Excerpt originally published by The AJC.
Sean Keating and Keaton Hong started Kea Beverages in 2018, pedaling a “pay what you want” bike cart on the Atlanta Beltline. Success got them off the cart and into a full-time brewery, where they make kombucha, but also what they call “soft beverages,” such as cold brew coffee and chai. Their first flavor was hibiscus and lemongrass, and now they’re producing five flavors, including one that combines raspberry, rose and lime. Hong said his favorite is the blackberry and sage flavor, and, as surprising as the combination is, that little bit of sage coming through at the end of a sip is really nice. But, to help our readers, we knew we had to try more than one. Our testers were torn between the prickly pear and mango, and the hibiscus and lemongrass, Kea’s original flavor. These are fun combinations, and delicious. If you’re not familiar with kombucha, these would be good ones to try. Many people swear by this fermented beverage as a good source of probiotics. We think they’re just fun to drink.