To put it simply,  Kombucha loves ya guts and that is why we love Remedy Kombucha. Remedy Kombucha is the original, tried and true, traditional Kombucha, straight up as it comes.

Proudly housed on our shelves since the beginning, we have been longtime supporters of Remedy and we caught up with Sarah and Emmet Condon, Co-Founders of Remedy Kombucha to get the low down.

Who are the team behind Remedy and what made you launch?

We – husband and wife team Emmet and Sarah Condon – started Remedy together. We were becoming increasingly frustrated with the state of the food system, in particular the increasing number of misleading so-called ‘healthy’ products on shelves.

Around the same time, we had become obsessed with fermenting all sorts of foods and drinks at home, including raw kombucha.

Rather than focus on the negative, we decided to pour our energy into something good by turning our passion for fermenting into a business and in turn offer more people the option to enjoy a real, wholesome drink as an alternative to all the sugar-filled rubbish out there.

What did you do before launching Remedy?

We’ve worked together in various businesses for about 15 years. Before Remedy, we worked in a variety of industries including graphic design, marketing, printing. We managed to squeeze a dress shop in there too! Remedy is by far our most favourite business because it’s a true extension of our daily life.

What does a day in the Remedy team look like?

Every day is different which is part of what we love about it! We have an amazing team supporting us, and are involved in all aspects of the business from fermenting to sales and marketing and distribution…and coming up with new product ideas – our favourite part!

For those who don’t know what is Kombucha and what are the health benefits of Kombucha?

Kombucha (pronounced kom-boo-cha) is a sparkling live-cultured drink that tastes delicious, is mighty good for you and will make you feel amazing.

Kombucha improves gut health and aids digestion by balancing out bad bacteria with good bacteria, including probiotics (or live cultures), live organic acids, digestive enzymes and healthy yeasts. Kombucha is also widely believed to deliver the following health benefits:

• aids digestion
• helps stop bloating
• strengthens the immune system
• increases antioxidants – to help fight off environmental toxins, which contribute to illness and disease, and help slow the ageing process.
• antimicrobial properties – stops the bad bacteria in its tracks.
• provides a natural energy kick – without crash and burn of sugar and caffeine highs.
• naturally low in sugar – we brew out almost all the sugar during fermentation, which is why we are the only kombucha to have an official tick of approval from I Quit Sugar.

How is Kombucha made?

The traditional method of making kombucha – which we follow at Remedy – involves a natural fermentation of sweet tea, wild bacteria and yeasts.
We make our kombucha the old-school way, in small batches in our Melbourne fermentary, using a long-aged brewing process, using only whole, organic ingredients.

The steps involved are:

1. Brew a very, very big pot of tea.
2. Add Mother Culture (also lovingly known as a SCOBY: Symbiotic Community of Bacteria and Yeast). The Remedy Kombucha ‘mother’ has been brewing kombucha in Australian homes for the past 40 years – a sign of a very healthy culture indeed!
3. Wait three weeks, making sure the brewing room remains warm and calm.
4. Add some extra flavour: We carefully select and add seasonal organic fruits, roots and spices to make our flavoured varieties.
5. Bottle and deliver cold ASAP to our amazing stockists like Leaf Store 😉

If you are interested in having a crack at making your own, we have instructions on our website here: http://remedykombucha.com.au/brew-your-own.

What was involved in developing the flavour range of Remedy and do you have any plans to expand in the future?

We’ve been making our own kombucha at home for years, so our initial flavour range was based on what we’d perfected at home and feedback from family and friends.

These days, we still love experimenting with our ideas for new flavours, but now we also pay lots of attention to ideas and feedback from our amazing tribe of loyal customers.

We recently launched the new Raspberry Lemonade flavour which has been a massive hit and most definitely have plans for new flavours in the works. Stay tuned!

What has been Remedy’s greatest achievement to date?

There are so many and to be honest, it feels like each day brings a new one!

We’ve been so lucky to be embraced by an amazing community of individuals and businesses. We still pinch ourselves that we can name the likes of Sarah Wilson, Pete Evans, Michelle Bridges, Moana Hope, and our new Remedy Nutritionist Jacqueline Alwill as some of our biggest fans.

Most recently, the team is really excited to be supplying kombucha to several AFL football clubs as their dieticians join many other health professionals in recognising the importance of gut health. We are an official partner of North Melbourne Kangaroos, who were the first club to start providing Remedy to their players. More recently we have also started supplying Geelong, Carlton and Port Adelaide and we are in talks with several other clubs.

When you’re not busy with Remedy what do you like to do in your spare time?

We live in the hinterland of the Mornington Peninsula with our three young kids. Despite the pressures of a growing business, we are very conscious of trying to maintain balance and ultimately, we strive to lead a slow, purposeful life.

We both practice transcendental meditation everyday. Emmet runs to clear his head and feel good. Sarah is a keen home fermenter. She always has something bubbling away on a fermenting station at home, from sauerkraut to kefir to beet kvass!