‘I tried komboffee, the crazy hybrid of kombucha and coffee’

One 250ml cup has the equivalent of 3.45 espresso shots, but it tastes like peach iced tea and it’s sugar free.

I love coffee. I like kombucha. But together? I just don’t see how it’s going to work.

Komboffee is the brainchild of award-winning coffee roaster Frank Andrews, 44, of Frankie’s Beans in Darlinghurst and his former manager turned kombucha maker Alex Pirra, 34.

Frank says it was a happy accident that started out of curiosity. What would happen if they combined the two?

He was experimenting with using alkaline water to make cold brew coffee and getting good results. The pH of the water made for a deeper, quicker extraction that meant he only had to brew the coffee for two hours rather than up to 24 hours, and there was less chance of it oxidising.

Kombucha is tea and sugar left to ferment and bubble away, so Alex brewed a mix of black and green organic tea for kombucha with alkaline water and found it brought out the fruit flavours in the tea.

Komboffee is a mix of Frank’s cold brew and Alex’s kombucha, both made using alkaline water.

Komboffee, the newest coffee hybrid.

Weird? Yes. Delicious? Surprisingly, also yes.

The $6, 250ml bottle is served cold from the fridge, but Frank fills my glass with ice because he thinks it tastes best chilled.

It comes in a glass bottle. You can see sediment at the bottom, but it blends away once you give it a good shake.

Poured over ice, it’s a cloudy, pale golden colour. It looks a little bit like cider or an unfiltered beer without the head. It’s definitely not the dark coffee colour I was expecting.

Komboffee doesn't look like you'd expect it to.

It doesn’t taste like I’m expecting it to either.

There’s no hint of coffee to it. None, zip, nada.

If I hadn’t opened the bottle myself, I’d swear my glass contains peach iced tea.

It’s fruity and floral and citrusy, and I’m trying to get my head around it. Just as I’ve given up, I get a hint of coffee on my back palate.

It gets stronger as I drink, but it’s a background flavour just peeking through. It doesn’t have the bitterness or pungency of cold brew. It’s gentle and it lingers.

There are two serves in a bottle and the second glass is completely different. The ice has melted and it tastes as if the flavours have switched position. Now it’s the coffee I taste first, followed by fruit. It may be that it’s a cumulative effect, or perhaps the coffee notes come to the fore when the drink isn’t as cold.

Mmmm so cloudy.

I like it. It’s light and refreshing and a great option when you need a caffeine fix on a hot day and can’t stomach the thought of steamed milk.

But be warned — a 250ml bottle has the equivalent caffeine of 3.45 espresso shots. Yet, when Frank tells me this my adrenaline hasn’t spiked, and I can still hold my cup without it shaking violently.

It’s because cold brew coffee releases caffeine into the body differently to a standard espresso shot. It’s a slow burn that makes you feel energised for longer rather than giving you an instant buzz like a can of energy drink.

I’m also impressed to learn that komboffee has the same health benefits as kombucha. It’s full of antioxidants, good for the gut and because cold brew coffee has lower acidity levels than the hot stuff, it’s also gentler on the stomach. And being sugar free, it only has about 26 calories per serve.

It definitely doesn't taste like it has the equivalent of nearly 3.5 espresso shots.

Komboffee has been available for about two months, and Frank says customers are slowly embracing it. It’s a bit of a push to get them to try it, but once they do, they’re converted. Some of his biggest fans have been American tourists staying at the Diamant Hotel across from the cafe who are used to drinking cold coffee and are encouraging Frank to export komboffee.

It’s a tempting proposition. According to a report from Grand View Research, the global ready-to-drink tea and coffee market is expected to be worth $162 billion by 2024, and even a small piece of that would be lucrative.

When Frank and Alex started their little experiment, there was no one else doing komboffee on a commercial scale, but a quick Instagram search of #komboffee will show you Esprezzo cafe in Perth had it on the menu in 2016, and health-focused instagrammers are making their own version at home.

Komboffee is a portmanteau coffee trend I can get behind. But the avogato, and yes I’m talking about an affogato with avocado abomination, is taking it a step too far.