For years, Aqua ViTea Kombucha has been a beloved, refreshing drink for Middlebury students. Recognizable by its vibrant, colorful packaging, it is a familiar sight at local businesses around town, as well as on campus at spots like Midd Xpress and Crossroads Cafe.
Founded by Jeff Weaber in 2007, Aqua ViTea started as a small venture, initially sold at the Middlebury Farmers Market on Exchange Street. However, the company’s journey, however, started years earlier in 2003, when Weaber brewed his first batch of kombucha in an Oregon distillery. Inspired by the process, he and his wife Katina decided to bring the drink to the local area, launching Aqua ViTea in Salisbury, Vt.
Christopher Maloney, Aqua ViTea's Product Innovation Manager, explained that from the beginning, Weaber’s vision was to create a healthier alternative to sports drinks and soda. This commitment to promoting a balanced, health-conscious lifestyle is at the core of Aqua ViTea’s mission.
“That was the premise of why he started the company, and that vision has remained at the core of Aqua ViTea’s commitment,” Maloney said, adding that Aqua ViTea’s kombucha is much lower in calories and sugar than most other brands.
In 2012, Aqua ViTea expanded to a larger facility in Bristol, Vt. to meet growing demand and reach a broader audience. Today, Aqua ViTea operates from 153 Pond Lane, a 63,000-square-foot facility in Middlebury purchased in 2017, formerly the location of Woodchuck Cider.
Brewing kombucha may be a hobby for some, but at Aqua ViTea, it is a large-scale operation. Each day, the company brews and stores approximately 5,000 gallons of kombucha — equivalent to around 50,000 12-ounce cans — making them one of the east coast's leading kombucha brewers.
The process of brewing begins with tea. Water and sugar are mixed together in order to make a simple sugar solution, according to Maloney.
“We use a combination of green and black tea,” Maloney said. “We have to plan far in advance, so we source about 24,000 pounds annually. We also partner with Stone Leaf Tea House because they’re experts in sourcing tea responsibly.”
The tea is then steeped in a mash tun filled with hot water, capable of brewing up to 500 gallons at a time. The sugar solution is added directly to the hot tea in the mash tun, ensuring it dissolves evenly throughout the batch.
Next, the contents of the mash tun are transferred over to the fermentation tanks.
“The water, sugar, and tea go into the tanks with the SCOBY, which is the magic part of kombucha,” Maloney said. “SCOBY stands for a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. During fermentation the SCOBY, which lives in the tanks, consumes most of the sugar in the teas and your byproducts are heat, CO2 and alcohol.”
Next is the process of removing the alcohol. Not many other kombucha companies have such intricate technology, but Aqua ViTea upcycles up to 50 ml of alcohol per bottle. Federal regulation for malt beverages is 0.5% alcohol or less, and Aqua ViTea makes sure to stay well below this.
“We use something called the spinning column cone,” Maloney explained. “This was originally used for the wine industry, when grapes can get really plump and full of sugar and that byproduct is a yeast with very alcoholic wine. Same process as here — the spinning column cone uses vacuum pressure to gently distill out the alcohol without harming the good stuff like yeast and the other good microbes you want in there for our kombucha. After that, the brewing process is finished.”
The kombucha is then stored in large tanks until ready to be flavored and packaged. When an order is placed for a particular flavor, of which Aqua ViTea has nine, the kombucha is steeped with organically sourced fruit juices and herbs to create the desired flavor.
Aqua ViTea also sells its famous Aqua Seltzer. Launched in 2022, is a mixture of a probiotic seltzer and kombucha. It comes in Raspberry and Lime, Grapefruit and Thyme, Pomegranate and Cherry and Cucumber and Mint. The Aqua Seltzer, as Maloney describes it, is for those who may not enjoy the full kombucha taste but still want a “kick” from their seltzer.
From there, the kombucha is taken to the packaging section of the factory. It is either sold in cans, bottles, or kegs, with cans getting the most output: Maloney said that the facility can package 100 12 oz cans a minute.
Aqua ViTea is currently distributed across the nation in more than 23 states, and is present in over 3,000 stores.
Gaby Rosen ’26’s go to drink is the “blueberry social,” but loves all flavors.
“When I want to treat myself to a nice drink, I buy Aqua ViTea’s kombucha,” Rosen said in an interview with The Campus. “Not only am I taking care of my health with my purchase, since kombucha is good for gut health, I also get to support a local Middlebury business. All and all it's a tasty drink that I can spend my money on guilt free.”
Numi Moreno ’26 said there is nothing that can match the taste and benefits of Aqua ViTea’s kombucha.
“Strawberry sage flavor is always on top,” Moreno said. “I genuinely think about it at least twice a week. It really helps me feel better and more in control of my gut health when I’m at Midd, especially because I used to drink a lot of kombucha back home since my mom makes it and I was really missing it until I tried Aqua ViTea.”
Middlebury College students are encouraged to visit the Pond Lane location on Thursdays, as they can get a 20% discount from the brewery. Aqua ViTea does growler fills, can and bottle sales from 12 to 5 p.m. each Thursday.
Mandy Berghela '26 (she/her) is a Senior Local Editor.
Mandy previously served as a local editor and staff writer. She is a Political Science major with a History minor. Mandy serves as co-president for Southeast Asian Society (SEAS), a member on the Judicial Board, and an intern for the Conflict Transformation Collaborative. In her free time, she enjoys cycling and reading fantasy novels.
