Anyway, if you’re wondering what all the fuss is about, well, here’s
the skinny: kombucha is made by fermenting tea using a symbiotic colony of bacteria
and yeast. If this causes you to raise an eyebrow, fear not- it is both safe and delicious. It is also available in a number of flavors and formulations- “concord grape", anybody? The drink is probiotic in nature, and many health
benefits are often associated with it.
Lots of people make kombucha at home these days, but for those of us who
occasionally like to enjoy the fruit of someone else’s labors, Mamachari
Kombucha is widely available in Salt Lake City.
I recently had the chance to sit down with Christy Jensen, the creative
force behind Mamachari, and her story was inspiring. It also made me really thirsty for more ‘booch.
Christy was introduced to kombucha in college- she attended
Utah State in Logan- and she admits to always having been a bit of a tea
nerd. An expert at a health food store
recommended kombucha when Christy was feeling under the weather, and she got
hooked. This happened around the time
that she was apprenticing with the Crumb Brothers bakery, and the recalls that
this was the time of life when she really caught the fermentation bug. She obtained a SCOBY (the starter referenced
above) and quickly had 6 gallons brewing.
About 3 years ago, she started tossing around the idea of starting her
own kombucha business- one of the things she thought about was the fact that
pretty much every big city has 1-3 kombucha breweries, and that seemed to point
to an unfilled niche in Salt Lake City.
After a year of planning, she started up. As a small businessman myself, I am pretty
blown away with how much she’s accomplished; the list of places that carry her
products is impressive, and it is still growing.
One of the biggest lessons she’s learned is that people are
really supportive and eager to help; her taproom is opening in a few days, and
she noted that a ton of volunteer labor has helped to get the place ship
shape. To me, this speaks to the importance
of community, and Christy was quick to point out lots of
other ways that collaboration adds to the business. For example, she regularly does joint projects
with Vive Juicery and has also crafted a special kombucha featuring Blue Tea from The Queen’s Tea. Local
vegan restaurant Zest offers kombucha cocktails, which I’d like to try. She also told me about her aspiration to collaborate with a local beer brewer to create a
kombucha-infused beer. This would be a first for Salt Lake City. I hereby nominate my good pal Kevin Ely at
Uinta Brewing. If you know him, bug
him about it.
In terms of Mamachari’s presence in the community, the
downtown Farmer’s Markets have provided terrific exposure and sales
opportunities since day one. Christy was
shocked by the positive reception at her first market a while back: despite
bringing what seemed like a lot of product, she sold out by 10:30am! I heartily
recommend checking out her spot at the Saturday markets this winter- she has a
number of different brews on tap so that you can taste a bunch and find your
fave. This is really helpful, because
they vary quite a bit, and it is a veritable certainty that you’ll find some to
be more appealing than others. With this
in mind, Christy strives to offer a lot of different flavors. This is directly in support of her mission,
which is to create a down-to-earth, organic kombucha for everyone.
I figured there was a cool story behind the company’s name,
and I wasn’t disappointed. Turns out, Christy grew
up in Japan, and in Japanese, the word “Mamachari” means “mother’s bicycle”,
which is a colloquialism for a sort of everyday, utilitarian bike that is
common throughout the country. This
metaphor touches on two things- Christy’s goal to make an accessible “drink for
the people”, and also the fact that bikes figure pretty heavily into both the social
mission and daily operations of the business.
Christy aims for a business that is as sustainable as possible, and bikes plays a big role. She makes as many deliveries as possible that way, and she has plans for a new “kombucha bike” which will be buffed out
so as to be a fully self-contained serving station that will hold 5-6 kegs and
can be pedaled to farmers markets and the like. Christy has lots of other great plans, too-
the taproom has lots of space, which will provide a nice location for some
classes on fermentation (sauerkraut, anybody?) in the not-too-distant
future. Her ultimate goal, when I
pressed her for her “dream big” ideas was to achieve statewide distribution. Given how much she’s already accomplished,
and how focused and effective she seems to be, I don’t doubt it a bit. I for one would love to see Mamachari in the
hands of everybody that wants it—but I'll be honest: at the moment, I’m mostly glad its about to be in mine.
Also of note:
Mamachari Kombucha’s Taproom (located downtown at 445 S. and 400 W.) is opening on Friday December 5th
from 12-8pm
Regular Taproom hours will be Thursday and Friday from
12-7pm
for more info about kombucha, visit http://www.mamachari.cc
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