Tiago Carneiro of Nova Easy Kombucha is on a mission to bring the increasingly popular drink to Ocean Beach, one consumer at a time. To that end, he recently branched out from his Chula Vista base to open a new tap room at 4845 Newport Ave.
“What we have there is our brand of alcoholic and non-alcoholic kombucha, as well as 10 beers and three (hard) seltzers,” said Carneiro of Nova Brewing Co. “We’re the first one to bring this to the OB community. This is our flagship location right now. We want to open two more next year.”
Likely originating in Asia, kombucha is a fermented, slightly alcoholic, lightly effervescent sweetened black or green tea drink with probiotics, which are purported to have intestinal health benefits derived from bacteria and yeast. Probiotics are live microorganisms claimed to provide health benefits when consumed, generally by improving or restoring the gut flora.
“It’s good for your gut, kombucha has a lot of benefits for your body,” noted Carneiro. “We call it Nova Easy Kombucha because it’s very easy to drink.”
Carneiro’s family owned an award-winning brewery for a decade in Brazil before being bought out by Anheuser-Busch and moving to Chula Vista to open a brewery and tasting room there.
“We use fruits to give flavor to the beverage,” said Carneiro of his style of kombucha. “We call it the better for you beverage, as it has lower calories, is gluten-free and vegan. This connects a lot with our (Brazilian) culture and diversity.”
Nova Easy in OB also is serviced by food trucks, including a Brazilian food truck one day a week. “Other days we have things like tacos and southern barbecue,” Carneiro said.
Indoors, Nova Easy features a captivating mural done by Obecian artist Janis Ambrosiani.
The Brazilian brewer said he feels right at home in OB.
“Since the first time I was in OB, I embraced all the diversity,” Carneiros said. “Everybody was nice. I felt very comfortable. We felt OB was the perfect environment for us, believing that, in the future, we need to be more open-minded.”
Nova’s OB tasting room also has a patio offering outdoor dining.
Concluded Carneiros of his kombucha, “The brand we created is completely looking for the future with its quality and technology. We have this product and, for me, it’s a very colorful brand, well balanced. It has a lot of drinkability. It’s the perfect drink in a beach place.”
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