Two friends from Russia who settled in Kingston after the war in Ukraine started have launched a fermented grain drink called Garna Kvass, betting that a thousand-year-old Slavic recipe can fill the gap that kombucha and alcohol-free beer have left behind for Gen Z drinkers. The drink, brewed at Bianca Road Brew Co in Bermondsey, is on sale online in packs of six for £17.99, packs of 12 for £32.99, and packs of 24 for £59.99.
Dasha and Masha, friends for six years in Russia before they moved to London, developed the recipe in Dasha’s kitchen and detailed the launch in the exclusive interview where the founders first spoke about Garna. Dasha had cooked at a Michelin-starred restaurant near Green Park before the kitchen experiment became a brand.
From Kingston Kitchen to Bermondsey Brewery
The drink’s story starts in Dasha’s flat, with a taste the pair missed. Kvass is an old Slavic drink popular in countries across Eastern Europe including Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, and the founders wanted a version of their own, so they started brewing in Kingston.
The kitchen trials worked, and the brand that came out of them took the name Garna Kvass. The kitchen output could not match the demand the founders hoped to meet, so they brewed their first proper production batch with Bianca Road Brew Co, a craft brewery whose origins trace to a 2016 startup in Peckham by an engineer named Reece Wood before a move to Bermondsey.
For Masha, Bianca Road was a deliberate choice. The brewery sits on the Bermondsey Beer Mile, a stretch of railway arches that anchors south London’s craft beer revival, and tying a non-alcoholic alternative to that visual language matters to a brand chasing a beer-feeling drink. Production now runs through their brewer Jordan, who handles the Bermondsey batches.
The brewery choice was deliberate. Masha has framed the partnership as a visual decision for a drink meant to feel like a real beer at the bar, the kind of glass that does not stand out next to a lager, and the Bermondsey arches give Garna the right backdrop for that pitch.
A Recipe Built on Three Ingredients and Two Fermentations
Garna Kvass is made from just grain, water, and thyme, with no added sugar. The recipe is the founders’ own, developed in Dasha’s kitchen with help from people in the food and drink industry, and Dasha has credited her background as a chef for shaping how the drink was built.
The fermentation path is a deliberate throwback. The pair chose to brew a recipe older than the Soviet-era bread version most Russians grew up with, reaching back to the Russian-village method of fermenting grain first with lactic acid, then with yeast. The two-step fermentation locks the final drink below 0.5% ABV, the legal ceiling for the non-alcoholic category in the UK.
The result is sour, fizzy, and unsweetened. Dasha has described the taste as a grown-up alternative to lemonade, refreshing in summer and aimed at drinkers who want something more adult than standard soft drinks. The product calls itself sugar-free and brewed below the non-alcoholic threshold, and the founders’ own framing of Garna leans on complexity rather than sweetness.
Why Two Founders Bet on the Sober-Curious Generation
Garna’s market bet rides on a generational shift. Dasha spotted it during her master’s degree in London, when she noticed classmates heading to the pub without drinking, and her own research into Gen Z alcohol use turned up the numbers behind the hunch.
Data on UK Gen Z cutting back on alcohol from 2024 showed that 13% of UK Gen Z adults had given up alcohol entirely, with another 30% reporting they were drinking less than the year before. Health was the top reason, named by 74% of those cutting back.
The founders read that as a market gap, not a passing fashion. They have named kombucha, non-alcoholic beer, and maybe Coke Zero as what the category already offers, and described those options as nothing interesting. Garna’s pitch is the slot next to them: an adult, 1000-year-old drink with a beer-feeling pour, no added sugar, and a sourness pitched at adult palates.
For Garna, the current retail pitch leans on taste rather than function. The founders are not pitching the drink as a health product, and the bottles and cans carry no health claims beyond the sugar-free baseline. The category positioning is what is doing the work.
Six Years of Friendship, Then a Pivot to Fermentation
The pair were friends for six years in Russia before they moved to London, where they had already started collaborating creatively, making short films and documentaries together. Masha has said they liked the way they worked together and decided to extend the collaboration into a drinks business.
The pivot from film to fermentation was less random than it looks. Dasha had cooked professionally at a Michelin-starred restaurant near Green Park before she moved on, and she carried that kitchen training directly into the Garna recipe. Masha has credited that kitchen background for the drink’s three-ingredient simplicity.
The initial idea was to bring our childhood drink to London, but make it modern, and make it suit modern British tables.
For the founders, Garna is a translation job rather than a reinvention. The drink they grew up with is the drink they want British adults to drink, adapted to local tables rather than imported untouched.
From the Kosecca Cocktail to the Kombucha Comparison
Garna is built to mix. The pair’s most popular serve, called the Kosecca, combines Garna with Prosecco and peach liquor in roughly a 50/50 split, leaning the glass toward the non-alcoholic side. They are also working with a barman on mocktail recipes, including one that pairs the kvass with cold coffee for what Masha has called an iced-coffee-style refresher.
The drink’s positioning leans on what it can do that kombucha cannot. Masha has pitched the difference as both visual and behavioural: kvass carries a colour and a pour closer to a real beer than kombucha can, which she argues makes it more approachable in a British pub setting. The founders’ framing rests on the assumption that adult British drinkers want their non-alcoholic options to look and feel as grown-up as their alcoholic ones.
The founders compare the taste profile to sour beer, natural wine, and natural soda. Their brewer Jordan told Masha the drink tastes as if Mother Nature had created cola, a description she has echoed back to customers. The Kosecca recipe is meant to be the easiest on-ramp, a familiar cocktail format built around an unfamiliar ingredient.
What a Pack of Garna Kvass Actually Costs
At launch, Garna Kvass is sold through the brand’s own website in three pack sizes:
- Pack of 6: £17.99
- Pack of 12: £32.99
- Pack of 24: £59.99
The pair say they plan to bring Garna to organic shops, small independent cafes, and restaurants first, with pubs as a longer-term target once the brand is more established. The home page of the brand’s website runs buyers through a checkout for UK delivery.
The Wider Race for the Sober-Curious Generation
Garna is not the only kvass on UK shelves. The UK brand that already sells unpasteurised kvass has been selling its rye-and-barley version direct online with free next-day delivery, and the category already has a first mover chasing the same gap.
Masha has said she believes Garna can become the next kombucha, a category anchor that turns an obscure drink into a fridge staple. CGA by NIQ client director Violetta Njunina, writing in 2024 coverage of the same data Dasha cited, framed the broader trend as an opening rather than a threat: suppliers who adapt, she said, are set to thrive in a new era of beverage consumption.
The pair plan to expand across London over the coming months, after two weeks of post-launch trading in Kingston.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Garna Kvass made from?
Garna Kvass uses grain, water, and thyme in a two-step fermentation. The grain is fermented first with lactic acid and then with non-alcoholic yeast, which keeps the drink’s ABV under 0.5%, the UK threshold for the non-alcoholic category.
Where can I buy Garna Kvass?
Garna Kvass is currently sold through the brand’s own website. The founders have told Kingston Nub News they plan to roll the drink out next to organic shops, independent cafes, and restaurants, with pubs as a later target.
Is Garna Kvass alcoholic?
No. Garna Kvass is brewed to an ABV below 0.5%, which under UK rules classifies it as a non-alcoholic drink. The founders chose non-alcoholic yeast specifically to keep the fermentation inside that band.
Does Garna Kvass taste like kombucha?
The founders compare Garna’s flavour to kombucha, sour beer, and natural wine. The brewer behind the Bermondsey batches, Jordan, has described the taste as similar to what cola might be if nature, not a lab, had invented it.
What is the Kosecca cocktail made with?
Kosecca is Garna’s signature cocktail serve. It pairs Garna Kvass with Prosecco and peach liquor in a 50/50 split by volume, which keeps the final drink on the lighter side of the alcohol scale.
