Kombucha is made by brewing tea with sugar and SCOBY, which stands for Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast. It’s been lauded as a probiotic that helps with digestion and boosts the immune system, among other things.
Due to the fermentation process, kombucha may contain trace amounts of alcohol, but never goes beyond 0.5%.
According to Malaysian regulations, any beverage containing alcohol below 2% falls under the non-alcoholic beverage category. To alleviate any doubts from Muslim customers, some brands have also attained their Halal certification.
Seeing that the boom for the fermented beverage hasn’t died down, we’ve looked up Malaysian brewers that deliver across the Klang Valley. In this non-exhaustive list, we cover 8 whom we could find enough information about.
1. Belly Good Kombucha
Sharing an interest in healthy bowel movements and yoga, Belly Good Kombucha was founded in 2017 by two friends. The brand has 4 flavours available including Pina Colada (pineapple and coconut) and First Love (lychee and pu’er tea), to name a few.
Delivery is free for orders within 15km from their pick up point in Bangsar. Though not yet in place, the company is working on a recycling programme for their glass bottles.
Their kombucha is available at Happy Pharmacy in KL, Cheras, and Ampang, and a few yoga studios around KL too.
Price: RM12 per bottle.
How to order: DM them on Instagram or get it from their stockists.
Halal certified: No.
2. Boocha
Home-brewed with fresh fruits and premium tea, Boocha comes in 6 varieties such as Mango, Any Berry, Pineapple, and Ginger Lemon.
Free delivery is offered for orders above RM80. If not, an RM10 surcharge applies. You can also find their drinks at indie grocery store Runchit, various Hive outlets, Bizbox, Sisu Pantry, Heima, and Tenggek Burung cafe.
Price:
- Small (300ml) – RM 12.90
- Large (1,000ml) – RM29.90
How to order: WhatsApp them to order.
Halal certified: No.
3. CHACHA Kombucha
ChaCha Kombucha was started by vegan chef Matthieu Morisset and fitness trainer Ishaq Vadillo.
They’ve got 6 flavours made from natural fruit juices such as Green Bucha (apple, carrot, celery, and spinach), Love Bucha (raspberry), and Bliss Bucha (passion fruit).
Next-day delivery available around Klang Valley when you order online by 1PM. Otherwise, you can purchase their beverage from Village Grocer, Rawsome, Rage, Sala, Jaya Grocer, and Ben’s Independent Grocer.
Price: RM132 for a 12 pack online.
How to order: Order online or through their retailers.
Halal certified: Yes.
4. Kefir & Kombucha
Born in Russia where kefir and kombucha are well-known probiotic drinks, it only made sense to Yuri to brew it while here for himself and his family.
He then started Kefir & Kombucha in 2012, producing 10 flavours comprising Ginger, Passion Fruit, Dragon Fruit, Strawberry, Milk, amongst others.
Free deliveries are available when you purchase at least 5 bottles. For those in the Klang Valley, you can also arrange for next-day deliveries.
Price: RM25-RM27.70 per bottle, depending on the flavour.
How to order: Order online or WhatsApp 012-605 2629.
Halal certified: No.
5. Scoby Farm
Primarily a workshop for Kombucha making classes, Scoby Farm also sells their own brews of the drink that comes in 4 flavours. They are Kampung Leprechaun (green tea), Markisa Breeze (oolong and passion fruit), Puteri’s Blush (roselle), and Simply Kombucha (black tea).
Scoby Farm offers cash on delivery and sells bottled drinks in certain M + Pharmacies and Ben’s Independent Grocers.
As classes aren’t available while under MCO, Scoby Farm also sells kombucha brewing kits for RM52.
Price: RM10.90 per bottle and RM52 per brewing kit.
How to order: Order online or from their retailers.
Halal certified: No.
6. Wild Kombucha
Wild Kombucha was founded by Jason Tan who suffered from eczema before realising what kombucha could do for his health and skin. Amongst their 9 flavours are Sencha Pear, Cultured Coffee, and Chrysanthemum Goji.
You can return empty bottles to them during your next delivery to get a cash rebate of RM1 per bottle. Simply exchange your new bottles with old ones through their logistics partner who will bring it back to the brand’s headquarters.
Free shipping is provided to residents in Klang Valley for orders above RM50. You can also purchase their products from myBurgerLab, Babel Gym TTDI, and botanica+co, etc.
Price:
- Small (250ml) – RM11.90
- Medium (500ml) – RM17.90
- Large (1,000ml) – RM29.90
How to order: Get it online or through their retailers.
Halal certified: No.
7. WonderBrew
While struggling with indigestion issues, Joseph stumbled upon kombucha and decided to take a class on it from his current business partner, Boon to start WonderBrew.
They now offer 11 flavours comprising Original, Beet it (beetroot), Ipoh Mali (sweet pomelo), and Purple Pari Pari (blue pea), amongst others.
Raw material waste in making the beverages is sent to a local farm that will turn it into compost. The company also encourages its customers to recycle their glass bottles, similar to Wild Kombucha. For every 12 bottles returned, they will send customers a complimentary beverage.
Deliveries are free for orders above RM100. If not, there will be a flat delivery fee of RM10 within Klang Valley.
The drink can be found in grocery stores like Village Grocer, Ben’s Independent Grocer, Jaya Grocer, and Oliver Gourmet. You can also find WonderBrew in most 7-Eleven stores around Klang Valley.
Price: RM12.90 per bottle.
How to order: Get it from their website or through their retailers.
Halal certified: Yes.
8. Zenboocha
Founded by zenthian, the label on Zenboocha‘s bottle was designed by Petra, a tattoo artist in Prague, and completed by Jamie Hendricks. They currently have 3 flavours, Ginger Honey, Lychee Rose, and Passion Potion.
Apart from encouraging customers to return empty bottles, the brand collaborates with other local SMEs for their sustainability efforts.
For example, raw materials like used tea leaves and rosebuds are sent to TwoFrens to make natural fabric dye, whose story we’ve covered here.
For those within a 20km radius from Zenboocha’s headquarters in Seksyen 17, PJ, delivery is a flat rate of RM15. Otherwise, delivery fees are determined by their third party logistics company.
Price: RM20 per bottle.
How to order: Get them online.
Halal certified: No.
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It’d be nice to see more kombucha brands have glass bottle recycling initiatives like Wild Kombucha and Wonderbrew, since repeat customers would end up having quite the collection.
In the long run, this could be cost-saving for both the customers and the brand itself.
Wonderbrew and Zenboocha’s methods of giving raw material waste a second life are also good moves towards encouraging more eco-friendly production processes, which would appeal to certain segments of customers better.
- You can read about other Malaysian startups we’ve written on here.
Featured Image Credit: Wild Kombucha / Wonderbrew