Overcoming Challenges and Rising to the Occasion

Hello everyone!  It has been a long time since our last post!  We were so incredibly busy this summer, and I have finally returned from my end of the year travels to Costa Rica and Peru, and have come back with a story and some beautiful realizations!

And without further ado... :)

2013 was an intense labor of love and success!  I have learned so much about myself in the process, including my own personal limitations of what this body can take and how much this mind can handle!  It seemed all summer I was harvesting kombucha until 1 or 2am on Friday, only to wake up at 6am every Saturday to load the farmer's market supplies, vend the Proctor market, make deliveries to the co op and our other stores, wash HUNDREDS of bottles every other week, order ingredients, and schedule meetings while somehow still managing to make it to Burning Man, and the Rainbow Gathering in Montana, and backpacking to the coast, and other adventures!  Needless to say, my physical and spiritual nourishment took a little bit of a dive :).  I was drinking coffee almost every day, and didn't make any time for my usual Yoga and Meditation practices.  Thankfully I had lots of kombucha on hand!  (especially the Green Superfood!)

In addition, it has taken me awhile to learn and take care of all the responsibilities that go along with running my first business!  I spent 2013 playing constant "catch-up" so to speak on 2012's bookkeeping, and learned the ins and outs of basic business accounting and Quickbooks, WHILE the business was running ahead and growing full speed with our wholesale accounts and success at the Proctor farmer's market.  FINALLY, 2 days ago my bookkeeping mentor and I got caught up on all the accounting, and I got my 2012 taxes all done and finished!  I had my printouts to mail to the IRS, and since I didn't have stamps, I had to go to the post office to get stamps and send it.  I had the idea to get a little exercise, and decided to run to the post office (roughly 3/4 of a mile).

I laced up my running shoes and a jacket, and ran out the door with the envelopes.  Not only was it raining!  It was pouring, it was windy!  It was intense!  I haven't had any type of running or aerobic exercise in some time (mostly yoga and some pushups), and man it was a run!  But I felt like the Olympic dude who was carrying the Torch (my tax returns) to the top of the mountain for victory!  I even had to take a detour because a tree had fallen over some power lines onto someone's car and had the main street blocked off!  As I ran I had to pace myself, and focus on breathing.  My lungs were definitely not used to the sustained jogging, and I got that experience where you get way inside yourself.  The rain pounded and I was soaking wet, the wind blew against me and made me work harder.  It took a bit of slowing down before I finally made it to Mt. Olympus, the Post Office!  The people inside looked at me like I was crazy for running all the way there (and going back "out there.")  I got the stamps and mailed my taxes!  WIN! WIN! WIN!

I caught my breath and made out for the return trip home.  All of a sudden the rain lifted and a beautiful rainbow manifested right in the direction I was running!  It was exciting and I felt empowered for taking control and not only getting the books done and filing my taxes, but taking care of my physical body at the same time!  The whole books and taxes thing was lingering in the back of my mind and holding me down a bit since the 2012 taxes were by now overdue. This all now cleared, I have new clarity on what I need to do in the future to stay on top of the things required for running a business.  It's fun to Learn and to be Challenged, and to Grow!

Another Realization I have made is that this business is NOT a ball and chain.  I have lived a very free and spontaneous lifestyle for the last 8 years or so, to say the LEAST! ;)  Needless to say, once this whole kombucha thing got started I was faced with a reality- RESPONSIBILITY!  This business is like having a child!  It needs constant attention and love to thrive and to keep going (and growing.)  Now sometimes, this means not going on a trip to that music festival, or not buying that 1940's Hammond B3 Organ- Yet! (though I DO believe you can have your Cake and eat it too, if you believe you can, and I have proved this! ;)

I have traveled to some pretty awesome places, around the Earth and inside of my Mind.  What I love most about traveling is that it expands my consciousness.  It gives me a better understanding of Who I Am by seeing the world and how it is, and how I am inside of myself. This is what I love about art, about music, about writing, about life!  Expanding myself and growing beyond who I am currently!  It's just like the baby rose bush that struggles to open its first leaf, then those little thorns, and finally blossoming into a brilliant fragrant luscious flower!- the full maximization of it's potential and purpose!

I have recently realized that I too, am being challenged to grow and evolve and to open my pedals and bloom!  And this business is one of the platforms that is nourishing me- and demanding me!-  to do so!  Instead of seeing my kombucha business as a "Ball and Chain," -as I previously and temporarily had thought it, with apprehensions of the reality of sacrifice and the infringement of my absolute and total freedom- I now see it as one of the most joyful, transformative and expanding experiences I could ever wish for!  AND in rising to the challenges it presents and growing through these experiences, I KNOW that it will lead to more freedom and expansion that I could have ever hoped and dreamed for!

My original vision for Rainbow Cloud Kombucha, 3 years ago, was that I wanted to brew and serve a delicious, revitalizing, healthy beverage at our local farmer's market.  After overcoming all of the obstacles it took to start a business and create a product, we have had a very successful 2 years, most notably at the Proctor Farmer's Market last year!  It was so rewarding to connect with our new and regular customers week after week, rain or shine (or Wind or Hail!), trade out bottles, test out new flavors, make friends with people, and even do a little trading here and there :)  It is deeply satisfying to be serving the public in this way.

I have succeeded in my original vision for the business.  As the markets got cold and rainy, and dark, I decided to seek a personal retreat and take a month off to visit Costa Rica and Peru, and do some centering, reflection, and body work!  I also realized that in order to keep growing, I need to take care of myself first!  I rediscovered the value of my Yoga and Meditation practice, and began to formulate a new vision for Rainbow Cloud, and for my own personal growth.  What was next?  How could we better serve the public, serve a broader audience, maintain our excellence, and do so in a way that nourishes my soul and the team it takes to do this?

I came back from my journey with a rekindled fire and clarity in purpose of what we are doing at Rainbow Cloud, and why we are doing it!  We are doing our part to change the world!  Yes, we are a small, "home-grown" business working within our means, but I believe big changes ultimately stem from little changes.  If our product has brought you any value in health, well being, or even simple enjoyment, then we are fulfilling our goal to make the world a better place.  We are growing together, and in making a choice to nourish yourself (and myself :), we are shifting to a greater place of wholeness and personal power.  I believe that Rainbow Cloud Kombucha will grow to a place where it will be able to serve our community and the world in other ways too, by creating an abundance which can be charitably shared!

And so, our focus for 2014 is... KEGS!  We are kegging our kombucha now!  It will soon be available at restaurants, music venues, yoga studios, private parties and events, and on tap in stores as well!  We believe this will help shape the choices available for nutritious beverages at places where there way only be pop or soda (or sugary fruit juice).  If you would like to see Rainbow Cloud Kombucha on tap at any of your favorite restaurants, bars, or stores, let them know!  We are looking at expanding our production to help serve a broader audience as well!  It is an exciting, transformative, and yes, challenging time for me and the business.  I am happily prepared to rise to the occasion :)

Thank you all who have supported Rainbow Cloud Kombucha, and me, and our vision of creating a better, more nourished world.  I believe that in order to change the world, we have to first change ourselves, to overcome our own challenges, and to grow and open like the rose blossom!  And it all starts with nutrition, and how we feel on the inside!  I will look forward to seeing all of our friends and customers at the Proctor Farmer's Market again this year, beginning March 31.  We love being a part of the local economy and serving aside all of our local farmers and craftsmen.  Love, and many blessings!!!

In Gratitude,

Matthew G. Eklund

Rainbow Cloud Kombucha

BE HERE NOW

 
Hello friends of the Rainbow Cloud!  I have been on quite a journey since I last made a post!  At the end of March I returned home from 6 weeks traveling in India, from the Himalayan valleys all the way to the Bay of Bengal, and many places in between.  We visited temples and holy sites, met saints and sadhus, seekers and searchers of this thing called enlightenment.  I also met human beings, of all walks, with different philosophies and practices, views and paths.  I ate chappati and drank chai tea cooked over the fire in plastic shacks with monks who slept on the ground, under the stars amidst the jungle where tigers and monkeys roam, and even a wild elephant that walks by every night to drink water out of the sacred Ganges river.

India is a psychedelic trip- no drugs necessary.  It is the highest of the high masked within the lowest of the low.  The poverty and overall standards of living are eye opening to someone used to having garbage cans, toilet seats, drinkable tap water and a relatively "rich" material well being. That's right, we in America are RICH, materially speaking.  The cows roam the streets and eat garbage and scraps, while over a billion people nudge elbows on the tight streets, filthy train stations, and dusty roads.  Yet what this country lacks in material abundance it makes up for in spiritual wealth.  India is the guru of the World- the birthplace of Sanataan Dharma, Hinduism, Buddism, Yoga, high insights and Advaita- the underlying reality of oneness, masked in this dualistic realm of vibrating opposites.

There are many "paths" to Self-Realization.  Many gurus, many teachings, and many pitfalls.  It is quite easy to be overwhelmed by which "path" to take, who's teachings to follow, and which way to go about finding the answers to these fundamental questions: "Who am I?"  "Why are we here?"  "Is there a God?"  "What is the Purpose?"  I am not a guru, and yet I am in many ways a teacher.  We are all teachers.  I can only speak from my own experience and can not profess to know THE way.  Perhaps all ways are valid.  However, I can tell you, that what you seek is right inside of you.  It is HERE and NOW.  Go inside of yourself to seek the truth of Reality.  And the Reality is, life is what you make it.  The powers of all creation lie within yourself.  The entire universe lies within your fingertips, and you are made of the same stuff as the Stars, the Earth, and the Space in between.  The inner Self is the ultimate guide.  You don't "have" the knowledge. You Are the Knowledge. All is One.

Regardless of whether you subscribe to an organized religion, meditation or other spiritual practice, it is helpful to find ways to come back to the HERE and NOW, where the soul resides and the magic happens.  Any way that gets you HERE is the Way for you.  All you have to Realize is you ARE ALREADY HERE, there is nothing to "attain," nowhere to get to. NowHere to get to.   This world is pathological.  The consciousness of Humanity is dis-eased, anxiety ridden, and out of harmony with Reality.  We have divided up "time" and "space" into this month, this hour, this fiscal quarter.  We consume stimulants to keep up with our fast cars, busy jobs, and facebook and newsweek and cable TV.  A busy mind is the result.  A distracted mind takes us away from Here and Now.

I recommend finding any practice that helps you remember that life is beautiful, that this moment is sacred, that this life is a GIFT, in all of it's happiness and sadness and beauty and ugliness.  And perhaps there is nothing to truly be afraid of.  We are in Transit, from one plane to the next.  Associate with people who uplift your spirits and nourish your soul.  Become the guru, and realize that EVERYONE has SOMETHING to teach.  Spend time in nature, and have gratitude for this experience, because it will all pass.  IT WILL ALL PASS.

I am truly grateful for all I have been given to experience in this lifetime.  Even the hard moments, even my sorrows, heartbreaks, moments of truth and divine realization.  It's time we all take a good hard look at ourselves in the mirror and accept who we are Here and Now.  From accepting the Present Moment, we can create any Reality we choose, moment by moment.  In doing so, we will create a better world for everyone and everything.

The Dalai Lama says:

“The planet does not need more ‘successful’ people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane and these qualities have little to do with ‘success’ as our culture is the set."

Love, Light and Blessings!  YOU are the GURU!

-Matthew G. Eklund

Rainbow Cloud Kombucha

Recent Realizations on Kombucha, Health, and Harmony

I had a vision last June on the summer solstice (our first day at the farmer's market) that we as humanity had just begun the process of remembering about the importance of diet and health on the micro level- probiotics and enzymes. In the past we had known this information and were much healthier than most are today! Really health begins on the atomic level- on the level of vibration. As we know, vibration is sound and sound can either be in harmony or disharmony. Our physical forms are literally a dense vibration of atoms and molecules!

 We can look at good health- mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual- as a state of harmonic balance within the vibration of our being. When we fall of out harmony, again, either mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, we begin to vibrate on a disharmonic frequency, and this causes trouble! Trouble for our beings, and trouble for others, as we broadcast our disharmonic frequencies outward to the world. We can totally pick up on the "vibes" of someone who is healthy and happy, just as we can pick up on the vibes of someone who is stressed and "dis-eased." And we can break down the word disease as dis-ease, or out of ease, out of harmony. Stress is a disease in every sense of the term. 

I know in my being that we as humanity are entering a phase of reharmonization. With our inner selves, with our environment, and with each other. For any change to happen, there is going to be a period of disorganization before things finally settle back into harmonic balance. That said, the consciousness on earth is changing, very quickly!

Bringing this back to relevance of how kombucha plays into all this- there is now becoming popular a raw, fermented beverage that contains these probiotics and enzymes that help re-harmonize the body on a microbe-level. Kombucha breweries are popping up left and right in America! We all seem to have this emphasis on promoting regeneration, revitalization, health, and purifying our beings. The Intention is focused on raising the harmonic vibration, with an emphasis on health and quality. This is far different from our classical soda beverage industries! I just saw this kombucha company in Portland called SOMA, and they make theirs with mantra, or a prayer or phrase repeated over and over to infuse the vibratory frequency of that intention into the kombucha itself! And then the customer is not only consuming a healthy beverage but one what has been blessed with the specific intention of raising that person's consciousness! How amazing!

Our own brew is infused with the vibrations of ancient Tibetan singing bowls, played up on the property in the Skokomish Valley where we make our brew. These bowls are hundreds of years old and come from temples and monasteries in Nepal, Tibet, and India, and resonate sacred vibrations when played. Also, our labels on our bottles are intended to infuse the kombucha with a vibration of harmony, unity, and love. If you have a bottle, take a moment to read the inscriptions on the side, and at the end take a moment of silence and examine how it makes you feel. We hope it brings some light and ease into your day! The symbol we have used to represent Rainbow Cloud is a sacred geometric pattern that is found in ancient cultures across the globe. Within the matrix of the thirteen circles contains the 5 platonic solids, or the building blocks of material reality. 

It's not to say that kombucha with these extra things is better than somebody's who doesn't have Tibetan bowls or chants with a mantra over their brew, or places Quartz crystals around their brewing devices, though it is beautiful that people are putting that kinds of intention into their processes. In my opinion, anybody who is making kombucha is doing a service to society, especially the biggest company in the world, Dave's G.T. Synergy. Dave's G.T. has introduced by far the most people to kombucha, including myself, and sells incredible amounts of kombucha nationwide!

 
I don't look at these other companies as "competition," rather as co-creators of an environment to facilitate the changes within ourselves to resonate at a more healthily, happy, harmonic state of being! Finally the quality of things, and their consequence of consumption are more important than making something that tastes good but is unhealthy! The more kombucha, kefir, soma, herbucha, Jun (another live culture fermented beverage), and healthy local organic food is in the public presence, the more people will turn to these healthy alternatives and the more harmony they will see within themselves and as a result in the world outside themselves. It's all one!

PS: Yoga is great too, and the recent burst of popularity of yoga fits right in with the current time of ascending to greater states of harmony! Aum shanti!

-Matthew G. Eklund
Rainbow Cloud Kombucha

Rainbow Cloud Travels and Adventures

Hello everyone!  Happy New Year!  It has been a fun and exciting December!  I took the month off to do some traveling of the outer and inner realms.  My journey took me first to Todos Santos, Baja California, Mexico to the Yandara Yoga Institute.  I enrolled in a 16 day 200 hour yoga teacher training course there, living in a tent and studying yoga for 15 hours a day on white sandy beaches with palm trees, crystal blue water, and huge whales!  I have been a student of yoga for a little over 2 and a half years, and it has changed my life!  In 2010 I healed my severely contorted spinal cord within a few months of daily practice and have since not only straightened out my spine, but have developed a new way of looking at life through a more relaxed and limber mind.

At first I was curious as to how the school would compare to my previous yoga studies.  In January of 2012 I began studying Raja Yoga (see "transcendental meditation")  with Ananda Sangha in Seattle, WA, and over 11 months developed a daily routine of meditation, pranayama (breath/energy control) techniques, plus the authentic, meaty yogic philosophies of India.  In November 2012 I received initiation into Kriya yoga, a powerful breath technique brought to the West by the Indian guru Paramahansa Yogananda.  Needless to say, my standards for the "spiritual yoga" were set high.  With so many contemporary yoga schools emphasizing mere postures and calisthenics, and skipping the "real" stuff, it was something of a gamble to choose a school just because it happened to be in the same city I was visiting a friend in Mexico!

Yandara is "all that" and more!  I couldn't have asked for a more comprehensive yoga school.  We read the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali, covered the 8 fold Ashtanga Path (raja yoga), and sang Indian kirtan chants every night with the school band, Jaya!  I have left yandara with more than the knowledge necessary to teach yoga confidently, with emphasis on adjusting and alignments, as well as many lifelong friends.  I am currently teaching private lessons in Tacoma, and would love to give you a lesson!  I have incorporated my didgeridoo playing into the end of yoga routines to give people relaxing and vibrationally revitalizing sound massages as well!  Think of the feeling when you are in close contact to a huge bass subwoofer, and then concentrated and condensed into a tube!  Something you would have to experience to truly be able to grasp!

 I am in love with teaching yoga to people, as even one hour can significantly reduce stress, and teaching people how to breath deeply and diaphragmatic is important in this age of traffic, bills, appointments and expectations!  If you would like a private lesson, email me at matek03@aol.com or feel free to call 253-732-8166 (Rainbow Cloud Kombucha.)

Upon graduation from Yandara, I found myself in the jungles of Southern Mexico, near the famous Mayan ruins of Palenque.  Just outside of the city in the jungle gathered a few thousand people from all around the world in celebration of the end of the Mayan Calender, the December 21, 2012 solstice and the beginning of the New Age of Peace!  The 2012 World Rainbow Gathering was one of the most inspiring and enchanting peaceful gatherings of people celebrating these galactic changes with community food, music, drum circles, swimming in the waterfalls and pools of the meandering jungle rivers, and Mayan shaman and elders performing their ceremonies in the public view!  I was able myself to participate in 2 ceremonies with some Mayan elders and many other people from all around the world!  I taught yoga to groups of people in the mornings around the main circle, and sang and danced all night the names of Shiva, Ganesha, and Krishna.  Thousands of us formed circles and chanted AUM with intentions of healing the planet and the hearts of humanity!  It was truly a transformational experience!

I flew home to be with my family on Christmas eve, and marked the end of an enormous and inspiring journey!  I took the last week of 2012 to sit back, reflect, and jot down as much of my experiences as possible in my journal!  I feel rested and recharged, and ready to man the helm at Rainbow Cloud Kombucha once more.  Though I cannot get too comfortable with the business world just yet!

In February I will take hiatus again one more time for a 6 week yoga pilgrimage all across India with Ananda Sangha.  We will be meditating our way around the places where the great guru Paramahansa Yogananda and his teachers lived and served God.  I am sure there will be great adventures awaiting in the East!  I return March 22nd, and will be ready for another season at the Downtown Tacoma Farmer's Market, and hopefully the Proctor district farmer's market!  During the time I will be gone Rainbow Cloud Kombucha will be available at the Tacoma Food Co Op, and maybe a couple more stores, stay tuned!

The people of India greet each other by the word NAMASTE, meaning "The light in me, sees and recognizes the light in you."  Namaste, friends!

-Matthew G. Eklund.

Rainbow Cloud Kombucha Promo by Just 2 Guys Creative!

I am happy to release the Rainbow Cloud Kombucha promo video, shot on location in the Skokomish valley by Just 2 Guys Creative!  The video was an awesome co creation of ideas with great filmwork!  big thanks to Will and Gabriel for helping this all come together!  Enjoy!

The Rainbow Cloud Summer 2012, Updates, News, and Other Good Stuff

Hey guys!  Matthew here from Rainbow Cloud Kombucha, just getting a breath of air admist the rapid, energetic summer!  This summer has been amazing at the Downtown Tacoma Farmer's Market, and it has been a blast getting to know all the frequent visitors to the Rainbow Cloud Booth!

Tommorow I am getting ready to fill 3 more barrels up with tea for a near doubling in production, from 100 gallons a month to roughly 180 a month!  So hopefully we won't be "sold out" anymore at any of the farmer's markets or at the Tacoma Food Co op!  I have plans to expand to the Olympia co ops both East and West in the middle of September, as well as setting up a booth at the Proctor market on Saturdays, 10-2pm, until I leave for Mexico en route to the Mayan ruins of Palenque, returning Christmas eve.

It has been fun and inspiring watching this whole adventure unfold from the driver's seat.  I've lugged hundreds of pounds of cane juice sacks, washed bottles for hours, put on hundreds of label stickers, caps and shrink wraps, and mixed hundred of gallons of tea as late into the night as 5am.  (or morning!).  I've carried boxes and boxes of kombucha, set up tables and tents, and a big rainbow barrel.  In addition to the kombucha project, I've managed to photograph a total 3 weddings this summer for favors for close friends and family.  Talk about busy!  I don't know if it's this whole 2012 thing but this summer is flying light speed into fall and it has been stimulating to say the least!

Through the madness I've managed to hang on to the last threads of my meditation and yoga practice, and many times falling back into the practice as a means to stay grounded and centered with so many tasks and happenings!  It is definitely easier to meditate in the winter!  But what do I know?  I am a newbie into the realms of sitting in the stillness.  I have heard that as long as we are trying we are succeeding, even if the "monkey mind" is running laps and writing things to do lists in your head while you try to focus on the breath.  Still, over the last 8 months since I have began meditating, I have noticed subtle differences in my day to day attitude, and especially a new ability to not react to upsetting situations or when things don't exactly go as planned.  Acceptance of what is.  For this I give thanks, and I can say potently that yoga has changed my life!

Yesterday I had the awesome opportunity to co-create a promo film with Just 2 Guys Creative.  Will and Gabe are awesome filmakers/photographers who graduated from the Tacoma School of the Arts some time ago, and now travel the world making awesome films and photographs.  They just recently arrived in Washington from a 9-week trip to Thailand.  We set up a shrine of sacred objects, crystals, buddhas, candles and incense, pictures of gurus and a couple Rainbow Cloud bottles amidst the Japanese Maples on site at Olympic Mountain Ice Cream/Rainbow Cloud Kombucha Headquarters.  It was an amazing experience to watch Will and Gabe do their thing, they are true perfectionists!  These photos were all taken during yesterdays event!

I have pretty much been going with the wind on producing flavors.  Last week I made a passionfruit flavor, which I love and many at the market did as well!  I have made the blackberry jasmine, guava, rhubarb, pomegranate and the always delicious ginger!  I may try a Peach flavor out next!  The Blacks have been buying huge flats of organic Peaches for their ice cream!  I think it would delicious! 

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in my endeavors, I am at your service and wish to serve you the best, so you may strengthen yourself from the inside out and shine like the sun and the moon!  Namaste!

How the Rainbow Cloud Began

I began brewing kombucha sometime last summer after I had returned from the National Rainbow Gathering in southern WA.  The gathering was a manifestation of high consciousness, a coming together of people of all walks of life, all religions, representing the full gamut of Rainbow Light.  It culminated on July 4th, where a morning of silence ensued, followed by the mass of people together in the mystical Gifford Pincheot forest, holding hands (all 25-30,000 of us) and sounding AUM for world peace!

I left the gathering inspired, and spiritually charged.  Everywhere I looked was divinity; reflections of Rainbow Light danced off of the morning dews, and within my hair up close to my eyes, and in the setting sun.  During this time, I had a thought, "I'd like to start brewing kombucha..."  A few days later, a friend called me out of the blue, and said he was moving to Alaska and had two SCOBY kombucha mothers, and wanted to know if I would take care of them for him!  Shortly there after, I had two mothers sitting in gallon pickle jars, brewing away!

Synchronicities like this one have been happening with increasing frequency over the last two years of my life, since I had a series of special experiences in the summer of 2010 which led me to the realization that All is One, and that we are all reflections of the Infinite Ocean of Consciousness.  Call it Spirit, the Infinite, the Universe, or God.  In reality, it is beyond our definitions and comprehension.  I began to observe myself and my life, and all the things I was doing as if I was not the person doing them!  I played improvisational music and realized I was tapping into something much greater than myself.  As this all happened, I felt as if I was being guided in a radically different direction than years previous, and everything just began to happen automatically!  How awesome is that, to realize there is a guiding energy behind your life and you can just sit back and watch it all unfold!

From the two SCOBY mothers I began to divide them and increase my batches.  I brewed in a glass fish bowl, and a huge glass vase I got from the local thrift store.  I would drive a half hour to gather water from the artesian well in Olympia.  Soon I had 11 mothers!  I moved my jars and operation to my friend's house out in Union, WA, on the South shore of Hood Canal.  The water was much cleaner out there than in Tacoma, which made things much easier!  By this time I began to bottle it in half gallon growlers, and shared it with friends and family.  Everybody loved it!  I would go gather wild blackberries and evergreen huckleberries to infuse into the tea, and I even used some rhubarb from my garden.  It was all excellent!  It seemed that no matter how much I could produce I would sell out in a day or two!  I didn't even have enough for myself!

Things were going great when suddenly my friend ran into a circumstance which I was no longer able brew at his house!  I wasn't sure what I was going to do!  All I knew was that I was producing a healthy beverage that was benefiting my friends and family!  I put in an SOS to my friends and community network on facebook, hoping for a space in either another friend's house or optimally a commercial kitchen space!  About a week passed in contemplation, it was all up in the air!  I remember one day I was sitting on the couch, pondering, thinking, and sitting deeply when my phone rang.  It was Trail Black, a special friend of mine.  He said that he saw my post and wondered if his parents would let me brew my kombucha at their family business, Olympic Mountain Ice Cream.  I instantly had a good feeling about it!  He said he would talk to them and let me know!  That night I had a lucid dream that I was at the Creamery (which I had not yet been to before), helping make all these things, and happy as could be!

The next morning he gave me a call, and said that they would love to have me up there!  I was simply amazed!  What a blessing!  I gathered all of my SCOBYS and headed up to the Skokomish Valley, just west of Hood Canal.  It is interesting to note that it was in this valley a year prior that I had my Spiritual Awakening- It was also interestingly enough at a music gathering organized by Trail Black and his band, High Ceiling.  While that could be a novel of it's own, I will just say that it involved a weekend amidst the Olympic old growth forest, hippies, music, a conscious community, vibrations of peace and love, and an amazing display of the Perseus Meteor Shower against the backdrop of the glimmering Milky Way, far out from civilization.

It was at this time that I discovered something extraordinary.  I read about a kombucha brewer in Minnesota who was brewing kombucha in oak barrels!  I got an intuitive feeling that I could produce an incredible blend in an oak medium!  Within little time, I had my 15 gallon American oak barrel.  I customized the barrel just as the brewer had, having a nice woodsmith on Steamboat Island, Dave Meyers, cut a hole on the top and a hole in the side for a spigot.  To this day, Dave has customized 4 of my barrels and has refused even a single penny as payment!  And he sells amazing chicken eggs, too!  It turned out the oak was simply divine!  It almost has a different textural quality to it, and added earthy tones of vanilla in addition to the hints of jasmine and green tea.

I continued to grow my cultures at the creamery through the beginning of 2012.  I became great friends with Karl, Bev, and the rest of the ice cream Olympians!  They are genuinely good conscious people, and do everything with intentions of love and kindness!  It is truly inspiring!  Not only that, but there is a sacred vibration emanating from their particular nook in the Olympic Mountains.  Karl introduced me to my guru, Paramhansa Yogananda.  Upon reading his book, Autobiography of a Yogi, I knew immediately that I would take up meditation and begin my training for Kriya yoga, the special yogic technique for Self Realization expounded by his lineage of gurus.  I am currently studying meditation and yoga at Ananda Seattle, a beautiful intentional community of yogis who live together just north in Lynnwood, and will recieve Kriya initiation on 11/10 this year!  My life has begun to change very quickly with adopting these new practices!

Rainbow Cloud is the nickname of a 5 year old girl named Elizabeth.  She lives in the Skokomish valley and spends her days making potions and elixirs.  Her mom Brittany is an organic farmer, crystal distributor extraordinaire,astrologer, and a dear friend. Elizabeth gladly let me use her name for my own kombucha elixirs, and I am very thankful!  It was all meant to be!  Maybe someday she will have a say in the final ingredients! 

Following many other licenses, inspections, and fees, I finally became certified by the USDA in April 4 of this year, 2012.  Since then I have picked up 3 retail locations at small health food stores in Mason County, and have set up stands at various music festivals and farmer's markets in Washington, most recently the Tacoma Farmer's Markets at Broadway, and 6th Avenue.  It feels great to give something back to my home city that is good for people's health, and markets are incredible fun!  They are an ancient human tradition, and I believe buying local and bartering/trading at farmer's markets will be the way of the future!

Come check out the Rainbow Cloud Kombucha booth Thursdays at the Downtown Tacoma market on Broadway, and Tuesdays at the farmer's market on 6th ave.  My oak barreled kombucha is characterized by a light, crispness and an overall milder fermentation than your average booch!  It packs a positive vibration!  The ginger is definitely the crowd favorite so far, and mine as well!  Stay tuned for more posts, I believe next will be an explanation of the significance of my labeling, the sacred geometry and vibrational blessing!  AUM, peace, and Namaste!

-Matthew G. Eklund