• Forbes CMO Network, Thursday, September 24, 2009 10:07 AM

Laraine Dave says a concoction made from black tea and sugar that is fermented for up to a month and then mixed with fruit juices cured her breast cancer. Her son, George Thomas Dave, has been brewing the concoction, called kombucha, and selling 16-ounce bottles of it for $5 a pop in Whole Foods.

Not surprisingly, GT's Organic Raw Kombucha's success has gotten the attention of the big boys, Laurie Burkitt reports. And it's about time, given that the sour-tasting brew is purported to date back to China's Qin Dynasty (221-206 B.C.). Honest Tea, which is 40% owned by Coca-Cola, is launching Honest Kombucha at the end of October. It will be sold at Whole Foods exclusively for two months in three flavors and 16-ounce containers for $3.39.

Tazo founder Steve Lee launched "Wonder Drink" in 2003; Red Bull rolled out "Carpe Diem Kombucha" in 2007, and Celestial Seasonings may roll out a kombucha drink next year, but Dave says the competition just brings more attention to the brew. Besides, he tells Burkitt, the more mainstream rivals "don't have the right energy."

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