An Interview With Hard Kombucha Brewery JuneShine

Get to Know Our Friends at JuneShine!

JuneShine Co. is a hard kombucha brewery based in North Park, San Diego. They recently reached out to us to create tees for their staff and fans, each hand chained stitched with their “JuneShine” logo. They possess a deep value for the products they create and how they are made. This respect for craftsmanship and transparency is something we share, and we are honored that they chose us to make their apparel dreams a reality. We recently sat down with founder Forrest Dein to learn more about JuneShine’s journey, ethos, and what makes their hard kombucha taste so darn good.

Why hard kombucha?
The idea started for us with a simple question, why do we know so much about the food that we buy at the store and so little about the alcohol? There are so many honest, transparent and organic foods that we love and we grew frustrated by the lack of similar alcohol brands. We’ve always loved kombucha and craft beer and used to joke about getting a healthy buzz if we drank enough kombucha. We believe you don’t have to choose between tonight and tomorrow and for us hard kombucha allows us to go out and have a fun evening and still wake up early feeling good enough to go for a surf before work.

What three words would you use to describe JuneShine?
Refreshing, effervescent, dangerously drinkable.

Why did you choose to partner with us here at KNOWN SUPPLY for tees for your staff & customers?
We set out to create an honest and transparent brand with simple organic ingredients that were easy for our consumer to understand. I knew I wanted to carry that same mission over into everything else that we created around our core product. The world does not need any more carelessly produced junk so I wanted to find a partner who shared our similar core values of quality, environment, culture and transparency. It is difficult to find clothing that is responsibly manufactured and still stylish, but Known Supply made it easy and seamless.

What does the ability to connect with the person who made your tees mean for you and your team at Juneshine?
Having the ability to connect with the people who made our tee’s makes us proud to sell them in our brewery knowing that we made a real difference in the life of a person that we actually know by name and face.

Why did you choose San Diego’s North Park for your first location?
We’re proud to be a North Park business, it’s a place that harbors diversity and creativity which we like because if you want to introduce a product that’s really different, you need to be in a community that accepts people of all walks of life. To be a part of that here everyday is inspiring.

JuneShine is described as being “born from a desire for an alcohol we can feel good about drinking.” How are you bringing this feel-good transparency to your customers?
First and foremost we list out all of our simple organic ingredients on the back of our cans and on our website which is surprisingly not mandatory in the alcohol industry. These ingredients are easy to understand unlike many additives found in other alcohols. We also do our best to give our customers a behind the scenes view into our day to day operations through social media. We are living in a time where we have an unprecedented ability to share directly and immediately with our customers through a variety of channels. We leverage these tools to increase transparency throughout the brewing process.

In what ways does this passion for transparency in the products you create impact other aspects of your brand and business?
Our passion for transparency impacts almost every business and ethical decision we make. Being transparent means owning all of our decisions and sharing the results with our customers. When we are faced with a tough decision, the easiest or most cost effective option is not always something we would be proud to share with our customers. By being transparent it keeps us true to our core values of quality, culture and environment.

Which flavor is your current favorite?
I think my favorite will always be our original Blood Orange Mint. Our amazing brewer, Josh, tested many different yeast strains and flavor combinations when we were getting started and when I tried the Blood Orange Mint for the first time I knew we were on to something special.

You partner with “ambassadors”, which are “artists, athletes, & creatives”. How do these partnerships influence your brand and/or products?
Our ambassadors all have creative passions and are environmental advocates who are careful about the products they choose to promote. We must brew a high quality transparent product that they can feel good about drinking and sharing with their audience or they simply wouldn’t do it. Some of our ambassadors are pushing the limits of the action sports world and are very demanding on their bodies so our product needs to be clean and organic to fit into their lifestyle.

Where can people learn more about JuneShine?
You can follow along on our Instagram @juneshineco for daily updates and then our website has more product information as well as a map that shows where JuneShine is currently available in San Diego.