Emmett Kerrigan and Keith Loftus founded All About Kombucha in Claregalway, Ireland, in 2017. After finishing college, they spent two years in Vancouver, Canada, where they first came across kombucha. On returning to Ireland, they had a thirst. A thirst that they soon realized could only be quenched with a brew of their own. And so, All About Kombucha was born. They established a core set of values that they’ve followed from day one: Be Sound, Cause Minimal Harm, Work Hard, Uncap Creativity, and Practice Self-Actualization. They claim to be “Ireland’s Only Carbon Neutral Kombucha Brewery.”

The first booch batches were brewed in Emmett’s shed. They now occupy a vast 6,500 sq. ft industrial facility located a half-hour outside of Galway in a Gaeltacht (Irish-speaking) area of rural Ireland. They receive government grants designed to strengthen the Irish language and culture in these areas.

The facility boasts five brite tanks, a warm room for fermentation with HEPA-filtered air, and an office suite created by converting two secondhand shipping containers. They added windows and doors, painted them, stacked them up, and added some stairs to create a kitchen and office space for the team. It even has disco lights!

They started selling in bottles and moved to cans. An automated canning line handles five cans at a time and does 1,000 cans an hour, which is what they were doing a day before!

In 2022, they won the Irish Food Writers Guild Irish Drink Award and appeared on the Late Late television show.

They recently had a booth at the Irish National Ploughing Championships, where over 1,700 exhibitors pitch their wares to 275,000 visitors from farms across Ireland who gather in Europe’s largest outdoor event in Ratheniska, County Laois. At their stall in the organic village, they gave out thousands of samples. Many farmers struggle with diabetes and are intrigued by a low-sugar alternative.

All About Kombucha is available across Ireland, in award-winning restaurants, and select SuperValu and Tesco’s in Galway.

They also sell kombucha kits for home brewers.

Cans of unpasteurized, live, and organic kombucha are available in Ginger & Lemon, Raspberry, and Blueberry & Mint. They are experimenting with Elderflower, Pear and Rosemary in collaboration with other creative foodies.

Listen to the podcast to hear what Keith told me about All About Kombucha during my early morning visit to their facility.

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