Some people bake cookies with their grandmothers; Melanie Wade Styles brewed kombucha with hers. A picture of perfect wellness, her beloved Golda brewed and perfected her unique kombucha recipe in the Blue Ridge mountains for 40 years, all the way up until her 98th birthday. Now, her legacy lives on through Golda Kombucha, Georgia’s first sparkling kombucha tea.
“After I got good at making kombucha, I brought her some of my brew and let her taste it but she always preferred her brew over mine,” Styles recalled fondly.
The brand, which launched at local farmers’ markets in 2013, features flavors like Peach Ginger and Blackberry Basil, and has expanded to include water kefir and more. Styles sources ingredients from Georgia farmers whenever possible, such as local satsumas (a type of mandarin) from Franklin Farms in Statesboro in the Hopped Georgia Citrus CBD, and even herbs from her own garden in new flavors in her east Atlanta taproom, Cultured South. Golda Kombucha is available on tap and by the can at A to Zinc in Clarkesville and Roots Juicery in Blue Ridge.
You can also order cans or growlers for pick-up or delivery online at culturedsouth.com.