ABOUT US

CRAFTED IN THE HEART OF TAIWAN, KULTCHA BREWS INDEPENDENCE

It's all about the fusion of cultures, the pursuit of health and longevity, and the freedom to create something truly exceptional.

What we have set out to accomplish, is to create a craft brew lab that brews kombucha in the authentic, traditional 'home-made' method, yet scaled up to a commercial capacity.  One year of R&D and a turn-key custom manufactured brew lab, built 'from the ground up', exceeding best practice guidelines, and we are now bottling our 100% natural, raw and authentic Premium KULTCHA.  

THE ALCHEMIST, THE BREWMASTER & THE KULT LEADER

David is our resident Alchemist.  As a veteran kombucha brewer and professional design engineer, he guides KULTCHA R&D and development.  He is a constant inspiration and mentor to the team.

Finn, aka Brewmaster...well, he does the brewing!  And the cleaning! And basically all the grafting. The SCOBY's are 'his' to tend. He also chooses the tunes we play to the 'booch as it's growing! Influenced perhaps a little by his mom (yes, Angela and Finn are a mom & son team), his chosen journey into barista training, mixology and herbals made him the obvious choice as KULTCHA Brewmaster.

Angela is our Kult Leader. The KULT of CHA is directed, steered and managed by her (in between mopping the brewlab, a lot of QC tasting and...arguing with Finn about the music choices.) 

HOW IT STARTED

In April 2023, four friends from four different nations sat around a camp fire on the breathtaking East Coast of Taiwan, sipping on home-made kombucha.  As the kombucha went down and the spirits were lifted under the Taiwan skies and mountains, overlooking the rugged coastline...magic happened, and KULTCHA Kombucha was born.

KULTCHA Kombucha founders David Earle and Angela Stockley are both foreigners who have come to call Taiwan home.  Both hailing from the bicycle design and manufacturing industry which first brought them to Taiwan, they actually never met until David started working out at Angela's partner's gym.  Finding common ground on health, fitness and longevity choices, deep love of Taiwan and roots in the surf, skate and bike lifestyles of California and East Coast South Africa, it took them exactly one week after tasting David's home-made 'booch around the campfire, to develop the business plan for KULTCHA and in less than a month, they set out to custom build a premium, kombucha craft brewery in Taichung.

WHY KOMBUCHA?

David had been brewing kombucha at home for years.  He first tasted kombucha back in the 70's and remembers the 'pass the SCOBY' culture that was already alive and well in California back then.

"I remember going to house parties in the seventies where you would drink the host's home-made kombucha, and if you were lucky, they passed some of their SCOBY on to you so you could start your own batch at home. It was like a secret handshake."

Angela recalls...

"When I was little, home-brewing was common practice in our family.  My gran always had ginger beer brewing in the kitchen, with the signature raisons floating in the bottles, but my dad and grandad had more explosive pineapple beer brews going in the workshop!"

Over time, David had tried pretty much all of the major brands of commercially available kombucha's in the US and beyond, and although he enjoyed many of them, he was frustrated by what he experienced as a somewhat disappointing version of what he had come to know as authentic kombucha through his home brewing experience. 

Angela has always experimented with natural remedies, crafting traditional herbal digestives from her kitchen garden in England, then South Africa and Taiwan, and as a long-time believer in 'food as medicine', she eventually left her corporate career to immerse herself in nutrition studies and get the academic backing to her intuitive understanding of natural health.  With interests and inspirations aligned, it was a natural step for David and Angela to do a quick review of their respective and relevant expertise, love of kombucha, and determine that they were an unexpected but obvious match to start a kombucha business in Taiwan. 

WHY CRAFT?  AND HOW IS IT PREMIUM? 

The KULTCHA mission is to brew authentic, premium kombucha. 

Between home-made and commercial, there is a space known as 'craft', and that is where KULTCHA lives.  Large-scale, commercial beverage manufacturing is a realm that is often influenced by cost-effective, high volume output of product that meets mandatory regulations by the most resource efficient means.  As a result, we do see a lot of 'kombucha-like' beverages on the market that are not naturally fermented over time.  Often they are produced in a matter of days by adding sugar, artificial flavoring agents and a microbial starter to tea that is then pasteurized.  What is lost in this process is flavor, texture and live culture.  What is added, is often not good for our health.  All in all, there is a compromise on both the flavor experience as well as the potential health benefits of kombucha.

Home brewing in small batches is arguably the best way to go for full flavor, texture and live culture benefits.  However, it is somewhat impractical in terms of delivering consistency, volume and a product that meets food hygiene and safety standards.

What we have set out to accomplish, is to create a craft brew lab that brews kombucha in the authentic, traditional 'home-made' method, yet scaled up to a commercial output capacity.  One year of R&D and a turn-key custom manufactured brew lab, built 'from the ground up', exceeding best practice guidelines, and we are now bottling our 100% natural, raw and authentic Premium KULTCHA.

  • OPEN LAB - COME AND VISIT US!

    For business customers who want to stock KULTCHA Kombucha, please contact our Brew & Sales Team to arrange an appointment for a brewery tour and tasting!  We love to share the KULTCHA brewing process and we welcome you at our brewery in Beitun, Taichung. 

    與我們聯繫