Kombucha's sour, acidic bite can make it an acquired taste, though flavored versions are more palatable.
To supply a thousand cases of Kombucha, the business needed to buy the bottles first.
Not everyone thinks kombucha kegs and the mass commercial production of the tea is a good idea.
The enormous former pharmaceutical factory now houses other artisanal food start-ups, too - among them is Kombucha Brooklyn.
Mr. Awn doesn't advocate drinking a 12-ounce glass of kombucha in one sitting.
"I'd be interested in what it's like to be kombucha-ale drunk, " he said.
Kombucha Brooklyn was born, and not long after some big customers came knocking.
Michelle Plantenberg, co-founder of Kombucha Mama, a three-year-old beverage company in Bend, Ore.
"I went and had a pint of kombucha one time and I was like sick for a day, " he said.
Mr. Awn operates a delivery service: He bikes liters of kombucha to his customers, brewing several different flavors every 10 days.
Now, owner and brewer Spiro Theofilatos runs a licensed brewery, enabling him to produce and sell the region's first kombucha ale.
Kombucha, a fermented tea that has long been popular among the health-conscious and hippie crowds particularly on the West Coast is becoming more mainstream.
Other clients include the Dive Bar's Amsterdam Avenue location and Local 61 in Cobble Hill, which both sell growlers for kombucha to-go.
Only the line can, admittedly, get blurry and emotional: I clearly needed those adorable new yoga pants, my Kombucha fix and my HGTV.
Beyond Kombucha in Astoria launched in 2010 but last month received the federal and state alcohol licenses enabling it to produce alcoholic kombucha.
Bryan Mercado, a 39-year-old private chef who lives on the Upper East Side, said he has been drinking nonalcoholic kombucha for about two years.
And across the river at the Queens Kickshaw in Astoria, a brand-new high-alcohol version of kombucha, called Mava Roka, is literally creating a buzz.
Eric Childs had been drinking kombucha for years - a fermented tea - and was looking for a commercial opportunity a few years ago.
Downtown at the Brooklyneer, ginger-mint kombucha is mixed with vodka for a cocktail called the "Stoop, " and it is also used in the house dressing.
Most telling, he says, is that a high-end Midtown spot such as Lexington Brass, a creation of the EMM Group, chose to get kombucha on tap.
Where else but San Francisco would an underground gourmet produce market become the destination for the downtown demimonde to purchase kombucha and bergamot marmalade on their weekend nights?
Eric Childs, whose company KBBK Kombucha Brooklyn produces the tea in a variety of flavors, says he delivers kegs to nearly 30 restaurants, bars and cafes across the city.
After seeing a few other people drinking kombucha on the New York subway, he and his wife Jessica decided to set up a business making and selling his favourite drink.
Kombucha Brooklyn now employs eight staff - but can these small start-ups ever replace the hundreds - thousands - of manufacturing jobs that have been lost in Brooklyn over the years?
Last year a tea made from the Chinese kombucha mushroom that was promoted as a remedy for cancer caused four people to be hospitalized for conditions ranging from jaundice to headaches and nausea.
The trace alcohol levels in kombucha led the federal government to warn manufacturers in 2010 that if they exceed an 0.5% alcohol-content level, they would be subject to the same regulations that apply to other alcoholic beverages.
Despite still being under construction The Plant currently has five tenants, including aquaponic farms, a hydroponic farm, bakers, tilapia fish breeders, a mushroom garden and a kombucha tea brewer (a type of tea said to have health benefits).
His clients include Taproom No. 307 on East 23rd Street, where patrons can get a jasmine margarita made with kombucha, and Urban Rustic in Brooklyn's Williamsburg, which runs two self-serve taps and also sells "beer bucha, " a 50-50 mix of a light beer and kombucha.
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