When Koo Miyake moved from Japan to the United States for college, he brought with him a deep-seated cultural appreciation for craftsmanship and attention to detail—something he thinks is falling to the wayside in American-made products.
“You see a lot of drinks, something on Instagram, you don’t even know who owns it or where it’s coming from,” he explains. “It’s just another capitalism product.”
So, he decided to do something about it.
Next month, Miyake will open his first beverage line in Miramar, in the former Kové tasting room. Dubbed Koobrew, he’ll offer a core series of functional spritzers made with fermented teas, wine yeasts, and different botanicals, plus a few classic European-style beers like pilsners and witbiers. By tying together Japanese attention to detail and California’s spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation, Miyake hopes to help resurrect that sense of craftsmanship that once earned San Diego the title “The Capital of Craft.”
He has the experience to do it, too—Miyake has made hard kombucha at Boochcraft, distilled spirits at Cutwater Spirits, and was head of product and a partner at Kové until it closed earlier this year. He’s also a prodigious homebrewer and former beertender at Mikkeller in Tokyo, and he plans to use all of his beverage-making skills at Koobrew. For the soft opening this October, he’ll have around six different beverage options on draft before expanding to packaged bottles and kegs of around four different beers and around 10 “better for you” beverages. He’ll (eventually) need some help, but for now, Miyake says he wants to keep it a solo show to ensure everything is to his standards.
“I want to be grounded, put my soul and energy into what I’m making—because after I produce my product, it will be released from me,” he explains. “But until everything comes together, I want to try to make everything by myself so I understand everything, and then [I can] feel like I actually own the product and the space and the philosophy behind it.”
Koobrew opens at 9030 Kenamar Drive, Suite #309 this October. Follow @koobrew.co for more updates.
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San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
- Jay Bhavani Vadapav has nearly 200 locations across India, Canada, Australia, and the United States—and San Diego is about to get its first one. The Indian street food sensation will open by the end of September at 9506 Miramar Road with a range of dishes like vadapav (deep-fried potato patties in a bun topped with different spices and toppings), dabeli (a sweet and spicy potato mixture topped with different chutneys), maskabuns (a pillowy, buttery bun often eaten for breakfast or a snack), and more South Indian favorites like dosa, uttapam, and more. All signs point to yum.
- When Cafe 21 closed in Normal Heights this April, the news was met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth. But locals can now get their food fix on once more at The Hangout, serving brunch all week (short rib omelettes, Dutch pancakes, corncakes and crumpets, overnight oats and healthy stuff, bloodys), and dinner on weekends (wings and steak plates, salmon plates, mezze platter, burger, etc.). Welcome to the ‘hood!
- Farming isn’t getting any easier (and land isn’t becoming less expensive). Those of us who live in cities should be looking to urban farming for tips on how to grow where we live, and Seeds@City Farm can help us do just that. The educational program helps train the next generation of food thought leaders, and you don’t have to be a student to benefit from their programs—you can volunteer, check out their farmstand every Wednesday at San Diego City College, or keep an eye on their schedule for different talks and other events.
- Late summer brings one of the most exciting times in craft beer—wet hop season. You can get your fill of the hop-drenched brews at Nickel Beer Company in Julian, which currently has three wet hop beers on draft with two more on the way. (Be warned: these beers are for serious hop-heads only.)
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