Kombuchas instead of sodas? The Peruvian brand that seeks to compete with them

Can you imagine if there was a slightly carbonated and sweet drink that could replace sodas? The kombucha, depending on how it is prepared and what supplies you have, it is the perfect replacement. It has no refined sugars or artificial colors. Everything that is drunk and enjoyed is natural. We spoke with Sativa Brew, a Peruvian brand that, thanks to its double fermentation and combination of flavors, would be the perfect ally for those who can’t stop drinking sodas.

Kombucha is known as a fermented drink of Chinese origin, which is obtained from sweetened tea, which, when fermented by active microorganisms, form a colony known as ‘Scoby’, which in Spanish means “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts”.

It is a drink that since the beginning of the pandemic has become more relevant in Peru. There are many brands, each with its own personality and stamp. One of them is Sativa Brew, founded by three friends who met when they were students at La Molina Agrarian University and who all have different careers, that diversity has helped them bring more wisdom to the flavors they create in the processing plant. in North Lima.

Sebastian Buscaglia, Cesar Enrique Cárdenas Rodriguez and Miguel Mozombite created Sativa Brew, seeing the opportunity and need to offer a beverage that has beneficial properties, good flavor and that is a replacement for alcoholic beverages.

“It all started when Miguel (Mozombite) visits me and sees that I have jars of kombucha at home that he made for me. He told me that he tried to make craft beer a long time ago and that he had a space in his house, that he should go to see and try. I went, we cleaned the space and the three of us invested some money to buy equipment”, recalls Sebastian Buscaglia, the operations manager and creator of the mixes, wistfully.

“We started trying flavors, we started with two. One of strawberry with muña and red fruits“, Add. Currently, they are in a workshop preparing the six flavors they have to offer to the Lima public.

Buscaglia indicates that he, together with his partner and friend Mozombite, are the ones who research and create their unusual flavors, but these do not go on the market if they do not have the approval of Cárdenas, the third partner and who confirms that he is a great lover of kombuchas.

“We started the craft beer project and in the course of it we thought about taking an interest in the public that does not drink alcohol. Miguel told me that Sebastian had this drink, that it was good but that he had fine-tuned it for the Peruvian public that wants sweet. Before he didn’t have stevia. I liked it without that sweetness, but Peruvians like it sweet, so we had to add it. Then, we thought we had to give it more color, we added more strawberries. You have to mix more fruits with herbs. It took us a while to have them standardized. The kombucha you drink today is the same as next week’s batch. We already have a standardized process“, Add

“This category (of probiotic drinks) during the pandemic has been greatly benefited. People take better care of themselves, stop smoking, stop drinking soft drinks, do more sports; and they find this drink without alcohol, without sugar and low in calories, and with good properties for health”, complements Cárdenas.

“This drink is traditionally acidic, but each country has given it its own touch depending on the fruits and vegetables they harvest.”, he indicates.

sugar free drink

For the first fermentation and feeding of the ‘Scobys’, they use panela. The young Peruvians decided not to use refined sugar in their preparations. Sebastian Buscaglia clarifies that during this process, the panela is consumed in its entirety by the microorganisms, but they still preferred to use something unrefined. The second fermentation occurs later, integrating the fruits, vegetables and aromatic herbs. To sweeten they use stevia.

Young Peruvians are convinced that this drink is perfect for those who want to take care of their health and seek to replace soft drinks with something natural. In addition, it can be used as an ideal ingredient in cocktails. Thanks to its combination of fruits, its natural gasification and flavor it is very versatile.

the new flavors

Although they already had delicious and fruity flavors. They recently launched three very refreshing and innovative new ones. The first is called “Madre Chicha”, made with tea, chicha morada, quince, pineapple, apple, passion fruit, clove and cinnamon.

The second is Citrical Sunset, a more citric kombucha that has orange, carrot, turmeric and lemon verbena as ingredients.

And finally, the favorite of many: Blue Lime. Its light blue color draws attention, since there is no kombucha on the market that has that color. It is so attractive that it can be a great tool to make cocktails with or without alcohol. Its ingredients are lime, lemon, camu camu, blue spirulina and mint.

More information:

Places where they sell Sativa: Flora and fauna, Sanahoria, Tika Thani, Freshii, Verde Natural, Mama Tomato, My third place, La Badiane, Parisien, among others.