Dish

Mama’s the word

For Liv McGregor and Rene Schliebs, kombucha is much more

than just a buzzword exchanged in trendy wholefood circles.

Story ASHLEY ROPATI / Photography JACKIE MEIRING

I

f you’ve made the pilgrimage out

west lately and followed your nose to

Commercial Road, chances are you’ve

noticed something a little bit out of the

ordinary brewing.

Occupying what was once an old butchery

right in the heart of Helensville’s main drag, is

now an organic kombucha café and brewery,

with two trailblazing brew shop mamas firmly

at its helm.

The West Auckland suburb of Helensville

and kombucha are hardly synonymous, in fact,

the two are rarely used in the same sentence,

but for two passionate homebrewers, this

delightfully lit, small town space provided

the perfect launch pad for an inspired new

business venture.

“We’ve had a few locals peer in the window

asking ‘what’s this going to be?’ and we say ‘it’s

The Kombuchery and they say ‘oh, another

butcher...’ and off they go,” laughs co-owner

and one half of the Mama’s Brew Shop duo,

Liv McGregor.

Both Liv and her nutritionist business

partner, Rene Schliebs, admit their journey

from homebrewers to proud local business

owners began in a perfectly organic, “weird

kombucha-related kind of way.”

44 DISH