Zak’s Kombucha
THE BASS GUY…
How were your school years, and what path did education send you along?
Zak. I felt different from many other kids; I didn’t fit in at all, especially at primary school. Mum was always super loving and encouraging; she’d tell me it’s way better to be the person who sticks out from the crowd rather than one of the crowd. I was happy being me, and if other kids didn’t like that, I didn’t mind.
Unaware at the time, I realised more recently that I have a lot of autistic traits, like how I would focus on niche joys. As a kid, I loved playing with Brio train sets, building elaborate tracks, and building with K’NEX, but I never followed the instructions. I remember getting a Ferris wheel set that came with a motor, and I made so many vehicles from those same components. Whenever I thought I’d made my most incredible creation, I’d take it apart and build something even more complex. I enjoyed the exploration and creating something out of nothing.
In year three, a guy came to school to do an assembly with various instruments: trumpets, saxophones, etcetera. He played many classic theme songs to showcase what you can do on all these instruments. I was super inspired, and it hooked me in. I wanted to learn the trumpet, which became the cornet; I was too small for it.
Secondary school allowed me to reinvent myself. Teachers’ reports always say he is a bright kid but gets distracted easily. He needs to apply himself.
I played the cornet into year eight. By that age, the briefcase made me feel self-conscious. I could read music, but I liked building those toys; I was happier doing my own thing and being creative. I dropped music and thought I was done with it.
Just a few months later, I started exploring music through YouTube. I had a Born-Again Christian upbringing, so much of my music tastes growing up had been in that world. Now, I was enjoying discovering the real world.
I started a paper round to get some money. On a Sunday, after church, I’d go straight to HMV with my £15 wage and purchase as many CDs as I could afford. By playing that music back home, I tuned into hearing the bass guitar for the first time because it can be quite a submerged instrument, and it blew my mind.
I saved up my paper round money, bought my first bass guitar for £60 and began teaching myself via YouTube and learning other people’s songs. It became my focus, my life.
For most of my secondary school years, I was dead set that I didn’t need to be there. My dad had dropped out of school, and so did my brother. My mum had a serious talk with me during my second year preparing for my GCSEs. It went something like: “You don’t necessarily want to do it, but it would help if you thought about how useful it is to have these GCSEs. The sky’s your limit; if you want to go and be a professional musician, you can do whatever you want. But if you ever want further education, you should give GCSE your best shot.” I went on to pass them all.
Next up was Sixth Form School in Dover for a year. I decided to go there because they had an amazingly passionate music teacher. Our teacher managed to organise with the headmaster for me and two classmates to focus on a double A level over one year so that we could drop another subject and spend almost all my time there.
I did another two years of music at a college in Broadstairs. I was very driven, probably because I’d grown up in a single-parent household. I was the de facto man of the house; very independent at seven years old, I had a lot of responsibility. I joined many bands and did a lot of stuff outside of college, too.
I started playing in my cousin Jez’s band. We were playing the London gig circuit in all the cool little venues. I was cutting my teeth on the real-world gig scene. After leaving college, I continued in bands but had to find work to pay my way.
I went from band to band for a while in parallel with various jobs. Through Jez’s band, I got to play with the drummer of a math rock band called Fish Tank. Jez had played me their music when I was 15. It blew my tiny mind and remained in the top plays on my iPod for years. The drummer was impressed and wanted me to be Fish Tank’s new bassist.
I did an audition and got along well with them. I joined, and we went straight out on tour. The frontman, Ed, and I started getting closer, developing our bromance (as you do). We did that for about another year.
“All of a sudden, I’d started a business. I’d started this ball rolling. Now I needed to work out how to keep up with this ball.”
THE BASS AND VINTAGE CLOTHING GUY…
Now that you’ve found your way into music, how are you making a living?
Zak. So, Fish Tank ended. Ed and I had already discussed a new project, and we started working on new material. We worked on an album together and finally got out gigging as Ed The Dog a couple of years later; this is now 2018.
I worked at a bespoke bass and guitar maker, which was cool on paper but stressful. Things with the band were going well, and I needed more time to pursue it, but my boss wanted more hours.
I previously worked at my dad’s big antique warehouse in Ramsgate, behind the till. Through a contact we made working there, me and my then-girlfriend, now wife, Forest, started a vintage clothing company, Butt Vintage, at age 18. We researched everything; we did some markets and got set up on ASOS Marketplace and Depop. It was anti-fast fashion and cool alternative clothing; there was a whole ethos behind it. Our mates did the modelling for us, and we paid them in clothing.
I was picking up all the knowledge I needed to run a small business. I’d set up the website and run successful social media accounts for the guitar shop, my dad’s business, and Butt Vintage, leading on to a few other small businesses. I was building my knowledge and confidence simultaneously, and I had become passionate about small independent businesses.
I left the guitar makers. Forest and I took on some spare space above my dad’s furniture workshop for Butt Vintage, and I started working on a self-employed basis for him. My relationship with Dad blossomed; he could see my entrepreneurial spirit, which resonated with him. Butt Vintage worked well for a few years.
In that period, Ed The Dog was kicking off. We’d released our debut album and had loads of airplay on Radio 1 & 6 Music. We played at Glastonbury and did a live session at Maida Vale Studios for Radio 1, where my vintage amp set on fire; still my most rock and roll achievement! We played loads of festivals, venues, and some cool events. We went on a couple of tours around the country, one with the band Circa Waves, which sold out in five minutes! Then lockdown.
Lockdown comes up a lot in RyeZine. How did you use your time?
Zak. Well, back in my late teens, Forest and I decided to go vegetarian through learning about the atrocities of the food industry, cruelty against animals and the environmental impact. After a couple of years, we went vegan in 2017. It was surprisingly easy to do. We are both massive foodies, and knowledge is power. I wanted to find a positive way to encourage others to do the same easily. However, having fingers in many pies, I needed to figure out what that looked like to me and how to achieve it alongside everything else.
When everything stopped in lockdown, I’d been self-employed, so I had no money coming in but a lot of time on my hands. I started thinking about this whole plant-based food idea. The only people I knew at the time with a link to the food and drink world were my cousin Joel and his wife, who ran a coffee roastery and shop called Bloss. Plus, a family friend, Tobyn Excell, who’s an incredible Chef who had done a stint in the Noma test kitchen.
Tobyn is a knowledgeable forager, and he took us out on our first forage. Forest and I had wanted to get into wild food for a long time, and that first walk gave us a basic foundation of knowledge; we were hooked. I was fascinated, and we started foraging whenever we could.
Tobyn made the first kombucha I ever tried: a wild rose kombucha, like the one in The Noma Guide To Fermentation. He introduced me to all kinds of wild ingredients. I’m a big nerd and tend to hyper-focus on anything I’m passionate about. So, I started buying books on the subject and decided to have a go at brewing kombucha. I read that I needed live unpasteurised kombucha; I had no idea where to get this stuff. I thought maybe Macknade Fine Foods in Faversham would have some, and they did; I found some entry-level commercial stuff that was very weak raspberry flavour and incredibly fizzy. I felt it could be better than that. I had started getting into fermentation, but I wasn’t entirely focused on kombucha.
Joel’s boss from Bloss returned from Thailand and was really encouraging about the kombucha I’d been brewing. He had connections with a small company growing amazing tea in harmony with the rural forests over there and was importing some for the coffee shop. He let me have free reign of the tea to experiment with. He had seen that the kombucha market in Thailand was much further along than in the UK and believed I was onto something.
I was hesitant to start a business because we didn’t know how long all the COVID stuff would last. Before lockdown, I had my music, Butt Vintage and work with my dad to keep me busy. I was thinking about doing something more plant-based food, and this was a drink, so it was not exactly where I was trying to head.
Eventually, Joel signed me up for a stall at Kent Food Hubs (KFH) vegan market in Ashford, along with Bloss. This was the 26th of September 2020 when lockdowns relaxed. I remember the date because it feels like the start of Zak’s Kombucha. It was proper homebrew stuff and I wanted to lean into that DIY aesthetic. Joel bought me 15 swing-top 750ml bottles and said, pay me back later. I still didn’t know if this was a long-term business, but if I was going to put it out there, I wanted the product to look right and give it my best shot.
THE BASS, VINTAGE CLOTHING AND KOMBUCHA GUY…
I had a few weeks to prepare for the market. I put on my biggest brew ever, two eight-litre jars, which seemed crazy to me then, making 15 litres in a mix of different flavours! We had black peppermint growing in the garden, so I made a mojito style with a wedge of lime. I made a ginger and turmeric, a lemon one, and an apple and cinnamon kombucha using apples from Forest’s auntie’s orchard down the road. This seasonal, local and tangible connection to the ingredients became an integral part of the product and ethos behind it going forward.
I sold out in a couple of hours. I had a contact mailing list that people were filling out. I was so excited that I texted everyone who left their details to share how blown away I was by my first-ever market. That text started a friendship with my first customer, Sam, now one of my best friends. He’s an absolute legend and has been an integral part of the journey.
I now had a few regular customers and market stalls via the Kent Food Hubs (KFH), who were pivotal in helping me get started. I had to constantly upgrade my equipment in our little annexe where we were living. I bought a chic French dresser with double doors and installed an airing cupboard heater to try to control the temperature. I lovingly called it The Brewery; it held ten jars maximum. I filled the narrow shed next to the house with a tall fridge and eventually a chest freezer, though I could barely move for bottles. By this time, I produced 35 litres a batch most weeks. It was intense!
Meanwhile, I needed a visual identity for the brand. Ed offered to draw me a Colonel Sanders meets Roald Dahl logo and a custom font of his handwriting. Both of which have become the very essence of our aesthetic and branding.
I worked it all out as I went, constantly learning and thinking about the next steps. I needed to find a way to expand production and reduce labour without compromising the product. Folks seemed interested in what I was doing, so it made sense to keep going. By now, Forest understandably is unhappy with me taking over the house, which I had outgrown production-wise.
Becky from KFH heard I was looking for space and invited me to look at a dingy unit where she used to be based. To do it up would be a project in and of itself! Joel, a handyman, agreed that it was a big project. When Sam had a look, he instantly saw the potential; that was the push I needed. The landlord gave me a good deal to help me get started. So, renovations began immediately with help from kind friends and a very generous electrician who was already a fan of my kombucha. I became pretty handy in the process: I learnt how to tile, lay a self-levelling screed, and make an insulated fermentation room. I even did a bit of plumbing! Though, I couldn’t have done any of it without Joel. It took three to four months to put on the first brew.
“After planning the space with areas for brewing, production, storage, etc., we still had space available for Forest’s ceramic studio and a music studio for me; you can’t give up the dream.”
I brought all my equipment from home; the original Brewery has been repurposed as Forest’s apothecary. I purchased my first tank to put the brews together. That first batch was 75 litres in my 200-litre tank. It felt like a crazy amount, twice as big as any previous batch, but so much easier using all this new luxurious space! Once I was fully up and running in the unit by January 2022, that was the true start of the business. I got out in the area and did a proper sample drop, going door to door and business to business.
At the start, it was Sam and me. We had one wholesale client before then, whom I’d met via Bloss. Once I got the samples out, it started to grow quickly, and in a matter of a few months, we had taken on nearly twenty stockists. Eventually, I reached capacity on my 200-litre tank and needed to invest in more fermentation jars and kegs.
Then, I applied for a grant to get our first-ever load of swing-top screen-printed bottles. It was the Growing Green Kent & Medway fund, and we got it. We already had a bottle return scheme to incentivise people to return each bottle with money off, but this would strengthen it by making branding non-removable and also save us lots of packaging and labour every week. The sustainability side of the business has been the foundation block of my decision-making from even before that first market!
By 2023, my little sister Rosalie joined the team. Then James, who had previously owned the fantastic bakery Wild Bread, came on board around a year ago to help me manage admin things and free up some time. Sam moved on to start his market garden just outside Faversham; it was sad to lose him but exciting to see his project coming together.
Via Cliftonville Farmers Market, I met Mike, an experienced beer brewer. He has come on board in the short term to help us function more efficiently as a brewery. He’s been incredibly helpful, as I am entirely self-taught! Most recently, Anna, Sam’s partner, joined the team, and things are going well.
I plan to free up some time for music when that all kicks off again. Ed The Dog’s planning a third album release this year, so hopefully, gigs aren’t too far off.
“A weird thing happened to my identity: I was The Bass Guy for many years. Then, almost overnight, I was suddenly The Kombucha Guy.”
Zak Tozer
Zak’s Kombucha
www.zakskombucha.com
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