AKA Teas

AKA was founded in 2022 by Domenico Carella together with his wife, Elisa Isidora Manservisi. The impulse came from Carella's own clients: chefs and restaurateurs asking him for an elegant, refined non-alcoholic product. The recipes were developed over a year of research in collaboration with master brewers at a fermentation facility in Piacenza, where AKA is produced.^[1]

Callmewine describes AKA as a Milanese company.^[2],[3]

The name is an acronym for "artistic kombucha alternative". AKA presents it as a homage to the artistic expression that characterises its bottles.^[1],[4]

Domenico Carella — co-founder. Carella is an entrepreneur and beverage consultant who had previously created the Milan restaurant projects Carico and Ultra. He has discussed AKA's method and approach in interviews.

Elisa Isidora Manservisi — co-founder. Manservisi founded AKA in 2022 together with Carella, her husband.^[1]

AKA's premise is a fermented tea handled as though it were a sparkling wine and placed among non-alcoholic drinks: a bottle-refermented kombucha built to resemble a sparkling wine, intended for the meal or for mixing into cocktails. AKA describes its kombucha as analcolico.^[1],[5]

On alcohol content, Carella gave the figure as about half a degree — 0.5% — in April 2024, explaining that the yeasts first ferment the added sugar and the bacteria then convert that alcohol into organic acids. AKA states that this conversion leaves a negligible alcohol percentage in the finished kombucha.^[1],[5]

In April 2024, AKA's range comprised four kombuchas differentiated by their infusions: Lapsang Souchong, Jasmine, Fig Leaves and Genmaicha.^[1]

AKA's own term for the format is "Tè Sur Lies", a name it applies to its bottle-refermented kombucha.^[6]

AKA describes a tea infusion fermented with a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts, then refermented in the bottle with selected Champagne yeasts. In Juice episode 236, Carella described AKA as a re-fermented, almost classic-method sur lie kombucha with zero residual sugar.^{[1],[6],[7],[8]}

First fermentation — scoby on sweetened tea. Raw cane sugar and AKA's scoby are added to the tea infusion to trigger the first fermentation. AKA describes kombucha fermentation as a mixed fermentation: saccharomyces yeasts are responsible for the alcoholic fermentation and a symbiotic community of bacteria works at different stages of the process. The yeasts act first, feeding on the sugar added to the tea and producing a small amount of alcohol; the bacteria subsequently convert that alcohol into organic acids.^{[1],[5],[6],[7]}

Bottle refermentation — Champagne yeasts and time on the lees. CiboToday reported in April 2024 that AKA bottles its fermented kombucha with selected Champagne yeasts for a second fermentation, resting on the yeasts for at least three months. Retailer descriptions also discuss longer ageing on the lees for individual bottles.^{[1],[2],[3],[6],[9],[10]}

• Fig Leaves — Callmewine's product description describes bottling with yeasts selected from Champagne for a second fermentation following the Classic Method, a second fermentation of three months in bottle, and ageing of up to 30 months on the lees.
• Lapsang Souchong — Callmewine's product description describes a second fermentation in bottle with Champagne-selected yeasts using a sparkling-wine-style method, and ageing of up to 30 months on the lees.
• Jasmine — La Gola reported in January 2025 that the bottle fermentation relies on champagne yeasts; Callmewine's product description describes ageing of up to 30 months on the lees.

No filtration, no pasteurization. In an Instagram post dated 29 August 2026, AKA states that its kombucha is fermented and refermented in bottle without filtration or pasteurization, and that the secondary fermentation in bottle is carried out with selected yeasts after a first fermentation with a symbiotic culture of yeasts and bacteria.^[7]

Water kefir (Tibicos). AKA also uses water kefir in production, which Carella credited in April 2024 with the drink's balanced acidity, softness and a milky note. Tibicos — kefir water obtained by fermenting a sugar-water solution with kefir grains — appears as a declared component across the bottles: the photographed Jasmine, Fig Leaves and Lapsang Souchong labels each list Tibicos (water, sugar, tibicos culture) at 12%, and a retailer listing gives the same 12% for Genmaicha. That page also attributes a silky palate in Genmaicha to the green tea leaves and the water kefir.^[1]

Tea bases. The house base is a tea infusion of Assam black tea (TGFOP) and green tea (China Green OP); AKA names both as the starting point of its kombucha, and the same pairing was reported in April 2024. The kombucha component declared on the bottle labels is itself made from water, raw cane sugar, black tea, green tea and kombucha culture.^[6]

Aromatic infusions. The four bottles use different aromatic infusions.

• Lapsang Souchong — a traditional Chinese black tea dried and smoked with pine wood, which AKA says brings notes of smoke, wood and resin; AKA adds Earl Grey for its citrus and bergamot character, and states that fermentation transforms and amplifies the tea's aromatic profile.
• Jasmine — jasmine tea infusion at 39%, with black tea infusion at 20%, as listed on the photographed label and reported by La Gola in January 2025.
• Fig Leaves — the photographed label lists black tea infusion at 38% and fig leaf infusion at 24%; Callmewine's undated page describes an Assam black tea base with an added infusion of fig leaves.
• Genmaicha — an undated retailer page lists Genmaicha tea infusion at 43% and black tea infusion at 19%, and attributes roundness, gustatory fullness and warm, almost buttery notes to the toasted rice of the Genmaicha tea.

In an Instagram post dated 29 August 2026, AKA characterises the resulting drink as dry, alive and elegant, with fine effervescence, balanced acidity and an aromatic profile defined by the raw material.^[7]

Artist labels. AKA's labels are customised by artists, photographers and graphic designers invited to collaborate, and the first production line carried labels by the artist Gianluca Biscalchin. In December 2023, Panorama reported that different artists would interpret AKA's flavours on its labels each year, with Biscalchin designing the Christmas 2023 labels. In April 2024, Carella said AKA would hold an annual contest for young creatives, the winner creating an AKA label.^[1],[11]

Venues. AKA lists its beverages as served at Osteria Francescana, Piazza Duomo, Restaurant D'O, Ceto, Qafiz, Villa d'Este, Hotel Cipriani, Grand Hotel Timeo, Ceccato Garden Bar, and — in Milan — Carico, Kanpai and Ultra.^[12]

Ultra, Milan. At Ultra in Milan the bottles are used as cocktail components. Aka Jasmine appears in the Ultra Flowers cocktail with Hendrick's, banana, Yamagata Umeshu sake and osmanthus, and in an alcohol-free version with just banana and osmanthus. Aka Lapsang Souchong is used in the Ultra Spritz alongside Aperol and Zenzerello ginger-lemon liqueur.