Ariane Madison is a kombucha maven, though she’s most likely better known as one of Drugstore Cowboy’s co-owners and the calm and smiling presence behind its coffee counter certain days.
I love the relaxed atmosphere at Drugstore Cowboy in the morning. The Deep Ellum spot on the corner of Crowdus and Main would look like any coffee shop, save for the long bar and the stage at the back, the space opening in a way that feels more cavernous than you expected. The front half is coffee shop, with a brown slump of a leather couch, vintage plaid-cushioned armchairs, and baristas who will brew you many variations of Cultivar coffee; the back half is bar and music venue. It’s the kind of place I love, with the patter of human voices, very good coffee, and lots of space you can inhabit peacefully.
But I set out to talk about the kombucha. I’m sure you know the slightly fermented, sparkly, tea-based beverage, sought-out for its probiotic qualities. You can find kombucha on tap at places like Local Press and Brew and Method Coffee, which round out their coffee menus with the beverage. Mostly what you find is the local brand Holy Kombucha on tap. Drugstore Cowboy is the only place I know making its own in-house.
Like with so many finicky, fermented (even mildly), artisan things, it takes someone with precision and dedication to make kombucha—and to make it consistently. Madison is that person. Hers has great fizz. It’s not too aggressively carbonated, but nicely balanced. You can feel the play of acidity and sweetness and most of all the brightness and juiciness of her work with fruit.
Many kinds of tea can be the base for kombucha. Madison uses fair-trade, organic Yerba Mate, and feeds the SCOBY (that’s the part that gently ferments the tea and creates carbonation; you can see them in two glass jars on the counter) organic cane sugar. The secondary fermentation involves fruit. Early on, she used the same blueberry hibiscus tea mix they make into iced tea. (It’s my favorite blend from Cultivar. Already, when I heard that’s what she was using, I was excited.) But she’s since gone the route of fresh fruit, preferring the results. And the results are phenomenal.
Blueberry ginger, the current creation, is made with blueberries and freshly juiced ginger. For a short time she used strawberries, while they were in season. (She tried organic frozen strawberries, but they weren’t yielding the sweetness she wanted. Note the trend: she’s particular about the quality of fruit.) Word has caught on. A batch—she only has one tank for the moment, which produces 10-gallon batches—usually lasts several weeks. In between batches, people start to clamor. I know. I’m one of those people.
I love, too, the story behind the kombucha’s presence in this coffee bar. Madison had been homebrewing kombucha since 2012. “When my husband and his brother decided to open up a shop in Deep Ellum, it was a no-brainer that I would start brewing for the shop,” she says. She doesn’t drink alcohol or coffee; this is her contribution, her firm and delightful signature in a place that’s half coffee shop, half bar.
