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On a hot and humid morning last year at our local farmers market, I noticed several people drinking a bubbly drink with ice. It was kombucha from Elliot Pees’ KANbucha booth.
It was indeed refreshing, with a unique flavor that is sometimes an acquired taste.
I have certainly acquired the taste. I pick up a 64-ounce glass jug weekly from Pees or his trusted employee, Allison Zielke. Each week, there are three or four flavors to choose from.
Initially, I was interested in the drink simply because it was refreshing and an alternative to carbonated drinks with no sugar or soda that has too much sugar.
Pees graciously agreed to give me a tour of his facility and teach me about his business recently.
I asked him to explain what kombucha is: “Kombucha is a tea beverage that has undergone the fermentation process via the addition of a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast to a sweetened tea mixture,” he said. “Its flavor is tangy, sometimes fizzy, and it’s known for being probiotic-rich,” meaning it’s good for your gut.
Pees and Zielke also invited me to document their weekly process of making 240 gallons of kombucha.
Pees uses a special blend of black and green tea as the base. I peered into a huge strainer and took in the wonderful smell before they hoisted it into a large vat of hot water. As they submerged the tea, the aroma was even more delightful; it rushed over and through me.
They took turns thoroughly mixing the tea into the water. The tea then steeped for a few minutes before they hoisted it out to let all the tea drain into the vat.
Next, they added organic cane sugar into the vat, mixing thoroughly before letting it cool down. The tea is then pumped into 5-gallon glass containers with the starter liquid, or SCOBY — symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. The containers are then wheeled into a closed room to ferment for seven days.
After the fermentation process, the tea is carbonated and flavor is added. The flavors come from herbs, spices, other teas, fruit juices and vegetables.
It was a fascinating process to watch, especially with a product I drink daily. During this interview, I was able to put together how my mornings have changed since drinking kombucha.
I asked Pees how and when his passion for kombucha started. Pees recalled that a friend purchased a bottle of kombucha at the Merc in 2008. It was a raw kombucha.
“We were both trying it for the first time, and we were so confused why anybody drinks it,” he said. “I wasn’t clear about the probiotic aspect of the drink.”
Later, his sister brought some home that was homemade and had a fruity flavor to it. They both loved it, Pees said.
“We were both DIY people, and once we figured out we could make this at home, it was really exciting, like a little science project,” he said. “We had this joke, ‘one a day baby.’”
They decided they wanted to make their own at home.
“The first batch we made that was really good, we smiled and laughed and said to each other, ‘one a day baby,’” he said. “That’s where it all began.”
Pees had just graduated with a bachelor’s in music education from KU. The recession was happening and it was difficult to find a job, so he thought he would give brewing kombucha a shot while he was teaching at Southwest Junior High.
Pees grew up in Lawrence, and he thought people here would be receptive.
“I wanted to bring something that would be a contribution, a quality product, locally made, at the farmers market or local grocery stores,” he said. “It had appeal, sort of a magic, and was novel at the time. Not a lot of people knew what kombucha was. I thought I was on to something that was up-and-coming.”
Pees started KANbucha in his home. He constructed a licensed commercial kitchen in his basement in 2010, making about 80 gallons of kombucha a week. In 2014, he moved his operations to North Lawrence, now producing 240 gallons. Pees thinks he was the first in Kansas to start brewing kombucha to sell.
One concern for some people is the amount of alcohol in kombucha.
“If you are in recovery, don’t drink it — same with people who are diabetic, regarding the sugar intake,” Pees said. His kombucha contains about 0.5% alcohol. Alcohol content for beers can range between 3% and 12%.
How did the business name KANbucha come about?
Pees smiled. “It came fairly quickly. They both start with K; they are very close already. I wanted it to be regional. It was the perfect combination,” he said. “It also confuses people. People call it KANbucha — it’s the Kleenex phenomenon.”
Pees said the freedom to be creative is one of the most rewarding parts of the business — coming up with flavors, making decisions and being creative in how to interact and communicate about the product is “all stuff that has an infinite level of creativity to it.”
Pees has created about 50 to 60 flavors over the years. There is a lot of trial and error in finding the right combination: “This flavor is what I’m going for; how close can we get?”
He also enjoys the interactions with people, he said.
“I am the KANbucha guy. I feel energized after a market day because of all the people I get to talk to, especially if I get to share a new flavor,” he said. “It’s good for me because I am sort of an introvert; it helps me socialize.”
One of the challenges is constantly problem-solving, he said.
“There is a duty to figuring out what you don’t know and then coming up with the energy to overcome an obstacle,” he said.
Pees thinks the size of his business is just right, and he enjoys operating it locally, where it is appreciated.
“Because of that, we have a better product,” he said. “We don’t have to sacrifice anything about our product to make it more shelf-stable so it can travel long distances to the other side of the country.”
Pees loves Lawrence and the people he interacts with.
“The community village aspect is everything — constantly reaching out to people and feeling that teamwork aspect, seeing how the business can cooperate with what other people are doing,” he said. “That’s when you get the greatest success — when it’s a multiplier with other people doing things.”
He also said they have better relationships with the people they do business with, which is more important to him.
“I know everyone by name that I sell my stuff to,” he said. “The reception of being a local business is amazing and one of the most rewarding feelings I’ve ever had; it keeps me going.”
Pees and Zielke sell at the Lawrence Farmers Market from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. every Saturday until the market closes the third week in November. They also have a booth at the annual Holiday Market.
During the fall and winter, you can pick up kombucha at their North Lawrence facility from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays at 111 Riverfront Road. There are also many local businesses that sell KANbucha. See a list online at kanbucha.com/#where.
About the writer
Tom Harper is a Realtor at Stephens Real Estate helping people in Lawrence and Douglas County buy and sell real estate. He is the founder of Lawrence Modern, a group whose mission is to raise awareness of midcentury and modern architecture. You will find him posting frequently on Instagram under @lawrencemodern, sharing his daily observations of his favorite place on earth: Lawrence, Kansas. Read more of Tom’s writing for The Lawrence Times here.
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