Some years ago Kombucha was considered a hippie drink, found only at the most hardcore health stores (you know, the stores that smell like seaweed) or in your alternative neighbor’s pantry along with their stash of ‘herbed’ brownies. That strange brew would have been made from secret recipes and part of even stranger diet regimes. Kombucha was associated with an experimental approach to health and nutrition, where the early pioneers endured the unusual and acrid flavors (and effects) of their concoctions. Today, however, smart people such as René Archner have captured the essence of this drinks’ ancient roots and combined that heritage with a broad nutritional understanding to create a modern and refreshing experience.
René has tracked with Kombucha’s iterations throughout the last two decades alongside of his own experiences with a more radical approach to health and nutrition. Naturally curious and inventive, René followed raw food trends around the world entering competitions, attending and then running cooking classes and working in restaurants where healthy eating was the priority. He’s ridden the extreme of the health food adventure, eating only raw food for years where he discovered the boundaries of alternative diets. He lost too much weight and became unwell living on the fringe of raw food culture. Having hit this natural personal boundary with his health, Rene was wise enough to extract the precious from the worthless through the experience, and began to develop a mature approach to health modernizing the best of these ancient diets.
René has tracked with Kombucha’s iterations throughout the last two decades alongside of his own experiences with a more radical approach to health and nutrition. Naturally curious and inventive, René followed raw food trends around the world entering competitions, attending and then running cooking classes and working in restaurants where healthy eating was the priority. He’s ridden the extreme of the health food adventure, eating only raw food for years where he discovered the boundaries of alternative diets. He lost too much weight and became unwell living on the fringe of raw food culture. Having hit this natural personal boundary with his health, Rene was wise enough to extract the precious from the worthless through the experience, and began to develop a mature approach to health modernizing the best of these ancient diets.
One of the outcomes was René’s Kombucha. He had been perfecting his various home brews which he shared with the natural cooking classes that he still runs regularly. The students kept asking where they could buy his well balanced tea (René uses an organic Tulsi or Sacred Basil, and organic green tea as the base of his drinks), so he decided to put his varied experiences together to formulate a series of solid tea-based kombucha recipes which presently include lemon, red berry and pomegranate flavours. Behind these tasty core flavors are a wide range of natural ingredients and processes selected for their ability to naturally unleash all kinds of healthy reactions. Have a look at his website to get the full list but to summarize, René’s kombucha includes these core properties:
• Probiotics which aid digestion and build immunities
• Active enzymes which boost your bodies cell life
• Polyphenols which fight free radicals in your body
• A long list of organic acids which aids your natural homeostasis.
• Probiotics which aid digestion and build immunities
• Active enzymes which boost your bodies cell life
• Polyphenols which fight free radicals in your body
• A long list of organic acids which aids your natural homeostasis.
Many people enjoy some fresh lemon squeezed in warm water in the morning or a bit of raw apple cider to kick start their metabolism as they get going for the day. Kombucha does much the same but with broader results intended to give a more effective result. Understanding and enhancing the body’s metabolism is one of the many things René has learned over his years of research and teaching, all of which he now endeavors to pack into his drinks and cooking classes. He also shares what he’s learning on the web, on TV and while vacationing in Queenstown – where he met our nutritionist Kim Malcom who was also smart enough (and just enough of a hippie) to see the value of René’s experience and product. We suggest you come in and try some for yourself. Start your day with Kombucha for a few weeks, or after your workouts or long sessions in your spring garden to see how it can benefit your daily life too.
PS. René has spent years developing a balanced approach to nutrition, health and the joy of eating great food. Have a look at his web site to see TV interviews, the deeper nutritional profile of his kombucha and approach to food in general and where you can attend his Raw Food Cooking Classes.
PS. René has spent years developing a balanced approach to nutrition, health and the joy of eating great food. Have a look at his web site to see TV interviews, the deeper nutritional profile of his kombucha and approach to food in general and where you can attend his Raw Food Cooking Classes.
