A visit to Olga Sorzano’s kombucha kitchen Baba’s Brew is as much an experience in cooking as it is a stroll through a laboratory. There is talk of controlled humidity, temperature regulation, pH monitoring, symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast and alcohol controls. There is also talk about local strawberries, Chester County farms, oolong tea and root beer. Sorzano is serious about getting that 12-ounce bottle to the burgeoning masses that fancy the effervescent, fermented sweet tea.
What, exactly, is kombucha? Sorzano explains that her kombucha is a blend of green, oolong and black teas mixed with sugar and water. The tea is made funky with the introduction of symbiotic colonies of bacteria and yeast—or SCOBY—that give the tea drink its vinegar overtones and tiny bubbles. Ultimately, the bubbling tea is infused with herbs, fruit, roots and seasonings to give the 2,000-year-old “Elixir of Life” its distinguished appeal. Baba’s bottles are the result of seven days of a first ferment, straining, secondary fermentation with flavor infusion and then, ultimately, small-batch bottling.
Baba’s Brew was born long ago in Russia and the Siberian native has been growing the fermented tea operation steadily since its launch in February, working her alchemy in West Chester’s Artisan Exchange. “We didn’t know anything but kombucha. We didn’t have Coke!” Sorzano’s great-grandmother, Baba, made kombucha religiously. Rooted in family tradition, the nano-brewery even bears her great-grandmother’s moniker of a squirrel, a throwback to her being lovingly referred to as “my little squirrel” by Sozano’s great-grandfather. And she keeps the family quality at the forefront. “One more batch, and that is it,” she says of the strawberry-basil variety. “Farm to table may be cliche, but I want to keep it fresh.” So what’s next? Look for the watermelon-mint varietal to make bubbly waves as the summer rolls on by.
She jokes, “Most people have no idea what kombucha is. It is moving from Los Angeles and New York City has about 30 bars with kombucha on tap. The Philly area is lagging.” But, Olga Sorzano is leading the charge. Committed to eco-conscientiousness, she prefers to get her tea drink in more outlets using keg systems and compostable cups. Her favorite? “It’s a play on root beer,” she says of the Down to Earth variety. “It has a clean palate. It is my play on root beer. It is infused with wintergreen, sarsaparilla, molasses and ginger.”
What you need to know about Baba’s Brew:
- Keep it refrigerated. “It’s alive with yeast,” says Sorzano. “It will continue to ferment.”
- “Don’t shake it,” proclaims Sorzano. It is carbon-dioxide rich, so it “reacts like champagne.”
- The kombucha creations are good for three months in the refrigerator. Much longer and the flavor over-develops.
- Despite what you have heard, even with the alcohol-producing effects of yeast, by regulation there is less than one-half of one percent of alcohol in the sweet tea mixture. Sorzano is careful to regulate the fermentation process as well as the monitoring of alcohol content.
- For novice kombucha consumers, start slowly. Six ounces is plenty to get used to the probiotic-rich tea.
- Vegan and gluten-free loyalists rejoice! Baba’s Bucha helps deliver vitamin B12, among others, as well as those pesky enzymes that promote digestive health, while being low in sugar.
- Looking to get past the PG rating of the soft drink? The strawberry-basil tea makes for a great mixer, and the Flower Power mixture is Sorzano’s “take on rose”; she recommends you pour it in a wine glass or make it into a martini.
Find Baba’s Brew at retail outlets and restaurants in and around Kimberton, Downingtown, Malvern, Kennett Square, West Chester and Honey Brook, including Nomadic Pies, Talula’s Table and Wyebrook Farm. Also, the elixir can be found on tap at the Phoenixville and Kennett Square farmers’ markets.
- Photo credits: Jim Berman
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