Unlocking the fizz: Explore kombucha, the tart, effervescent drink with health perks

Flip through café menus in hipster neighbourhoods or browse through fancy grocery stores, and you are likely to find an abundance of kombucha flavours, making you wonder what this distinctly tart, bubbly beverage is all about. While kombucha is relatively new to India, having been introduced only a few years ago, this sour, slightly effervescent drink, which is a fermented beverage made from tea and sugar, dates back to 220 BC! While the precise origin of kombucha is slightly hazy, the first recipes are believed to have originated during the early Qin Dynasty in China. A couple of centuries later, a Korean doctor reportedly brought the method for kombucha production across the sea to Japan, where he served on the court of Ingyo, Japan’s 19th emperor, and lauded the virtues of the drink.

“The story goes that the Japanese emperor was cured of various illnesses by drinking this magical tea. The Korean doctor’s name was Kombu, and so it was called Kombu-cha (Kombu’s tea),” says 45-year-old Aman Bhatia, Co-founder of Natural Superfoods LLB, which produces the brand Raw Kombucha. Bhatia and his friend Alankar Sharma (both software engineers) set up the company in 2019 when, on returning to India from the US, Bhatia realised there was a market for the product that is considered to have several health benefits. Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic put a stop to their plans. “We properly started marketing only in 2022. Since then, we have seen tremendous growth,” says Bhatia, who sells 20,000 units a month and hopes to increase it to 50,000 units monthly this financial year.

The brand is available in both bottles (`99 for 250 ml; six flavours) and cans (`110 for 250 ml; three flavours). The most popular bottled flavours are lemon & ginger and lavender with blue tea, while passion fruit is popular in the can category. Besides being available online on Amazon, JioMart, etc., Bhatia also supplies to various F&B outlets in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Mysuru, amongst others. “There is demand from smaller towns because of international tourists,” he explains, saying that in India, it is gaining traction primarily in metros.

Conventionally, kombucha is made using brewed black or green tea and sucrose. To prepare kombucha, bacteria and yeast in the form of a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast)—a biofilm of microorganisms including acetic acid bacteria, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts—are added to the tea and sugar mixture and left to ferment. Different brands ferment for different periods. Bhatia, for instance, ferments in two cycles of 7-10 days each. “The fermentation produces a beverage rich in antioxidants, digestive enzymes, good bacteria and amino acids,” he says. The final product contains less than 1 per cent sugar.

“Kombucha is a fermented food, full of antioxidants and probiotics that helps boost gut health and improve our immunity, making the body more efficient,” says Kavita Devgan, a Delhi-based nutritionist and author of books such as The Don’t Diet Plan and The Immunity Diet. “Better gut health also helps one lose weight and cut inflammation in the body, which helps cut the risk of multiple disorders,” she adds.

But in the end, it all boils down to taste. “Our mango flavour is our biggest seller,” says Ashraf Ahmed, Marketing Lead at Goa-based Latambarcem Brewers, which sells the brand Borécha (meaning good tea in Konkani). The company, founded by brothers Ishan and Aneesh Varshnei, also manufactures Maka Di Beer. They started brewing kombucha in 2020 when having returned from the US, they were unable to find any kombucha brands in India. Today Borécha is available pan-India in six low-sugar and four zero-sugar varieties in 330 ml cans (`160). While their low-sugar flavours (containing 3 gm of sugar per 100 ml) such as mango and Hawaiian passion fruit contain probiotics, the zero-sugar flavours such as Fiji fruit punch contain prebiotics. The brand is available pan-India through online retail and at F&B outlets and airports in metro cities such as Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, amongst others. You can enjoy it on Akasa Airlines and it recently set up a vending machine at Ashoka University. “There is a growing demand among the young and health-conscious,” says Ahmed.

According to market research firm The Brainy Insights, the size of the global kombucha market is projected to grow to $9.60 billion by 2030 from $2.71 billion in 2021, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.1 per cent. The growth is primarily due to the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

So, is kombucha just a trend? “No, because it is about your gut health, and health can never be a trend,” says 40-year-old Isha Singh Sawhney, Founder of Bhu Kombucha. The New Delhi-based company offers nine flavours (at `250 a bottle), including the best-selling apple and cinnamon, and apricot. Sawhney started brewing kombucha at home in 2017 for herself after her uncle carted a batch of SCOBY for her from the US. “I think of myself as an accidental entrepreneur,” she laughs. A year later, she started stocking it at organic cafes in Delhi and slowly the business grew. Today Bhu is available in grocery stores and cafes in Mumbai, Pune, Goa, Lucknow, and Bengaluru, amongst others. She also has three collaborations, including with wellness resort Ananda In the Himalayas for whom she brews a special kombucha, which is honey fermented instead of sucrose.

With a large number of other players such as Happy Booch, Atmosphere, Khukrain’s Kombucha, etc., supplying in different parts of the country, looks like the healthy fermented tea beverage is here to stay.

@smitabw