Following my recent interview with Sally of  Burning Bloom Kombucha in Puerto Vallarta, I met Gina Méndez the founder of Kova Kombucha, a small-batch kombucha business also based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and Zapotlanejo, near Guadalajara. Kova is the most widely available of the three local brands, found in (among other places) Ángulo Cowork, Artisan Bakery, Lamara, Natureza, Revueltas, The Green Place, and Voltan Ramen.

Gina started Kova Kombucha out of a desire for a healthy alternative to soda: “I’m a huge fan of soda. I love the bubbles and the feeling of drinking a soda. But I wanted to do it in a healthy way.” The business was also intended to fund her music studies: “My first goal is to study music. I was trying to find a business that could give me money to pay my university fees.” She gigs with The Lovers, a rock n’ roll cover band that plays in local clubs. I caught her performance at Los Famosos de la Cinco. Check out Gina channeling Mick Jagger:

Kova Kombucha is only a year old but is already producing 250-300 bottles per month. Currently operating out of her home, Gina plans to move to a larger space in the near future to increase production capacity and incorporate 200-liter stainless steel vessels while maintaining smaller batch fermentation in 20-liter glass jars to preserve the artisanal and handmade taste.

The name “Kova” is a combination of “Ko” for Kombucha and “Va” (meaning “Go” in Spanish). Gina is especially proud of her local customer base. “I’m proud that most of my clients are local Mexicans, not tourists. And I’m so happy to say that because not a lot of people know about kombucha.”

Following expansion, she hopes to employ local women, particularly single mothers, on flexible, part-time schedules. “I want my company to only employ women. I have many friends and cousins, women with young children supporting families. We want to offer them a part-time job that works for them, with an easy schedule.”

Kova focuses on using local and seasonal ingredients. “We try to use all local products. Local fruit, everything that we use, it’s from Mexican fields. We’re trying to use only local and only the fruits of season.”

They offer four core flavors: Raspberry (their best seller), ginger, lemon, mint-lemon, and pink grapefruit (toronja), plus seasonal flavors, such as mango, and star fruit (carambola).

Check out the podcast to hear Gina tell the story of Kova Kombucha.

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