Brewing it right: Parkerview Brews serves up kombucha that hits all the right flavours

When Amy and Tyler Kaban started making kombucha at home as a hobby, they never imagined it would turn into a full-time business.

The couple started Parkerview Brews Kombucha, Saskatoon's first official kombucha brewery, and began selling their products at the Saskatoon Farmers' Market in 2017. But with business taking off, they opened a storefront only one year later at 20B 36th St. E.

"At that time, kombucha was just kind of getting onto the scene — in 2017 — and it seemed to be gaining popularity, especially in places we had travelled," Tyler said.

That popularity took hold in Saskatoon and soon enough, Parkerview Brews was being stocked at local cafes, shops and grocery stores across the province.

The couple said they believed they made a great product, but were still surprised by the demand.

"Local businesses reached out and said, 'We've tried your product and we love it, can we carry it?'" Amy said. "From then on it just kept growing, very organically and naturally, by word of mouth. We're so thankful for that."

Although Amy and Tyler now run Parkerview full-time, their previous careers pair perfectly with operating the brewery. Amy has a master's degree in international trade and worked in marketing and business, while Tyler studied and worked at the University of Saskatchewan's fruit program, specializing in breeding wine grapes. He then helped to
establish the orchard at Crossmount Cider Company outside of Saskatoon, which is where he became interested in fermentation.

What is kombucha?

Kombucha is a fermented non-alcoholic beverage brewed from tea. Because kombucha is low in both sugar and caffeine, it can be enjoyed as an alternative to coffee or pop. The fact it's fermented also means it has health benefits.

"A lot of people tell us they like it [because it helps with] indigestion or heartburn, or if they're having tummy issues and they want to repopulate or rebalance their gut," Amy said.

Tyler says the process is similar whether brewed at home or on a larger scale.

"Initially, kombucha is brewed like a beer, and then it's fermented almost like a wine," he said. "But in this case, we're brewing up tea and sugar."

At Parkerview, they use cane sugar along with Japanese green tea as the base, a combination that creates a clean, crisp flavour. In addition to the sugar and tea base, brewing kombucha requires a bacterial culture called a mother, which inoculates the fermentation process.

"The mother is similar to a mother of vinegar, but it's much more complex. There are more types of bacteria in the culture, and then there's also yeast," Tyler said. "This is called a symbiotic relationship, because generally those things don't grow together."

Once the base is created, other ingredients can be incorporated to create different flavours, with the Kabans saying their main priority is to make a great-tasting product.

"Kombucha that people might have tried previously — maybe other brands or maybe their friend was making it at home — usually it's a high vinegar type of flavour," said Amy. "For us, it was about having something that's balanced, not too sweet, not too sour, and it should ultimately be enjoyable to drink."

Local at the heart of every can

Parkerview offers six regular flavours of kombucha, with some other seasonal flavours throughout the year. All of the flavours incorporate some sort of local ingredient, whether that's peaches, apples, haskap berries, sour cherries, Saskatoon berries, rhubarb or raspberries.

"Our most popular flavour in the beginning was peach — peach just goes really well with tea," Tyler said, noting that they use peaches grown by a friend, who owns Over the Hills Orchards in Lumsden. "So when we first started, we used some of his peaches in our brew, and then after that, we wanted to incorporate one local ingredient in all of our blends."

Their most popular flavours today are peach mango and Saskatoon berry, an homage to the classic Prairie fruit.

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It's not just the flavours that are local, though. The name comes from the rural community of Parkerview in southeastern Saskatchewan, where both sides of Tyler's family have roots.

"We just thought it was a unique word — it's as local as it gets," Tyler said.

If you've never tried kombucha before — or even if you have — Parkerview Brews is worth a taste. You can find their kombucha provincewide, or fill a growler at their storefront and select Saskatoon locations.

Amy says they repeatedly meet customers who are surprised by how delicious it is.

"The number one thing [people] always say, is something along the lines of, 'Oh, this actually tastes really good.' You have to chuckle a little bit, but it's such a good feeling. It really validates that we're doing the right thing."