Sitting in their booth at the Moscow Farmers Market, the first time they had ever sold their kombucha, Renee and Emmett Love launched their local, alumni business, Love’s Kombucha. Spending the winter experimenting with flavors, they started out doing home delivery.
“The first farmers market was the first time we ever sold our kombucha, and that first summer we actually only sold at the farmers market, and then by the end of that summer, we were trying to get into local businesses,” Renee said. “There is a little bit of lag time in there, so we ended up doing this home delivery service where it was kind of like the milkman or milkwoman, and they put out clean empty bottles on their porch and we picked them up and we replaced them with full bottles of kombucha every single week.”
Renee and Emmett started their business in Moscow but learned about kombucha for the first time living in Houston, Texas. While in Texas for four years, they took their first sip of kombucha and went home with a culture. They started getting into making kombucha, and when they moved back to Moscow, they decided to make a side hustle out of it.
Renee and Emmett run their business on the side of full-time jobs. Renee is an instructor of the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Idaho, according to UI’s website. She is also running for the Idaho House of Representatives. Emmett builds houses with his brother, Renee said.
Started in 2016, the business has grown to 20 different locations around the Palouse before scaling back after COVID-19. Thinking fast through the pandemic, Love’s Kombucha introduced canning their drink, which was a big step. Their locations can be found on their website.
Renee and Emmett ferment their kombucha in their own home, in a commercial kitchen.
“We started our business, so we had to build a dedicated brewing facility at our house, actually,” Renee said. “And so, it’s a commercial kitchen with a dedicated fermentation room and cooler. And that actually gets checked by the health department at least once a year.”
Renee said that it’s challenging because kombucha is one food that needs a commercial kitchen rather than a regular one.
They use 25-gallon containers to brew a small batch and focus on flavoring their kombucha with spices and herbs, rather than using juice to mask the true flavors of the drink.
Kombucha is easy to make and can be a hobby taken up in quarantine.
The main ingredients in kombucha are tea, sugar or honey, water and a culture. After letting sit for two weeks in a sterile container, it can be taken out and put in the fridge to drink, Renee said—the hardest thing is brewing consistent, good kombucha.
Renee gives classes on how to make kombucha that is available to the community to learn about the process.
For those who first try kombucha, Renee recommends mellow flavors like white rose and calm-bucha. During the seasons, they make kombucha with cinnamon, clove, orange and lemon peel which are popular.
For those wanting to start a business, Renee sees potential in starting small.
“I think you know our business model of starting out small, and then growing as we get bigger has been really valuable and it’s really helped us through this time when small businesses,” Renee said. “I think that the farmers market is a great incubator for businesses, I think that was really good for letting us speak to customers see the reaction when they tried it see if they liked it we got to see what our top flavors were and then keep those flavors.”
Emily Pearcecan be reached [email protected] on Twitter @Emily _ A_ Pearce.