Kombucha Comes into Its Own

Lucy Kreger knew that she liked kombucha, a drink made from fermented tea and herbs, and she made it for friends back on Block Island. When she moved to the mainland, she and partner Connor Maroney began to turn the kombucha-making into a business, setting up shop in a repurposed Pawtucket mill. “The growth came very quickly with the demand,” Kreger says. “And we have such a wide range of customers that I don’t see it as a passing trend.”

Luluna Kombucha is made from a black and green organic tea blend (a non-caffeinated variety uses hibiscus petals), plus fruits (including pear, strawberry, lemon) and herbs and spices (including sage, lemon balm, peppermint, holy basil, ginger, turmeric). It’s made in small batches and it’s never pasteurized or force-carbonated. Despite its unusual, slightly sour taste, most customers adjust to it and return to tell Kreger their stories of “feeling better” because of kombucha’s probiotics. They bring along the refillable bottles that Kreger insists upon using for her sustainable business model. Watch for the seasonal flavor specials that change every three months.

Available at more than two dozen Rhode Island retail outlets, many with self-serve “filling stations”; and at winter and summer farmers markets. LulunaKombucha.com