Toka’s Origins
Toka started out in 2019 as a hobby in a small Tirana apartment where Ledio wanted to make flavorful, living kombucha for friends and family. What started out as a few flip-top bottles of kombucha has now grown into a range of kombucha flavors, lacto-fermented hot sauces, and kimchi.
Ledio’s first contact with fermentation came through his work as an archaeologist in Turkey when he excavated a large ceramic vessel (“pithos”) that was used for pickling and fermentation in ancient times. This sparked a curiosity for the relationship ancient people had with food and how food was preserved before modern technology was available.
Years later, we continue to explore that curiosity about traditional food practices while bringing modern innovations into the fold so that we can create bold, unforgettable flavor. This means we’re patient with our ferments, letting nature take its course while also using modern equipment to make sure that everything comes out as it should.
We strive to work with nature to make quality fermented goods that are abound with flavor while also providing the prebiotic, probiotic, and postbiotic boost that are essential for a healthy gut.
Kombucha
Kombucha has a long history of being consumed for its digestive benefits and probiotic boost that it provides to the gut microbiome.
We brew our kombucha with a mix of green and black tea, cane sugar and use traditional fermentation methods, allowing the symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) do its work and slowly transform the sweet tea into a funky elixir.
Each bottle of kombucha is alive with billions of microbes doing their best to make sure each sip is abound with flavor. We don’t pasteurize or use any preservatives to make sure that you get an authentic drinking experience.
Kimchi
Kimchi is a staple of the Korean diet and can be made with a variety of vegetables and sauces, and there are hundreds of family recipes that can be found in the Korean peninsula. Traditionally, kimchi was developed as a way to preserve vegetables while also making them delicious and healthy.
A friend of ours graciously gave us their family recipe and, after a few tweaks, we arrived on the tangy, spicy, crunchy concoction that’s packed into every jar. Using Nappa cabbage, daikon radish, spring onions and a sauce with a long list of tasty ingredients, we allow our kimchi to slowly ferment in cold temperatures to get just the right amount of sour funk.
Hot Sauce
Our hot sauces pay homage to one of the oldest forms of fermentation, lacto fermentation. Lactobacillus bacteria works its magic and slowly turns our mix of quality peppers, salt, and water into a rich, full bodied, spicy sauce.
While the recipe for our sauce is simple, the flavors are unmistakably complex. We ferment our peppers for a minimum of two months before blending together all the funky goodness with a bit of vinegar and salt to make sure that it kicks just the right amount.