OUR STORY · KL SINCE 2012

Kefir & Kombucha — Craft Probiotics Fused with Rare Ingredients, Brewed in KL

By Youri Zaritski · Updated 2024

Where it started — a Russian childhood

Youri was born in Russia, where kefir was simply part of daily life — a tangy white drink he thought was just a stronger yogurt. It wasn't until years later, after arriving in Malaysia, that he understood what he'd been drinking and why it made such a difference. Kefir isn't yogurt. It's not even close.

A standard commercial yogurt carries 4 bacterial strains. Our milk kefir carries 60 dominant bacterial strains plus 10 beneficial yeasts. Those microorganisms don't just pass through — they colonise the gut, compete with pathogens, and help rebuild the microbiome that modern diet and chlorinated water systematically erode.

Youri began brewing water kefir in KL about 13 years ago. Learning to maintain the mother culture — the living grain that must be fed daily without exposing it to harmful chemicals — took practice. The water used in our process goes through a 5-stage filtration system, including a fluoride filter. Fluoride and chlorine, both present in tap water, kill beneficial bacteria. We remove them before they ever touch our cultures.

Milk kefir vs water kefir — why we recommend both

Both use similar bacterial and yeast cultures, but they work differently. Milk kefir cultures are specialised for fermenting the fats and lactose in milk — a rich, creamy environment. Water kefir works in a sugar-water base and delivers the cultures in a lighter, dairy-free format. They overlap but don't duplicate each other.

We recommend drinking both. The variety of cultures between the two formats gives your gut a broader spectrum of beneficial microorganisms — which is exactly what you want, since a diverse microbiome is a resilient one.

And Kombucha? It fights differently

Kombucha carries fewer dominant strains than kefir — around 20 — but that doesn't make it weaker. It makes it more targeted. Kombucha's organic acids (glucuronic, acetic, L-lactic) are produced in concentrations that are actively hostile to certain pathogens. In our experience, it kills Candida and H. pylori on contact. Clients with yeast infections have reported recovery within days to two weeks. We've seen indigestion resolve in 15 minutes and diarrhea subside within 30 minutes to a few hours.

We brew our kombucha on 50% strong black tea and 50% Japanese green tea. The polyphenols from both teas amplify the probiotic effect and add antioxidant depth.

Sugar — the enemy kefir helps you fight

Modern processed food is loaded with refined sugar in forms the human body was never designed to handle. Refined sugar hits the bloodstream almost instantly, driving up blood glucose and feeding the pathogenic organisms in the gut — including Candida — that thrive in a high-sugar environment.

Beneficial bacteria from kefir and kombucha compete directly with those pathogens for resources. A well-populated gut reduces the amount of sugar absorbed into the bloodstream and helps maintain the acid-alkaline balance that keeps opportunistic microorganisms in check.

Prevention is easier than cure

We didn't start this to sell drinks. Youri started brewing because he understood what kefir had done for his family's health, and wanted to share it with people in KL who had no access to real-culture fermented foods. Teresa joined to build the structure that would let us scale without ever compromising on the culture quality. Thirteen years later, that's still what drives us.

If you're in KL or anywhere in West Malaysia, you can order fresh-brewed kefir and kombucha delivered chilled to your door. No minimum order.