Han’s Kombucha
Growing up in Boise, Idaho, Hannah Banick, owner of the eponymous Han’s Kombucha, was already showing signs of the entrepreneur she would become. There were lemonade stands and little pieces of artwork she and her friends tried to sell, along with plenty of sports that were played. “I was always pretty driven,” she remembered.
Hannah moved to Salt Lake in 2013 to attend the University of Utah where she studied public health. After graduation, an internship in healthcare administration took her to New York, but the experience convinced her that the career she had envisioned was not for her. “I realized the healthcare system is focused more on numbers than it is people.”
By then, something else had caught her attention. A friend had introduced Hannah to homemade kombucha and shared a piece of her SCOBY – the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast used to ferment sweetened tea into kombucha. Hannah began brewing throughout college, experimenting until she created something different from many of the commercial versions she found "too sweet or vinegary." Friends liked what she was making and began asking the obvious question – why not sell it?
Hannah decided to find out. She moved her fledgling operation into Square Kitchen, a commissary kitchen for food entrepreneurs, and approached restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops around Salt Lake. One of those calls led her to Kate Lubing. Kate was managing Emigration Brewing Co. when Hannah arrived with samples. Kate liked the kombucha and saw possibilities beyond simply putting it on the menu. She also recognized that their skills complemented each other. Hannah understood the brewing and production, while Kate brought restaurant and management experience. In January 2020, they decided to become partners.
Then Covid arrived. With many of their restaurant accounts suddenly closed or struggling, Hannah and Kate shifted to home delivery and concentrated on businesses that could continue selling their kombucha. At the same time, Han’s was outgrowing Square Kitchen. Mountain West Hard Cider offered room in the back of its warehouse, giving the young company somewhere to expand while Hannah and Kate searched for a permanent home. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without them,” Hannah said.
The next step came with an extraordinary coincidence. They found a building off 300 West that seemed perfect – and far too large and expensive. As their real estate agent began talking with the owners, Hannah discovered that the building belonged to a family she had babysat for years earlier. Wanting to see her succeed, the family worked with Han’s on the rent while the business found its footing. Han’s moved its production into the building in 2021. A public-facing bar was supposed to come several years later, but customers kept asking when they could visit. Plans accelerated, and the bar opened in 2023.
Today, Han’s produces five core kombucha flavors along with a rotating seasonal offering, selling to approximately 250 retailers, primarily in Utah. Hannah remains closely involved in production, continuing to make the low sugar kombucha she set out to create without the harsh vinegar flavor that had turned her away from many store-bought versions.
The bar has expanded the idea considerably. Along with non-alcoholic kombucha, Han’s serves kombucha cocktails, mocktails, local beer, wine, and small bites, with food trucks regularly parked outside. A dog-friendly patio, trivia, drag shows, nonprofit collaborations, and private celebrations have given people plenty of reasons to seek out the tucked-away location.
Not quite as she expected, but laughing Hannah said, “I guess I’m using my public health degree to make kombucha. I hope I am bettering people’s health.” Perhaps the greatest satisfaction, however, comes from converting the skeptics. Hannah regularly hears some version of the same confession – I didn’t like kombucha until I tried yours. Her response is simple. “If you had one kombucha and didn’t like it, you might just not have had the right kombucha for you.”
