As for controlling every variable, Urbanski goes on to mention how he’s intrigued to go off on foraging trips with the Wild Foodies of Philly, a meetup group he recently heard of via the people at Down Dog Healing Café in South Philly. His eyes light up at the idea of returning to Philly with giant carboids full of spring water pulled up through sediment rich layers from underground aquifers to be used for cold brewing. I’m not surprised then, when he ties their all-inclusive approach to the Zen tea pouring ceremony and natural healing practices.

Koliyan’s jackfruit and longan fruit cocktail with agar & palm seed & coconut creme.

And admitting that they can’t get everyone to drink black coffee, they mention the changing rotation of simple syrups they’ll have on hand on their treks about the city. In addition to vanilla, they’ll also start out with honey lavender, with the syrups meant to play off of the inherent flavors of the coffee.

For the summer and beyond, Peddler plans to keep to the streets, pop-ups, and the Sunday market at Everybody Hits. They hope to have a spot for a roaster nailed down by the fall. In about one to two year’s time, they plan on joining forces with friend Chris Young for a bike shop/coffee shop with a gallery feel in Philly. In the meantime, Young, and a business partner he met at Ursinus, will open Pursuit Bicycles in Albany, CA, which, after building a following via EBay sales, will focus on selling refurbished and brand new Bianci bicycles, along with other brands.

Meanwhile, Jessa Steven’s of Inspired Brew is planning a tasting pop-up with the folks at Koliyan. Stevens moved to Philly in April of last year from Dallas. Like Kessler, she made the transition from something I’d like to do to definite goal about nearly a year ago. That’s when her and her business partner, Jennifer Snow, who still lives in Dallas, began working on recipes together while being over 1,600 miles apart. While Snow, a lawyer, is well placed to handle any contracts, Stevens, a graphic designer, has been shaping the look of the company. Since December, things for her and Snow,  who is simultaneously building the Dallas wing of Inspired Brew, have accelerated quickly. After meeting Anna and Tim Hitchens back in September, she says she continues to meet helpful people at a maddening pace.

“In the short time I’ve been in the food community everyone’s been really welcoming and helpful, immediately sharing contacts and cross-promoting what we’re building,” she says.

And it’s helped.

In January, her small batch Kombucha started showing up at Ryan Crowns Juice Club (1425 Arch), whose kitchen space she has been using. Last week, she got into Burlap and Bean Coffee in Newtown Square. With a lot of interest and little competition for local, small batch kombucha,  she’s optimistic about getting into more local shops as she looks for a bigger kitchen to work out of.

At the market event, I tried a green kombucha that, via the ingredients and the effects of the fermentation, tasted like an apple cider with a pleasant vinegar edge on the backend. She says its that combo that will make her drinks a perfect pairing with Koliyan’s desserts whose clean, wholesome flavors come about via infusion (coconut steeped sticky rice) or a deft use of natural fruits along with syrups or sauces derived from those very same fruits (ginger coconut sauce enlivens a longan and jackfruit cocktail; the sticky rice is studded with jackfruit and plantain; fresh waffles were coated with mango syrup that enjambed well with a coconut cream sauce).

Koliyan’s coconut waffle with mango syrup and coconut cream.

So, in addition to flavors like strawberries and cream, cherry and rosewater, and coconut elderberry, she’s messing around with recipes for durian, coconut, and jackfruit—ingredients frequently employed by Koliyan. The idea for their still-in-the-works pop-up is to have the kombucha both bring out the subtle sweetness of Koliyan’s desserts while also contrasting them.

As for Koliyan, the Hitchens continue on their hunt for a storefront, while being on the cusp of landing a major account, they say. The easiest way to try their desserts for now, is to hit them up at the April edition of The Franklin Flea.

And the easiest way to do your part in making Philly’s ultra-supportive food scene even better is to get out to the next market day at Everybody Hits Philadelphia on Sunday, March 30th.