Some people, such as Andras Hadik, are beneficiaries of random acts of kindness. While working at a health food store in 2010, a woman unknown to him, and someone he never saw again, gave Andras a sample of a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) so he could make his own kombucha. And Andras did. He made it for himself. He made it for friends. And he now makes it for us.
Kombucha is a mixture of tea fermented with the help of the SCOBY and a sweetener. Once fermented, flavor and carbonation are added. It’s that simple, which is part of the reason Andras named his company KIS (Keep It Simple) Kombucha.
Although Andras’s formulation is simple, kombucha itself is not. It’s full of probiotics, which can help digestion. But, Andras says, “Probiotics can also affect immunity, brain health, and overall well-being.”
He began selling at the Stowe Farmers’ Market. There, he met Mark Simakaski, who was selling mead. After a while, they became friends, experimenting with combining their handmade products and forming a partnership. Their relationship, like the culture, proved symbiotic. “I think we’re pretty compatible as people,” Mark says.
Their bottling facility in Lyndonville looks like you would expect: tall CO2 canisters, shiny silver tanks, bottling machines, and rolls of colorful labels. Just off the bottling floor, eight square tanks covered in fine mesh sit in a temperature-controlled room. In those tanks, gallons of kombucha ferment. After a month, the kombucha is siphoned out, flavored, carbonated, and bottled.
Kombucha is a mixture of tea fermented with the help of the SCOBY and a sweetener. Once fermented, flavor and carbonation are added. It’s that simple, which is part of the reason Andras named his company KIS (Keep It Simple) Kombucha.
KIS Kombucha flavors deliver the benefits of kombucha plus great flavor. Courtesy Harrison Creative
KIS Kombucha produces nine flavors that vary by season. In autumn, you’ll find Carrot Ginger, Beet Lemon, and Elderberry Ginger, a timely offering because of the antiviral properties the extracts add.
KIS Kombucha uses organic ingredients when it can, but the real draw for Vermonters, Mark and Andras agree, is that the product is made here by people who live here. “It’s not mass-produced,” Mark adds. “We have our hands on it, and we make it at a Vermont scale.”
For Andras and Mark, producing KIS Kombucha at the scale they do has a health benefit unique to them. “Our goal is to pay the bills and have a good life,” says Mark. That’s keeping it simple.
