A new cidery and meadery is brewing downtown.
Apiary Beverage Co. is set to open its second location at 703 Chapala Street in October, said owners Rachna and Nole Cossart. The 10-year-old beverage company, which has a location in Carpinteria, makes gluten-free mead, cider and kombucha beverages fermented from 100% honey.
“Apiary drinks are the perfect thing that’s in between beer and wine—and not drinking alcohol at all,” Nole said.
The shop, across the street from Paseo Nuevo, is replacing houseplant and gift shop Idyll Mercantile.
Apiary’s menu includes canned, hard jun kombucha with flavors such as hibiscus rose, elderberry, ginger turmeric, guava hibiscus and jasmine. The store offers sugar-free, dry honey mead and organic cider made from organic apples.
Prices range from $13 to $16 for a four-pack of canned kombucha, around $57 for a pack of 16 and $80 for a pack of 24. A 24-pack of 12 ounce cans of mead is around $96.
The company also recently started making non-alcoholic kombuchas, following growing interest in sober culture, Rachna said.
“Since the alcohol industry is trending towards a lot of non-alcoholic drinks, we’re pivoting with that,” Rachna said.
The inside space will potentially feature a patio and large refrigerator for customers to pick up packaged products to-go, she said. Nole said in line with the company’s hard kombucha line—called “Drink Your Flowers”—the store’s decor will be centered on dried flowers, plants and bees.
Behind the business
Ten years ago, what started as dates by the brewLAB—a small-scale brewery in Carpinteria—turned into something bigger for Rachna and Nole. After meeting at a local artist market, they started visiting other breweries and creating recipes together, Nole said.
The couple started Apiary one year after they met. Nole said the beverage company was the first meadery to exist between San Diego and San Francisco during its founding.
“We’ve been creating together since the beginning—since we were starting to fall in love,” Rachna said.
Both Nole and Rachna, Santa Barbara locals, brought their own expertise to the business.
Nole got his start experimenting with fermenting kombucha at home. Rachna said she attended culinary school and worked at various restaurants in San Francisco before coming back to Santa Barbara.
They started with small batch recipes, Nole said, working their way up throughout the years.
“All of our batches were 15 gallons when we first started,” he said. “That’s the same size as one large keg.”
Now, Rachna said she’s excited to experience the high foot traffic downtown and interact with people making their way to State Street.
In the meantime, the business is focused on solidifying its roots in Santa Barbara.
“We have a good friend and mentor that told us, ‘You have to sell out your hometown before you go big or anywhere else,’” Rachna said. “That’s been very true for us.”
