The Story Behind STHORN: Karan Singh Tomar’s Journey To Creating A Sparkling Superfruit Drink

For Karan Singh Tomar, STHORN began with curiosity.

The idea was to create a drink that was not just refreshing and enjoyable, but also brought together the goodness of natural ingredients in a format that people would actually want to make part of their everyday lives.

What followed was not a quick product launch, but years of experimentation, research and refinement.

It Started With Amla

Karan's early exploration began with Amla and its naturally high Vitamin C content.

He wanted to understand how the benefits of ingredients such as amla could be brought into a fun, refreshing beverage. Lemon was another natural source of Vitamin C that came into consideration, but the team wanted to explore beyond the conventional choices and find ingredients that could offer something distinctive.

The objective was clear: create a beverage that was enjoyable to drink while retaining the active components naturally present in its ingredients.

This meant experimenting with different formulations, infusions and flavour combinations. There were countless iterations, and the process took years.

The team wasn't looking to simply add artificial ingredients to make the drink taste better. They wanted to explore how the natural character of the ingredients themselves could become the foundation of the beverage.

Discovering Sea Buckthorn

The journey took a significant turn around 2022–23, when Sea Buckthorn entered the formulation.

A Himalayan superfruit, Sea Buckthorn immediately caught Karan's attention. Its vibrant natural colour gave the drink a distinctive visual identity, while its nutritional profile made it an exciting ingredient to build around.

The idea began evolving into something much bigger: a sparkling superfruit drink that could bring together taste, refreshment and wellness in one can.

Sea Buckthorn became the hero ingredient, complemented by Amla and Lemon.

But there was still one major challenge, taste.

Years of Experimentation

Creating a beverage around functional ingredients is one thing. Creating one that people genuinely enjoy drinking is another.

As more co-founders joined Karan and a new advisory team came together, the product development process became increasingly focused on getting that balance right.

The team experimented with infusions, flavour profiles and formulations, continuously refining the drink.

The question remained the same throughout the process:

How do you create something that feels indulgent and fun, while still being rooted in wellness?

By 2025, the team had finally cracked the taste profile they were looking for.

That milestone allowed them to shift their focus from simply developing the product to building STHORN as a modern wellness beverage—one that could offer refreshment and clean energy without positioning itself as a conventional energy drink.

From an Idea to STHORN

The result was STHORN: a sparkling superfruit drink powered by Sea Buckthorn, with Amla and Lemon forming part of its distinctive formulation.

The beverage brings together the vibrant character of the Himalayan superfruit with a refreshing sparkling format, making wellness feel less clinical and more enjoyable.

For Karan, this was always about creating something people would want to drink—not something they would consume simply because it was considered healthy.

And that philosophy is reflected in the product itself.

STHORN is designed around the idea that wellness can be exciting, flavourful and part of everyday life.

Why Pune?

Pune became the natural starting point for STHORN's launch.

The city has a growing community of young professionals, fitness enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and consumers who are increasingly conscious of what they consume. At the same time, Pune has a strong culture of discovering new food and beverage experiences.

For a new sparkling superfruit beverage, it offered the right environment to introduce a completely different proposition and build a community around it.

The team wanted STHORN's first chapter to begin in a city where consumers were open to experimentation and looking for better choices without compromising on taste.

And so, after years of research, experimentation and formulation, STHORN made its way to Pune.

A Sparkling Beginning

What started with Karan's exploration of Amla and Vitamin C eventually became a years-long journey of discovering ingredients, testing formulations, building a team and perfecting taste.

The discovery of Sea Buckthorn in 2022–23 gave the drink its identity.

The work that followed transformed it into what STHORN is today, a sparkling superfruit drink created to bring together refreshment, natural goodness and clean energy.

For Karan Singh Tomar, STHORN is more than a beverage.

It is the result of years spent asking a simple question:

Can something that is good for you also be something you genuinely look forward to drinking?

With STHORN, the answer is meant to be a resounding yes.