All kombucha starts with a mother. This is an ode to ours. Inge grew up in post-war Germany but moved to Detroit at 16, where she lived with civil rights activist and feminist Ms. Sophia Ellis, who inspired her to pursue a medical career and join Doctors Without Borders. The ST1 tank is named after Inge. Here, the essence of our kombucha takes shape — the starter culture. Our kombucha starter culture is attained through a two-phased system, in which we work exclusively with our custom-made liquid SCOBY culture.

The components are, as is the case of our kombucha base, green tea, lemon verbena and cane sugar. All organic. The starter culture is, in short, a more intense version of our kombucha that triggers the fermentation process. This forms the very basis of the acid profile and contains a high amount of bacteria and yeast cultures. The yeast begins to process the sugar into alcohol, and to control and cater to this, the first phase takes place in a customised, closed fermentation tank at a temperature of 34°. We are able to maintain a constant and precise temperature inside the tank.

A consistent, reliable atmosphere that is easily regulated is implemented, where oxygen can be added into the system as needed. Thermal regulation helps us speed up or slow down fermentation, and can be adjusted through the steel tank’s jacket. In the ongoing process of fermentation, alcohol is converted into organic acids, which, in our kombucha, means a high amount of gluconic acid and tartaric acid, contributing to a smooth, citrus acidity. In the second phase of fermentation, the temperature is lowered to 23°, and sterile aeration is added to support the conversion of alcohol into organic acids. This takes 3 weeks of fermentation in total. The result is a starter culture that is strong and rich on yeast and bacteria to start the fermentation and making the kombucha base.

Lotte Holm teaches Sociology of Food at the University of Copenhagen and does extensive, interdisciplinary research across the social and cultural aspects of food and eating. In our fermentation tank named after Lotte, a custom-made, stainless-steel tank, the sweetened tea and liquid starter culture is added. At 24°, the kombucha ferments for a week to form the kombucha base.

The entire process is carefully monitored, controlled, and measured by our in-house lab, analysing each batch to meticulously ensure a consistent fermentation- and flavour development process that successfully reaches our uncompromising standards. All our tanks have specially made mesh covers to maintain hygiene and support the process of brewing high quality kombucha. All culminates in a balanced signature kombucha to be expanded on into different flavour directions inside the pressure tanks.

Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg continues to challenge world leaders with her uncompromising speeches on the urgency of climate action, inspiring not only her own generation, but forcing older generations to face the facts. Once fermentation has come to an end, the kombucha base is transferred into the Greta pressure tank.

Here, the kombucha is centrifuged and passed through a customized filter to reduce larger particles and cloudiness inside the beverage. Our goal with this two-step system is to preserve the microorganisms, both during fermentation as well as after bottling. It allows bacteria and minor yeast residues to remain active for a final living kombucha. The stainless-steel pressure tank has thermal regulation, allowing us to store the beverage at 3°, preventing further fermentation while giving us time to infuse flavour. Our three flavours, organic sea buckthorn juice, sour cherry juice and rosehip shells, are all infused under pressure using a HopGun, also known from beer brewing.

This approach ensures a highly effective level of flavour extraction through the added pressure. To prevent alcohol from emerging inside the beverage, as well as to ensure and maintain the same level of carbonation across each batch, we dissolve CO2 into the kombucha in the final phase of brewing. Finally, the kombucha is bottled and packaged. Each bottle is rinsed, filled, labeled, and capped in-house using our bottling line.