Genmaicha

Palate. Toasted rice from the Genmaicha tea gives roundness, gustatory fullness and warm, almost buttery notes, while the green tea leaves and the water kefir give the palate a silkiness.^[1]

Structure. Only one structural axis is described in the available notes.^[1]

• Body: round, with gustatory fullness

AKA states that its finished kombucha is suitable to drink at any time and pairs well with tasting menus. The April 2024 CiboToday interview presents the bottle-refermented kombucha as designed for meals or for mixing in cocktails.

The declared composition is an infusion of Genmaicha tea (43%), Kombucha made with water, raw cane sugar, black tea, green tea and Kombucha culture (26%), an infusion of black tea (19%), Tibicos made with water, sugar and tibicos culture (12%), and yeast.^[1]

Kombucha (26%) — Fermented Base. A quarter of the blend is kombucha itself, declared as water, raw cane sugar, black tea, green tea and kombucha culture. AKA states that its kombucha begins with an infusion of Black Tea Assam (TGFOP) and Green Tea (China Green OP).

Tibicos (12%) — Texture. Tibicos, or water kefir, makes up 12% and is declared as water, sugar and tibicos culture. CiboToday reported in April 2024 that AKA uses water kefir in its production for balanced acidity, softness and a milky note.^[1],[2]

Yeast — Refermentation Agent. Yeast closes the declared ingredient list; AKA re-ferments its kombucha in bottle using selected champagne yeasts.

AKA describes kombucha fermentation as a mixed fermentation involving saccharomyces yeasts responsible for alcoholic fermentation and a symbiotic community of bacteria working at different stages of the process. Raw cane sugar and the scoby are added to the tea infusion to trigger the first fermentation. The yeasts act first, feeding on the added sugar and producing a small amount of alcohol. Bacteria then convert that alcohol into organic acids, which AKA states leaves a negligible alcohol percentage in the final kombucha.^[2],[4]

After the first fermentation, the kombucha is refermented in the bottle with selected champagne yeasts, and rests on those yeasts for at least three months.

AKA states that its kombucha is fermented and refermented in bottle without filtration or pasteurization.

Production. AKA is based in Milan. CiboToday reported in April 2024 that its recipes were developed over a year of research in collaboration with master brewers at a fermentation facility in Piacenza, where AKA is produced.^[2],[5],[6]

Genmaicha is one of four bottled kombuchas in AKA's range, each built on a different infusion — Lapsang Souchong, jasmine, fig leaves and genmaicha. AKA describes its kombucha as analcolico (non-alcoholic) and as a fermented-tea drink worked like a sparkling wine: the production process mimics the classic method (méthode champenoise) used for Champagne, starting from fermented tea leaves. AKA calls the bottle-refermented result "Tè Sur Lies".^[1],[2],[3]

The house profile AKA states for its kombucha, in an Instagram post dated 29 August 2026, is dry, alive and elegant, with fine effervescence, balanced acidity and an aromatic profile defined by the raw material.

AKA was founded in 2022 by Domenico Carella together with his wife Elisa Isidora Manservisi. The name is an acronym for "artistic kombucha alternative", and AKA presents it as a homage to the artistic expression that characterizes its bottles.