Hate the taste of kombucha? This Centre County producer thinks he can change your mind

When Chris Kepler’s Port Matilda pro audio business, Chris Kepler Audio Services, saw a decline in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, he began looking for other ways to fill his time and his wallet. Encouraged by friends for years to sell his homemade kombucha, he said the pandemic was the point where “push came to shove” and, after building a commercial kitchen and working through all the necessary red tape, he launched Buddha Kombucha in January.

Now, you can find Kepler at Titan Market in Bellefonte and at the Pine Grove Mills Farmers Market. Business, he said, is far exceeding his expectations.

“Demand has been taking off,” he said, explaining that he’s just switched to a continuous brewing method to streamline his processing, as he looks for ways to increase his capacity.

So what makes Buddha Kombucha stand out from the competition?

“It’s all hand-crafted and done in small batches,” Kepler said. “I do everything in glass. I don’t do anything in metal — no stainless steel or aluminum. I don’t keg my kombucha. I don’t think a keg gives it the clean flavor that glass (does). I’m offering tastings at the market and people will say, I don’t like kombucha, and I say, if you’d like to try mine, just see if you like it ... and next thing you know, they’re buying it from me.”

For the uninitiated and intrigued, kombucha is a naturally carbonated and fermented drink known for its probiotic health benefits.

For his process, Kepler starts with organic tea and organic cane sugar.

“You boil your water, just like you’re making a cup of tea. I put the SCOBY in — which stands for symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast — and it ferments for two weeks,” he said. “This takes most of the sugar out of (the kombucha), so it’s not too sweet or too tart. After the two-week period, I add in the flavors for whatever flavors I’ll make.”

He then bottles the product and gives it three to six days to carbonate. Then, it’s ready to be enjoyed.

Kepler offers a range of different kombucha flavors, at one point offering nearly 20 kombucha varieties. Now, he offers a rotating selection of under a dozen flavors. He also takes specialty flavor orders and orders for any flavors missing from the rotation at any given time. While he doesn’t necessarily have a favorite among his flavors, he said some of his top-selling offerings include the Concord Grape and Pure Tart Cherry flavors. While Buddha Kombucha is not certified organic, all of the ingredients in select flavors, such as the tea and sugar, are organic.

Kepler said he’s currently churning out about 50 bottles, or eight gallons, of kombucha a week, consistently selling out at the two markets he attends. His goal is to increase production to 10 gallons per week. He offers kombucha in two sizes of glass bottles, a one-liter bottle and a 500-milliliter bottle; bottles are $15 and $10, respectively, but if you purchase a bottle and return the clean, used bottle afterward, you’ll get your next bottle at a discount.

As the outdoor farmers market season comes to a close this fall, Kepler has his eye on possibly stocking his kombucha inside local retail locations, while still attending the indoor Titan Market. However his plans shake out, though, he’s confident Buddha Kombucha is here to stay, and will only continue to grow.

“I know I have a good product,” he said. “People who don’t like kombucha are drinking mine, and that tells me everything I need to know.”

Learn more about Buddha Kombucha at www.facebook.com/Buddha-Kombucha-100192252071045.

This story was originally published August 22, 2021 at 7:00 AM.