Metro Atlanta is having a love affair with kombucha, and local entrepreneur Melanie Wade can take credit for making thousands of the introductions. Anyone hoping to find kombucha in Atlanta can easily find her locally-brewed and distributed brand, Golda Kombucha, at any Georgia Kroger or one of several Whole Foods that feature the probiotic fermented tea beverage.
Wade's also gone all-in with a 6,000 square-foot warehouse featuring Georgia's first kombucha tasting room, Cultured South, in Atlanta's West End development Lee + White. "Our kombucha is more mellow and more suited to the American palate – not sour or acidic," she says. "But it still offers all the same health benefits. It's like any type of brewing, there are lots of styles and ways to do it."
Many people have learned the kombucha craft from Wade. While you'd think she might be proprietary with the methods or discourage home-brewing imitators, quite the reverse is true. Wade welcomes all to learn to brew; the more the merrier. She doesn't have as much time as she once did to teach classes, but Cultured South still gets in a few a year, most recently a class on fire cider, recommended to deliciously stave off colds and flu .
She's also an Appalachian wellness and sustainability advocate. She dresses in vintage clothing, for example, some of it purchased from friends when they cross paths at indie festivals or farmer's markets. Cultured South features reclaimed wood paneling and light fixtures made from Golda Kombucha bottle empties.
And Wade is a powerhouse fan of local business, giving the example of Sarah Adams, known to the local fermentation elite as "Petals." She was recently promoted to Golda Kobucha general manager after moving up the ranks starting as just another fermenter. "That's why I want everyone to buy local," Wade emphasizes. "I am creating jobs and teaching skill sets and promoting from within. We can do more and more of that if people will support local business."
Wade's successful journey from hobbyist in college to home kombucha brewer to farmer's market standout and finally to full-fledged distributor, make her sort of a kombucha and Appalachian foodways rock star. But she spends maybe two seconds dwelling on that. She prefers to spend her time in the limelight talking about the coolness of kombucha and the inspiration of her grandmother, Golda, who started the ball rolling more than 43 years ago, brewing and perfecting her unique kombucha recipe from her Southwest Virginia domicile.
Now 98 years old, Golda resides in an assisted living facility on the Tennessee axis of the Blue Ridge mountains. She's had to hang up her SCOBY, but still directs her son, Wade's uncle, to make kombucha to her specifications. Wade talks to her grandmother every couple of days by telephone, and says she is always upbeat, cohesive, and "all there." Wade says she never has to wonder what her grandmother thinks of her success: She tells her every time they talk, sometimes more than once.
Both women drink kombucha every day, usually a few times. Wade began her fermentation experiments in her home kitchen with flavors like lavender-lemonade and peach-ginger and is still up for testing recipes at the brewery. She's a little preoccupied with Golda Kombucha's kefirs at the moment, describing them as fermented drinks that are a "gateway to kombucha."
The business has grown and Wade is quite busy, but she stays front and center. She'll occasionally take off a whole Monday or a Saturday or Sunday, but habitually she works seven days a week for the business. That schedule includes at least a couple of days a week at Cultured South or the brewery and lots of travel introducing their product at festivals, food conferences and markets around the Southeast.
She sometimes appears at a farmer's market booth, too. Wade may be the best-known face of Atlanta kombucha, but the Atlanta area has kombucha available in all stages, from the ingredients to make your own to cans to pop.
Here are a few of the Atlanta-area kombucha creators and suppliers:
5918 New Peachtree Road, Doraville. 404-664-4209
Providing fresh draft kombucha at various locations including Candler Park Market & Deli;
Nature's Pick Market in Marietta; Nuts 'n Berries; or Sevananda Coop, both in Atlanta.
1038 White Street Southwest, Atlanta. 404-549-8314
The first kombucha taproom in the region, Cultured South is the community tasting room for Golda Kombucha. Their brews contain ingredients that are locally farmed and Appalachian-based. Along with kombucha on tap and in ice pops and health shots, Cultured South serves Pure Abundance artisan vegan cheeses.
Cultured South also sells at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market and the Decatur Farmer's Market, both open from the first full week in April to the third full week in November. It also spreads the kombucha gospel at the Peachtree Road Farmer's Market, which takes place rain or shine on Saturdays from March to mid-December.
The key kombucha ingredient is SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), and the Well ATL blog recommends obtaining it online from Cultures for Life. She also provides directions for beginning to make kombucha at home on her website.
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