BOULDER - Move over IZZE, there's a new drink in town - this one has a bite.

Infinitea Kombucha is a fermented tea that debuted in area health food stores last fall.
"Overall, I think it's doing great," said Nicole Gervace, founder of Meridian LLC, the Boulder-based company that produces the tea. "I won't really be able to know how we're doing until next year, but we're getting more accounts."

The tea is sold in Boulder at Whole Foods, Wild Oats, Ideal Marketplace, Lucky's, Lolita's and several coffee shops. The company just signed Vitamin Cottage in Boulder, a co-op in Fort Collins and a Whole Foods in Highlands Ranch.

Everyone has a strong reaction to kombucha, according to Gervace. The sweet-sour tea goes through a 30-day fermenting process. During this process it is mixed with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast.

"Some people love it right away, some people hate it. Some people say it tastes too much like vinegar. A lot of people try and get over it because of the health benefits," she said.
Gervace said that kombucha improves digestion, detoxifies the liver, supports the immune system and balances the body's pH level.

Due to a dairy allergy, Gervace started making the tea for herself out of her home a couple of years ago. The drink helped her with digestion. Soon friends were buying it from her to the point where she was busy - really busy.

"I got fired (from her old job) for starting this company," she said. At the time, she was an education operations manager for a company she would not identify.

Her major costs have been fermenting tanks and a bottler. She described other startup up costs as "a continuing process." She has one other employee, salesman Tommy Stover. He goes out to meet potential vendors, and he also Gervace stage demos.

"It's a fun job," he said. "I get to go out and meet business owners."

Meridian's main form of advertising are these demos, which Gervace tries to stage twice a week. She and Stover display their products to the public, and sometimes she pays a store to do it. This summer she'll have demos at the Boulder County Farmers' Market.

"There are a lot of people who haven't heard about the product. The demos are about educating people about the product," she said. "(Through the demos) people get to know more about the product and the company, and then they become more than customers, they become advocates."

On Whole Foods' shelves, Infinitea competes with GT's Kombucha of Beverly Hills, Calif. and High Country Kombucha out of Eagle. "Whole Foods sells at least six cases of GT's a day and one case of mine," Gervace said.

She hopes the fact that the tea is made in Boulder will improve sales. "It's a local product, so it's more fresh and alive," she said. She is active with Naturally Boulder, a networking and support group for the natural products industry and finds Boulder a good place to be for developing her product.

"If you want to do it, this is the best town to do it in. The community is so supportive," she said.

Gervace would like to sell outside of Colorado, and said it might happen within the next year. "Right now I'm focused on making it a viable business in Colorado."

She also has plans to debut new flavors of Infinitea in June.

Infinitea Kombucha retails for $2.99, and comes in the flavors of blueberry pomegranate, lemon citrus and original.