Tea party

Better Health Store serves up kombucha on tap

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There’s a new beverage in town that’s served on tap, but this one is legal for all ages: kombucha tea. Better Health Store is now selling Seoul Kombucha tea on tap in the café at its Frandor location. Tasha Kuhn, the Better Health Store’s café manager, is excited the café has started carrying this Michigan made product.

“(Seoul) Kombucha tea is actually made in Grand Rapids and it’s 100 percent organic,” Kuhn said.

Kombucha tea, a traditional Chinese beverage, is a green or black tea that is fermented with yeast to give it a unique, slightly vinegary taste. Even though the tea is fermented, it clocks in at less than 0.05 percent alcohol — the legal threshold for alcoholic drinks.

Seoul Kombucha, brewed by Grand Rapids’ Seoul Foods, is hand crafted in white oak barrels. This process, explained Kuhn, makes it a lot smoother than most kombucha you can purchase in a bottle.

“The Downtown Market (in Grand Rapids) is where we brew, and what makes us different is how we brew our kombucha,” said Rod Horlings, cofounder and co-owner of Seoul Foods, “Our product, after a lot of testing, has been able to be developed in a certain vessel. We are almost the only commercial producer in the Midwest that even sells kombucha commercially out the barrel.”

The Better Health Store serves the kombucha in three different flavors: citrus ginger, grape and raspberry. The barrels roll in every Friday.

“They brew it as we order it, and after it ferments, when it’s ready, we have it fresh for 10 days and serve it out of the small kegs that we have,” Kuhn said.

Better Health Store serves the Kombucha tea on tap to keep it at its most fresh taste. According to Kuhn, Kombucha is full of B vitamins, probiotics, niacin and it carries a lot of health benefits. The Better Health Store is always on the lookout for new healthy products, and Seoul Foods approached them with the idea of kombucha tea on tap.

“The beverage carries probiotic benefits, and it’s a newer type of beverage that will appeal to their market,” Horlings said.

While the science on kombucha’s health benefits is still out, the drink has become a fad among fans of alternative medicine. It’s easy to find websites and blogs touting its alleged medical benefits, including everything from liver detoxification to improved digestion and weight loss.

Seoul Foods is owned by Horlings and his wife, Claire. They brew their kombucha tea with organic black and green tea, as well as organic, evaporated cane sugar and purified water. They started the company when they noticed a lack of the product in the Midwest.

Out of the 14 Better Health Store locations, Seoul Foods chose the East Lansing, Horlings said, because the business is hoping to reach university students and the surrounding alumni community. The tea has become a popular attraction at the Better Health Store since its arrival last year.

Seoul Foods is planning to expand to another Better Health Store in Novi, and the Better Health Store in Frandor will eventually sell the its kombucha tea by the bottle.

“You are getting a 100 percent hand crafted beverage, I think this is what the market is looking for,” Horlings said.

 

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