The label of Dave’s drinks suggests that kombucha supports the immune and digestive systems, and fans also credit the drinks with everything from forestalling hunger to imparting a sense of spiritual calm. The medical establishment, however, isn’t completely convinced. “There have been no clinical trials,” points out Mary L Hardy, medical director of the Simms/Mann–UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology, but she does note that “most probiotic foods stimulate the immune system.”
But lack of clinical data hasn’t kept kombucha from becoming a Hollywood trend. In the past year the beverage has been photographed in Lindsay Lohan’s hand and plugged by Tina Fey on Late Show With David Letterman. (“It smells horrible,” she quipped, “but it tastes…horrible.”) The cast of Grey’s Anatomy has cases of Dave’s brew shipped to the set, and CAA partner Kevin Huvane sends it to clients. Dave has declined corporate buyout offers and still personally oversees the brewing of every batch. Kombucha, he insists, is extremely sensitive to the “energy” of its maker. “So until the day that I find a way to clone myself,” says Dave, “I don’t see a second factory happening.”
