Kove Hard Yerba Mate

Kove's Dragon Fruit Margarita Hard Yerba Mate just in time for Summer.

"There are always challenges with trying to create and sell new products,” explains Josh Makler, co-founder of Kové Hard Yerba Mate, which recently opened a taproom in Miramar. "Not only are we bringing a new brand to the market, but we are also bringing a completely new product and idea to the consumer that we have to push for consumer acceptance on. But this challenge is something we embrace and accept.”

While it may be a challenge to find space on the shelves and tap lists in San Diego, crowded as they are with local brews, Kové has had enough success at its Barrio Logan location to warrant expanding northward. To commemorate the new location, the brand released a new flavor, Dragon Fruit Margarita. The 5% ABV hard yerba mate is a collaboration with Pitaya Foods and, along with dragon fruit, contains pineapple and lime. Brightly colored with a pinkish hue, Dragon Fruit Margarita comes across as a tartier version of a standard margarita, and is available in both kegs and cans.

Alex Montelbano, another Kové co-founder, explains that the unique process used to brew hard yerba mate makes it conducive to experimenting with new flavors. "Kove’s brewing process is completely different than beer on the brew side of things. Beer is brewed with grain and hops before fermentation. Our process for brewing involves us making tea in our brewing kettle, and then adding organic sugar cane, which is the fermentable element that is used to make our alcohol. We choose to use organic raw sugar cane for the fermentation, versus other cheaper sugars and additives. Our sweet tea base is then pumped into a tank, where we add yeast and nutrients to ferment and make a base hard tea. Then we can flavor this hard tea in many different ways to make our unique flavor combinations using juices and spices.”

Montelbano continues, "The advantages are that we have a much quicker brew day than beer. A beer needs about five to eight hours to finalize the brewing process, while ours can be done in much less, one to two hours. This gives us a ton of efficiency to do multiple batches in the same day and make smaller batches that are fresher for our consumers.”

The decision to expand into Miramar could allow for further collaboration and experimentation with brewing styles. Makler adds, "We have always been huge fans of the amazing creativity and collaborations happening among brewers and beverage makers in the Miramar area, so when a spot came up next to our friends over at Pure Project, we had to jump on it. We are excited to have our own brewing space in Miramar to start producing a multitude of craft brewed products.”

According to Makler, some of that "multitude of craft brewed products” might even include craft beers, as Kové’s Director of Production, Dan Lawrence, looks to use the additional space to try out a variety of alternatives.