, there are too many businesses around. “We always wondered, what can we do that is different from the others? We don’t just want to sell drinks; we want to build a culture. Hopefully, through kombucha and ‘Kin’, we can make everyone a little kinder, happier, and more generous.”
