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The Brannan family of Ledyard recently opened 860Kombucha in Mystic. The new brewery has already doubled production in its first four months.
Ashley Brannan
Before this year, David Brannan didn’t even know what turmeric tasted like. But now, the head brewer at Mystic-based 860Kombucha said it’s one of his favorite ingredients.
“I’ve been on this Taste of Autumn Kick,” he said. “Which is the turmeric, apple cider and ginger. It’s just so good.”
Brannan, a veteran of the Navy, opened 860Kombucha with his adult children, Mike and Ashley, in July. Just before heading out on a trip to see his kids for Thanksgiving, 860Kombucha got a delivery of new equipment needed to double its production capability and keep up with demand.
Tammy, Ashley, David and Michael Brannan. The Brannan family of Ledyard recently opened 860Kombucha in Mystic. The new brewery has already doubled production in its first four months.
Ashley Brannan“There’s a market out there, so now we’re just managing how fast we grow and how we scale,” David Brannan said. “We’re making sure we give quality service to our customers and have the capacity to deliver and produce all the different flavors in the coming year. Four months in, I would not have expected to double our production.”
860Kombucha is only the fourth kombucha brewery in the state. The fermented tea, celebrated for promoting balanced gut health and a mild effervescence, is a relative newcomer to the beverage market with a massive projection for growth. It’s often seen as a healthy alternative to sugary sodas or alcoholic beverages. Some breweries are even selling hard kombucha with an equivalent alcohol content to beer. Kombucha is made by combining tea with symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, or SCOBY. Flavors, like fruit combinations, can be added during a second fermentation.
According to Grand View Research, the global kombucha market was valued at $2.64 billion in 2021, with the U.S. market accounting for about $1 billion. It’s expected to grow at an annual rate of 15.6% through 2030. It’s still relatively elusive in Connecticut, but has exploded in popularity along the west coast, where the Brannan kids currently live.
The Brannan family of Ledyard recently opened 860Kombucha in Mystic. The new brewery has already doubled production in its first four months.
Ashley Brannan“In California, it’s almost equivalent to the coffee shop here,” Ashley Brannan said. “Anywhere you can get a cup of coffee, you can pretty much get a cup of kombucha. I became a lover myself and during quarantine, we ended up bringing it over to the east coast to my dad.”
David Brannan was born in the Philippines to a military family, eventually emigrating to the U.S. After the Navy brought him to Connecticut, he raised a family in the Nutmeg State and began working in the software side of human resources. Ashley Brannan said they lived in Ledyard mostly. She and her brother attended local schools and graduated from UConn before starting careers in California. That’s where they discovered kombucha.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the children returned home and introduced their father to kombucha. He said he wasn’t too impressed at first, but a trip to Danbury’s Cross Culture Kombucha fascinated him. And when his son got him a home-brew kit as a gift, a new passion was born.
“We were doing a little bit of home brewing and looking at the store and we noticed there are actually kombucha stations at Stop and Shop and Big Y, but there’s nothing coming from Connecticut.”
The Brannans wanted to bring fresh, locally sourced kombucha to their part of the state. So they eyed some locations, landing in Mystic and selling to local restaurants, bars, farmers markets and coffee shops and trying to educate the public on what kombucha is.
David Brannan. The Brannan family of Ledyard recently opened 860Kombucha in Mystic. The new brewery has already doubled production in its first four months.
Ashley BrannanAside from Taste of Autumn, David Brannan said Deep Sea — powered by some blue spirulina, coconut water, pineapple and lime — has quickly become a fan favorites along with Summer Crush and its lavender and ginger flavors.
Ashley Brannan said a big part of the fun has been keeping things local, sourcing as much as possible from local farms like Fat Stone Farm, Holmberg’s and Dirty Knees Farm. It's also why they put their local area code — 860 — right in the name.
“It’s fresh flavors, different flavors coming out all the time seasonally with fresh ingredients straight from our community and really building up that community aspect,” she said. “We are so close via farmers markets and local grocery stores. We’re a family-owned company, we’re an Asian owned company, we’re an immigrant owned company. It’s really cool to be able to have this in our community.”
Ashley and Mike Brannan still live in California while David is based in Ledyard, managing the physical operations of the brewery in Mystic. They all still have careers to manage, meaning running 860Kombucha means a lot of night and weekend work.
But David Brannan said the extra hours means even more time with his kids — his favorite part about his new life as a brewer.
“It’s all about the kids,” he said. “When we weren’t in the business everybody was on their own and we’d meet on holidays and talk once a week. I talk to my kids every day now. We’re able to really connect. More than if they lived here. I talk to my kids every day now. We’re able to really connect. More than if they lived here. During the summer, they’re here the whole season. For Christmas they’ll be here all December and January. It been really fun just kind of doing a business with them.”
You can find a store or taproom serving 860Kombucha via the company’s website, 860kokmbucha.com.