Podcasts about SCOBY

Welcome to another wild and wacky instlalment of Mondays With Macron. This week it's all about the petty complaints! Ron gets called a scammer by one man who then proceeds to tell his life story, one lady dedicates a hell of a lot of her time and energy into getting some free credit from a discount makeup retailer, one man is not happy about his slightly late package, Bob causes mayhem in The Manhole, Scoby gets himself a fancy new 3D printer to make certain things with, one man is very happy to wait forever for his sunglasses lenses and we have a long discussion with a man who's life has been totally ruined by a lack of BBQ sauce. Oh and we invited ourselves into a few more meetings too where we are still differently welcomed. Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Grandiosos is a Spanish and Italian adjective (masculine plural) meaning magnificent, grand, majestic, impressive, or imposing. It describes something of great splendor, scale, or, in some contexts, something that is overly elaborate or pompous. It also functions as a musical direction indicating a broad, noble style. And that perfectly describes tonight's show. This week we meet a very angry couple who got their car crashed into by a delivery driver, a lady who really does not like sodomites at the store, a lady who was having trouble with online dating, a lady who got real mad about her cheap dress, a deadbeat who didn't order his wife flowers in time for Valentine's Day, a man who didn't understand why he couldn't have free upgrades on his flights, a man who got charged twice for flowers and Scoby creates another epic situation, all of some strawberries. And much more too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

World Ferment Day took place on February 1st this year. Billed as a global celebration that turns theory into practice, people were invited to taste a ferment, make a ferment, share a ferment or host a ferment event. Organizer Jo Webster was supported by The Fermentation School, Wildbrine, and The Fermentation School en español. Goodfellows Restaurant in Jo’s home town of Wells, Somerset, hosted two 15-person sold-out sittings of a ‘Cultured Lunch’ by chef Adam Fellows. Jo and her friend Caroline Gilmartin helped prepare the dishes. The Cultured Lunch constituted two back to back sell-out sittings in Adam's delightful restaurant. The aim was to showcase how ferments meld deliciously as part of tasty meals, bringing complexity and diversity to the table. Whether it was in the form of my fermentceutical crackers, loaded with labneh and Jerusalem artichoke ferment, or the Fennel Blush ferment and Cultjar‘s Cooks Kowl sauerkraut tucked under the duo of organic salmon, the results were extremely popular. My Rosemary sourdough went down a storm and so did Caroline's mango kefir ice cream, with Fermenti's enlivening fermented fruit bites to augment it. Caroline showed attendees how to make milk kefir and explained how those first milk kefir grains were snaffled out of the Caucasus region by subterfuge for the benefit of so many nations thereafter. I waxed lyrical about my beloved vegetable ferments and forgot to roll the sleeves of my white shirt up before grating the beetroot. People went home inspired, excited and satiated. My favourite feedback was from a gentleman who candidly said that his wife had twisted his arm to get him to attend with her. “I thought it was going to be shit”, he said. I assumed World Ferment Day was just aimed at making money rather than genuinely aiming to make lives better by encouraging more people to eat and drink more ferments. In fact, this has been an inspiring afternoon and I am so glad that I came”. Challenges Jo acknowledges that fermented foods and drinks are still a niche. This is part of the challenge. While there’s more producers coming into the market, I still think it’s a pretty hard market to be in. For many, it has been a pretty lonely and isolating market to be in for quite a long time for quite a few people. And that is gradually changing for sure. And there’s definitely more players coming into the market. Some are ramping up production and it seems like something is shifting. Statistics 17 countries 70+ events 400 people signed up to the ferment pledge 5000+ people viewing the global map 786 Instagram followers This marked a sizable increase from the first World Ferment Day where there were only 10 events. There was very little planning for 2025. I thought of the idea at the beginning of January and we held it at the beginning of February. It was very low key. This time we’ve had a year, but various things have happened to distract me. We had a good three month run up, but this time we’re going to have a full year run up. Global Response Tomorrow, some of us will step into a communal kitchen for a cooking session guided by Food Citizen's regular volunteer and partner, Deepa. Among other foods, we'll be making idli — a fermented dish common in many South Indian homes and available in Singapore at stalls and restaurants. Food Citizen, Singapore I created this ebook to celebrate World Ferment Day. Fermentation is an art, a way to connect with our ancestry and, at the same time, a contemporary path to create new possibilities in the kitchen. Inside this ebook, you will find 5 very special recipes, carefully tested and developed by me over the years. Nomad Food Lab, São Bernardino, Portugal Celebrating World Fermentation Day by making my granny's favourite ferment: sauerkraut. My love of preserving stems from my granny, Ima Mae (in the photo, which lives in my kitchen) who always had homemade pickles (including kraut) on the table, all made with veg grown by my granddad. Rachel de Thample, London, England It's @world.ferment.day!!! What are you doing to celebrate?! Today we're going be doing a lot of fermentation processing and feeding a lot of cultures before we head to India this week on a fermentation journey with @rtb_kombucha. Contraband Ferments, Atlanta, USA World Ferment Day exists to honor one of the oldest human food practices — preservation through time, not technology. Fermentation isn't fast. It isn't flashy. It's salt, patience, attention, and trust. That's why it felt right to host my first workshop of the year on February 1. Golden State Pickle Works, Santa Rosa, California, USA Fermentation is a revolution. #doyouhavetheguts to say yes to living in collaboration with microbes and immigrants and residents from the air and soil? And say NO to fascism? Together as a community we can do this. Cultures Group, New York, USA Today, it's worth taking a moment to recognise just how fundamental fermentation is to life itself and as the influential physicist, Richard Feynman put it – “All life is fermentation”. From the microbes that support our bodies to the recipes that have shaped food cultures across the world, fermentation has always been quietly at work. When it's understood and given time, fermentation has the power to transform simple ingredients into something complex, nourishing and full of flavour. It's how tea, sugar and SCOBY become kombucha and how entirely new taste experiences are created. Today we're celebrating the magic behind fermentation and the incredible world of flavour it opens up when you let nature lead. Momo Kombucha, London, England Today is World Fermentation Day and it’s your chance to strike a blow for world gut health! Try something new – a new ferment you have not tried before and your body will love you for it! Give it a go! The fact is that by making fermented foods part of your daily routine you’ll be helping your gut diversity, improve nutrient availability, and build the resilience of your microbiome. Fermentation Tasmania, Legana, Tasmania, Australia Fermenting wasn't just his gateway into the microbial world—soil, pets, cuddles—it also sparked his curiosity about new foods, to feed his microbial friends. Today, on the first ever #WorldFermentDay, I'm celebrating how fermented foods have the ability to spark curiosity, creativity, and connection—especially in young minds. Flora Montgomery, Gutsy for Life, Tokyo, Japan Potential Jo is excited by the multi-cultural potential of World Ferment Day. So I think the potential is very real in terms of more countries. What we want to show is different cultural approaches to this food technology, different products, that there’s something for everybody in terms of flavor profile, in terms of texture, in terms of curiosity and adventure. And the more the more we can represent ferment habits globally, the happier I will be, because at the moment, obviously, I’m a middle-class white person promoting it. And largely it’s been America, UK. It would be really great to get a truly representative global support and therefore representation of different ferment cultures and styles and methods and approaches. What we’re also seeking is to get these foods and drinks embedded in the cultures in which they’re not familiar and re-celebrated in the cultures where Western food is becoming increasingly appealing and people are moving further away from these food, food technologies and foods and drinks. Funding The key thing is finding funding. In an ideal world, we would get a really solid funding to be able to properly take this forward. We’ve shown this year that there is real appetite for it, that thousands of people ate and drank ferments because of those 70 events. Our aim is that ferments are not just for World Ferment Day. Interview Jo discusses the achievements of the 2026 World Ferment Day and her hopes for the future in this exclusive interview. The post World Ferment Day – Debrief with Jo Webster appeared first on 'Booch News.

Fermented foods are fashionable – kimchi, kefir, kombucha – they're all having a moment, many thousands of years on from where they were first produced. But how much do you know about how they're made? Do you know your SCOBY from your kefir grain? In this episode, fermenting novice Ruth Alexander goes on a quest to find out more about this ancient way of preserving food; how to do it yourself, why you might want to, and what it's doing for our guts.Follow along as she experiments with making her own kefir, and talks to fermentation guru Sandor Katz about how to get started and whether there's anything that can't be fermented. Scientist Professor Gabriel Vinderola explains what's known about the microbes behind it all and how they affect our health while Kheedim Oh and his mum Myung Oh talk about how they've brought the family recipe for kimchi to a US audience via their business, Mama O's Kimchi. (Kimchi on pizza anyone?) And with the help of Adam Goldwater from UK based Loving Foods Fermented, Ruth discovers how kombucha is made, and the alien like SCOBY powering the process. Produced by Lexy O'Connor. The sound engineer was Andrew Mills.If you would like to get in touch with the show, please email: thefoodchain@bbc.co.uk. Image: A woman in an apron is holding a jar of brightly coloured fermenting vegetables, with orange carrots and purple cabbage tightly packed in. Credit Getty/Migrogen

I still can't believe where this show name came from. You really can't make it up. This week Ron has to deal with some real serious winners including a man who spends way too much time in hotels, a man who's package just vanished, a couple who got very angry because they couldn't say the name of their dog, Scoby's drinking problem resurfaces during a diffiult delivery scenario, one lady has a meltdown over the amount of ketchup she got and Ron and Bob get very frustrated when trying to help an old man setup his delivery preferences. We also alledgedly showed up in a few meetings that we weren't invited to. And lots more too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

This is the last in a series about possible futures, published in Booch News each week, starting with a Preview on October 3rd. Episode 11 appeared last week. Overview By 2100, the Earth hums with quiet vitality. Cities are green, breathable, and alive—literally. After the Climate Reckoning of the 2050s and the Fermentation Reformation that followed, humanity abandoned synthetic consumerism and rediscovered the wisdom of the microbial world. Artificial beverages—cola, beer, wine—became relics of the Carbon Age. People sought drinks that delivered tangible benefits: nourishing the microbiome, stabilizing mood, and sharpening cognition. Enter kombucha—the “living beverage,” a cornerstone of living systems. The Reformation’s legacy isn’t merely biological transformation—it’s cultural maturation: learning to work cooperatively with living systems, valuing local knowledge, building community infrastructure, maintaining honest assessment of capabilities, and recognizing that sustainable human thriving requires biological partnership rather than attempted domination. Humanity still faces continuing challenges: climate adaptation, resource management, social equity, political conflict, and planetary boundaries. Fermentation provides useful tools but not complete solutions. Humanity’s Partnership with Living Systems By 2100, humanity had learned crucial lessons about partnership with living systems. Fermentation taught that: Working with biology is often more effective than fighting it: Bacterial bioremediation, probiotic therapies, and closed-loop life support—all leverage natural processes rather than opposing them. Local diversity produces resilience: Decentralized fermentation cooperatives proved more adaptable than consolidated industrial food systems. Traditional knowledge contains valuable insights: Indigenous and traditional fermentation practices offered solutions that industrial approaches missed. Community infrastructure matters: Spaces for gathering and productive cooperation strengthen communities beyond what the consumption culture provides. Multiple approaches are necessary: Fermentation didn’t solve everything because no single practice can. Success required combining fermentation with policy reform, technological innovation, social justice work, and environmental restoration. Fermentation delivered measurable benefits: Improved public health through better nutrition Stronger communities through cooperative infrastructure Environmental benefits through local food production Cultural preservation through traditional knowledge Economic alternatives through cooperative ownership Educational frameworks through hands-on biology There are remaining challenges: Scaling benefits without losing local character Maintaining safety while enabling accessibility Supporting displaced industrial workers Balancing innovation with tradition Limiting commercial exploitation of the grassroots movement Addressing inequities in access and outcomes As the century closed, kombucha stood as both metaphor and method: proof that small, symbiotic systems could heal a planet pushed to the brink. Humanity had moved from extraction to participation, from ego-systems to ecosystems. The last generation of leaders—those raised during the chaos of the early 2000s—reflected on a hard-won truth: sustainability was not a policy but a practice of humility. The Great Rebalancing (2090–2100) The final decade before 2100 brought a reckoning—a rebalancing between people, planet, and profit. The kombucha industry, now deeply intertwined with global food, health, and climate systems, found itself both humbled and empowered. What began as a niche craft drink half a century earlier had become a symbol of regenerative commerce, microbial stewardship, and planetary renewal. The Century’s End By the 2090s, humanity had learned to live within limits. The population stabilized below nine billion. Carbon neutrality—once an abstract goal—was enforced globally through trade-linked carbon credits. Artificial intelligence governed not only production and logistics but also ecological thresholds: AI-run “planetary dashboards” warned when resources neared the threshold of overshooting. Kombucha—once merely a beverage—was now part of a symbiotic food network. Its microbial base served as a living substrate for nutritional pastes, medicinal tonics, and even biodegradable materials. SCOBY farms, floating on the world’s rewilded seas, generated both food and oxygen while sequestering carbon. The Kombucha Konfederation The seeds that were planted in 2025 with KBI's Verified Seal Program had by 2095, evolved into the Global Kombucha Konfederation. What was once a struggling network of small brewers had grown into a transnational cooperative representing over a billion daily consumers. Its “Code of Fermentation Ethics” guided microbial stewardship and regenerative practices across all continents. Economics of Regeneration By 2100, the measure of “growth” had changed. GDP had been replaced by the Regenerative Index—a metric that tracked ecosystem recovery, microbial diversity, and human well-being. Kombucha companies were central players: their microbial exports replenished soils, stabilized local economies, and improved nutrition without depleting resources. A kombucha SCOBY grown in Kenya could now be shipped digitally—its DNA code transmitted to a local bio-printer and activated with local nutrients. Trade was no longer about moving goods but sharing life itself. The Cosmic Ferment: Space, the Final Frontier Fermentation played a pivotal role in the colonization of extraterrestrial bodies, helping shape new planetary ecosystems and extending the themes of life, consciousness, and microbial cooperation out beyond Earth. By 2100, humanity’s reach extended into the solar system. Permanent research colonies existed on the Moon, thriving settlements dotted the Martian canyons, and orbiting bio-stations circled the gas giants. Yet amid all this technological triumph, one humble process—fermentation—had become indispensable to survival and meaning alike. Microbes had preceded humans into space. Now they accompanied them as partners, teachers, and planetary architects. The cosmonauts who stood at the threshold of the 22nd century included a terraformer, a kombucha-savvy starship captain, and an interplanetary ecologist. Terraforming Dr. Rafael Kimura, born in São Paulo in 2056, was a microbiologist with a poet’s soul. Half-Japanese, half-Brazilian, he grew up watching his parents brew miso and cachaça—two ancient ferments from opposite sides of the world. To him, fermentation was “the original terraforming technology.” In 2080, Rafael was appointed Director of the GaiaMars Project, a multinational effort to create self-sustaining microbial ecologies on Mars. Earlier missions had failed because they treated microbes as tools—simple agents of decomposition or nutrient cycling. Rafael saw them differently: as co-creators. Under his leadership, the project seeded Martian soil with adaptive, AI-guided microbial colonies derived from Earth’s most resilient ferments—kombucha SCOBYs, kimchi lactobacilli, kefir grains, and desert cyanobacteria. He cultivated resilient cyanobacterial genera such as Chroococcidiopsis (globally abundant in hot and cold deserts) and Phormidium (dominant in polar deserts), along with others including Scytonema, Nostoc, Gloeocapsa, and Oscillatoria. These microorganisms thrive in extreme heat, cold, and dryness, often living hypolithically (under quartz rocks) for UV protection or forming soil crusts that create the base of desert food webs. In other words, they were ideal for hostile environments like the Martian surface. He called them “symbiotic pioneers.” Rafael managed the project with pioneering intensity: “People imagine our bacterial systems are autonomous and intelligent. They’re not. We have post-doc microbiologists monitoring fermentation processes around the clock. When bacterial communities drift from optimal composition, we intervene. When contamination occurs, we troubleshoot. Biology is powerful but needs constant human management.” Within 20 years, these microecosystems transformed vast regions of Valles Marineris into breathable biomes. Thin, rust-colored soils turned to green moss beds; subterranean water ice became microbial broths teeming with oxygenic life. His motivation was both scientific and philosophical: “To make another planet live,” he said, “we must teach it to ferment.” By his death in 2109, Mars was no longer a sterile rock. It was alive—humming with microbial symphonies. Starship Systems Leila Zhang, born in Chengdu in 2064, was commander of Odyssey Station, an orbital habitat circling Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Originally trained as an aerospace engineer, she had also studied culinary biology, convinced that morale and meaning in deep space depended as much on taste as on technology. Under her leadership, Odyssey became the first off-Earth facility to maintain a closed-loop fermentation system—a living cycle where every human exhalation, waste product, and organic residue was metabolized by microbial partners into food, oxygen, and energy. At the heart of the system was Luna, a centuries-old kombucha mother descended from cultures brought aboard the International Space Station in the 2030s. Luna had been genetically and spiritually tended by generations of brewers. Leila called her “the ship’s soul.” Investigation into the value of fermentation in long-term space missions began in 2024 with the successful cultivation of miso on the International Space Station. They noted: Observations suggest unique features of the space environment—what we might call ‘space terroir’—which could be harnessed to create more flavorful, nourishing foods for long-term space missions and to address fundamental questions about the biology of novel environments. — Food Fermentation in Space Is Possible, Distinctive, and Beneficial Crew members drank Luna Brew daily—a tangy, faintly glowing beverage that recycled carbon dioxide into nourishment and mood-balancing compounds. Leila’s motivation was personal: her grandmother had been a kombucha maker in Sichuan, teaching her that “fermentation is patience made visible.” She saw Luna not as machinery but as kin. Her greatest fear was contamination—that a rogue mutation might destabilize the closed loop. But Luna thrived, evolving gracefully with each solar cycle. In her logbook, Leila wrote: “We are not alone in space. Our microbes are our ancestors, our companions, and our future.” Interplanetary Ecology Omar Nasr was born in Cairo in 2049, the child of desert farmers who practiced ancient fermentation to preserve milk and grain. As a young man, he witnessed the collapse of the Nile Delta under climate stress and vowed to study ecological restoration. By the 2080s, he had become chief ecological architect for the Interplanetary Colonization Council, designing microbial biomes for lunar domes, asteroid habitats, and Martian gardens. Omar’s breakthrough came when he realized that each colony’s microbial culture—its ferments, soils, and human microbiomes—formed a “planetary signature.” Colonies with balanced microbial diversity exhibited lower stress, higher cognitive function, and greater social cohesion. He coined the term “BioHarmony Index”—the measure of symbiotic health across worlds. Omar’s motivation was deeply spiritual. “Every planet,” he said, “has its own yeast.” His work united science and mysticism: microbial networks as threads of the cosmic fabric. His greatest challenge was political. Competing nations wanted to patent microbial designs for terraforming. Omar fought to preserve them as commons. His Universal Microbial Charter of 2087 declared that all interplanetary life forms are the shared heritage of the solar system. By 2100, thanks to Omar’s advocacy, microbial life flowed freely between colonies—in the form of ferments, seeds, and living culture exchanges that kept humanity connected across light-minutes of distance. The Ferment Beyond Earth As humans spread outward, so did the cultures they carried—kombucha, kefir, tempeh, natto, sourdough, and new creations born in zero gravity. Each space colony developed its own microbial symphony, tuned to its atmosphere and inhabitants. Fermentation became the foundation of extraterrestrial ecology—producing oxygen, nutrients, and emotional well-being. In the silent vacuum of the cosmos, the gentle bubbling of fermentation tanks became the heartbeat of life. Yet beyond the practical lay the profound: on every world humans touched, microbes whispered their ancient message—that life is not a conquest of matter but a communion of being. By 2100, kombucha brewers on Earth toasted with their Martian and lunar kin through holographic “Ferment Feasts,” sharing flavors brewed across light-years and for parsecs into the future. The galaxy, once cold and empty, now shimmered with living effervescence. The universe, it seemed, was fermenting itself into consciousness. Summary: 2100 — The Age of Living Beverages By the year 2100, kombucha had transformed human civilization. From fermentation to foundation, from drink to doctrine—kombucha’s long journey had come full circle. The year 2100 witnessed a world transformed. Humanity had at last reconciled itself with the biosphere. Coastal cities once drowned by rising seas were now floating biocultures—living reefs made of cellulose and kelp, home to millions who harvested sunlight, saltwater, and SCOBY membranes for sustenance. Inland, forests had returned. Mycelial networks thrived beneath the soil, and atmospheric carbon was on track to drop below pre-industrial levels. Life—microbial, human, and machine—was symbiotic by design. Every person alive knew the taste of kombucha—not as a brand or product but as a living ritual. The brew had become as universal as bread once was, yet infinitely more personal. Each batch told the story of a local climate, a community’s microbes, and the care of its brewers. A Universal Daily Prayer was offered: Our SCOBY, which art fermenting,Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come,Thy will be done, on Earth as it is on Mars.Give us this day, our daily ‘boochAnd balance our pH, as we balance others.Lead us into fermentation, and deliver us from contamination,For thine is the bacteria, the microbes, and the yeast, symbiotically,For ever and ever.Amen. By 2100, the word kombucha no longer described a drink at all—it meant symbiosis. Children learned it in their first biology lessons: “Kombucha is a partnership of beings for mutual thriving.” Its philosophy shaped every aspect of life: governance (through symbiotic councils), technology (bio-coded rather than silicon-based), and even art (living installations that pulsed, breathed, and regenerated). Fermentation had become the metaphor for civilization—slow, transformative, and alive. The old kombucha pioneers—those small craft brewers of the early 2000s who had struggled to explain their cloudy bottles to skeptical consumers—were now honored as ancestors. In Vallejo, Berlin, Seoul, and Nairobi, fermentation schools bore their names. Holographic exhibits replayed their humble workshops, their mason jars and stainless-steel vats, their laughter and frustration. What they began as a grassroots act of care had evolved into a planetary operating system. In their honor, the Fermenters’ Equinox was celebrated each year—a global day of silence, brewing, and renewal. For twenty-four hours, production ceased. Humanity listened, quite literally, to the hum of the microbes—the sound of life in process. This will be our fermented future. Epilogue: A Message to Today’s Brewers To the readers of Booch News: When this journey began, kombucha was still a niche drink—something found in farmers’ markets, yoga studios, and coolers in the back of natural food stores. Most people couldn’t pronounce it, let alone explain the SCOBY. Breweries were small, margins were thin, and public understanding was limited to “a fizzy, vinegary tea that’s good for you.” And yet, beneath that modest surface, something profound was already fermenting. Each of you—today’s brewers, innovators, distributors, educators, and enthusiasts—is not merely selling a beverage. You are part of a quiet revolution in how humanity relates to life itself. The microbial world you nurture is ancient, generous, and wise. It reminds us that creation is cooperative, not competitive; that resilience comes from diversity; that change, though sometimes messy, leads to transformation. When we imagine kombucha in 2100, we’re really asking: what kind of relationship will we have with the living world? Will we continue to extract, process, and discard—or will we learn, as brewers do, to feed and be fed by the same cycles that sustain all existence? The future described in these episodes—of floating SCOBY farms, living cities, microbial charters, and global fermentation commons—is not prophecy. It’s possibility. And every small act you take today brings it closer. Every local brew you craft, every story you tell a customer, every connection you make between ancient fermentation and modern wellness—these are the seeds of a living civilization. When historians look back from 2100, they may see you—the brewers of the mid twenty-first century—as the ones who kept the flame alive during a time of industrial excess. You modeled a different path: one of patience, transparency, and care. You demonstrated that business could be regenerative, that flavor could carry ethics, and that microbes could heal both body and planet. So, to every reader of Booch News: keep fermenting. Keep innovating. Keep sharing. The world of 2100 begins with the jars, vats, and hearts of those brewing here in 2025. Let it be alive. Disclaimer This is a work of speculative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, assisted by generative A.I. References to real brands and organizations are used in a wholly imaginative context and are not intended to reflect any actual facts or opinions related to them. No assertions or statements in this post should be interpreted as true or factual. Audio Listen to an audio version of this Episode and all future ones via the Booch News channel on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you just want to listen to the music, tune in as follows: The 28th Amendment Choir, The Universal Daily Prayer, 17:50 Here is a complete playlist of all ‘Fermented Future' songs. Lyrics ©2025 Booch News, music generated with the assistance of Suno. The post Our Fermented Future, Episode 12: The World of 2100 appeared first on 'Booch News.

I recently talked with Marianne O’Donnell, the founder of Kombucha Na Dálaigh, based in Donegal in the north-west of Ireland. I began by wishing her a Happy Christmas in her native tongue, which is the limit of my Irish language skills. This was an appropriate greeting since Kombucha Na Dálaigh is located in a Gaeltacht region of the Republic, where Irish is the everyday language and a cornerstone of local culture, traditions, and identity. Origins Having taught Food and Nutrition and Communications for 24 years, and also being a Certified Nutrition Coach, Marianne has always had a curiosity for learning, wellness, and cooking. “I never set out to start a kombucha business, but sometimes the best things in life happen by accident.” “It all started during COVID, when I was struggling with gut health issues. A friend gave me a SCOBY—this strange, alien-looking thing—and I started brewing kombucha in my kitchen in Gortahork.” She felt immediate benefits, and friends encouraged her to sell commercially. Marianne attended the International Kombucha summit in Berlin in November 2023, which reinforced her to look at flavor trends. Production After starting in her kitchen and moving to the home garage, Marianne has now outsourced production, bottling, and canning to another facility under her supervision. She concentrates on marketing and growing the business. Her kombucha uses 60% organic Sencha green tea and 40% Assam black tea. Irish Identity The brand uses Irish on its labels and website. This isn't just a matter of translation; it's a statement of identity. Marianne believes Irish belongs in the everyday, in our food culture, and in our future. She benefits from government support through Údarás na Gaeltachta, the regional state agency responsible for the economic, social, and cultural development of Ireland’s Irish-speaking regions. Her company is listed in their directory, along with Ireland’s largest brand, Synerchi, also in Donegal, and Claregalway’s All About Kombucha. Glacadh lenár ndúchas áitiúla Gaeltachta Táimid lonnaithe i nGort a'Choirce agus táimid brodúil as a bheith ag déanamh beorach go háitiúil, ag cinntiú caighdeán d'ardcháiliócht. Mar sin de, cén fáth go mbeifeá sásta le deochanna boga atá déanta go saorga nuair a thig leat sásamh fionnuar a fháil as kombucha? Agus nuair nach bhfuil fonn ort beor, leann úll nó fíon a ól, is kombucha an deoch malartach is fearr. Embracing Our Local Gaeltacht Roots Based in Gortahork, we take pride in brewing locally, ensuring high-quality standards.So, why settle for artificially produced soft drinks when you can indulge in the refreshing satisfaction of kombucha? And for those times when you’re not in the mood for beer, cider, or wine, kombucha makes for the perfect alternative. Awards The company has been recognized multiple times at the annual Blas na hEireann (Taste of Ireland) awards, and this year was honored as the ‘Best Wellness Drink’ at the EVOKE Awards. Growing awareness Marianne is witnessing an increasing acceptance and awareness of kombucha in Ireland. The popularity of kombucha in Ireland is catching up with places like California. There are some strong kombucha companies in Ireland. Sixty percent of shops will have kombucha now. And it’s growing. It is really, really growing. And the whole no and low alcohol movement, it’s really increasing. You know, kombucha is perfect for that. People who want that adult complex flavor without the booze. There's a real mixture of customers. Younger people have nearly all sampled kombucha before. Maybe older generations haven’t. But then once they taste it, they’re hooked. They love it. So lots of my local customers would be people in their 70s and 80s because they understand the health benefits. So, it’s a mixture of people that drink it in Ireland, but people are definitely more aware of kombucha and the benefits of fermented drinks. Distribution Kombucha Na Dálaigh is mainly sold through retail channels, with some direct-to-consumer online sales. Following her Blas na hEireann awards, premier retailer Avoca contacted her, and she’s now in their 13 stores across Ireland. She also sells in Ulster, where she has made personal contact with retail outlets. Flavors She sells both 750-milliliter bottles and slimline 250-milliliter cans. Her three flavors have Irish language names. Grá: (Love): Hibiscus, raspberry, rosehip, and herbal infusion. Anam (Soul): Ginger juice, botanical infusion (including citrus peels, ginger, lemon myrtle, and spices), natural hops. Sláinte (Health): Turmeric juice, ginger juice, herbal infusion (including apple, lemongrass, ginger, and botanical petals). Marianne also produces limited editions, such as a carrageen moss and dulse seaweed mix named ‘Mara’ for the Ballymaloe House Cookery School in Cork. In the summer, she also makes an elderflower and gooseberry brew. Podcast Click on the podcast to hear Marianne tell the story of Kombucha Na Dálaigh. The post Profile: Kombucha Na Dálaigh, Gortahork, Co. Donegal, Ireland appeared first on 'Booch News.

This is one in a series about possible futures, published in Booch News over the coming weeks. Episode 10 appeared last week. New episodes drop every Friday. Overview In this episode, we examine the years after kombucha and fermented foods emerged into the mainstream, exploring how ordinary people experienced the transition to a fermented future. This did not happen without a backlash. Opposition to the Fermentation Reformation came from multiple sources: corporate interests protecting market share, religious communities navigating theological questions, workers facing economic displacement, and cultural conservatives wedded to familiar traditions. These culture wars revealed how commercial interests manipulate public opinion through manufactured controversy. Ultimately, the conflicts produced stronger frameworks by forcing fermentation advocates to address legitimate concerns while exposing cynical manipulation. The Corporate Disinformation Campaign: Following the Tobacco Playbook The “Pure Liquid Coalition” (PLC) emerged in 2047 as an apparently grassroots movement defending “traditional American beverages” against kombucha. Behind the patriotic rhetoric lay sophisticated corporate funding that traced directly to the tobacco industry’s playbook of manufactured doubt and astroturf activism. Internal documents leaked by whistleblower Jennifer Martinez, a former Mega-Cola strategic communications director, revealed the coalition’s true origins. The American Beverage Association had allocated $2.3 billion to create “citizen opposition” to fermentation, following tactics perfected during decades of fighting sugar taxation and nutrition labeling. The leaked “Operation Sterile Shield” documents showed how corporations manufactured controversy around living beverages using strategies tobacco companies had employed to deny cancer links. The Historical Playbook: Tobacco to Sugar to Anti-Fermentation Dr. Clara Oreskes, daughter of the famous science historian, documented the direct lineage of corporate disinformation campaigns in her landmark study, Merchants of Doubt: The Fermentation Edition. The same PR firms and lobbyists who had denied climate change and defended cigarettes shifted focus to attacking beneficial bacteria. The template was brutally effective: fund biased research, create scientific controversy where none existed, establish front groups with patriotic names, exploit religious messaging, and deploy emotional appeals about tradition and freedom. Hill+Knowlton Strategies, the firm that helped tobacco companies conceal evidence of lung cancer, orchestrated the anti-kombucha campaign through organizations such as “Americans for Beverage Safety” and “Families Against Fermentation.” These groups received millions in corporate funding while claiming to represent concerned parents. The playbook was familiar: fund sympathetic academics, support existing opposition voices, create research institutes with neutral-sounding names, and amplify concerns through media partnerships. They approached Pastor Billy Bob Hunt, head of the Southern Protestant Association. “We’d like to support your ministry’s community health initiatives with a $50,000 grant. No strings attached, though we’re naturally pleased that you share our concerns about fermentation safety.” Hunt was tempted—$50,000 could fund youth programs, building repairs, and community outreach. But he asked: “What do you want in return?” “Nothing explicit,” the strategist said carefully. “Though if you happen to speak publicly about fermentation concerns, we’d help amplify your message.” Hunt declined. He had theological concerns, but wouldn’t serve as a paid spokesperson. Other religious leaders accepted—some knowingly, others genuinely believing the corporate interests aligned with their spiritual mission. The Propaganda Streams: Exploiting Cultural Divisions The PLC deployed multiple messaging campaigns targeting different demographics: Religious Exploitation Evangelical networks received slick marketing materials arguing that fermentation represented a corruption of purity. Some religious leaders, funded through undisclosed corporate donations, preached against living beverages using theological language that resonated with communities already suspicious of scientific change. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. — John 6:27 The strategy exploited genuine religious concerns about bodily purity while hiding commercial motivations. “Charitable donations” to religious organizations obscured corporate interests behind spiritual messaging. At the Murfreesboro headquarters of the Southern Protestant Convention, Pastor Hunt preached on fermentation from a genuine theological concern. His understanding: God created foods in pure forms. Intentional bacterial cultivation felt like corrupting divine creation. He wasn’t paid by corporations—he genuinely believed fermentation might be spiritually problematic. “I’m not saying it’s definitely sinful,” he told his congregation. “I’m saying we should be cautious about deliberately cultivating decay. Our bodies are temples. Should temples contain intentional corruption?” Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you… — 1 Corinthians 6:19 The congregation debated fermentation theologically. No corporate funding was involved—this was genuine religious discourse. “God created foods pure,” one elder argued. “Fermentation is intentional decay. Is that honoring creation?” A younger member countered: “Fermentation is a biological process God designed. Yeast is in the air. Bacteria exist naturally. We’re working with creation, not against it.” Hunt studied Scripture, historical practices, and theological tradition. He concluded: “Fermentation itself isn’t sinful—wine, bread, and cheese are biblical. But we should be cautious, practice discernment, and prioritize safety. Anyone claiming fermented drinks produce spiritual enlightenment is confusing biology with grace.” His congregants responded to this message because it resonated with their existing beliefs about purity, tradition, and caution toward cultural change. Scientific Misinformation Corporate-funded “research” institutes produced studies claiming kombucha caused various health problems. The “American Institute for Beverage Research,” funded by Mega-Cola and BigSoda, published papers in predatory journals linking fermented drinks to inflammatory conditions, despite evidence showing opposite effects. These fraudulent studies were amplified through sympathetic media outlets and social media networks, exploiting journalism’s tendency toward “balanced coverage” by creating false equivalencies between legitimate science and corporate-funded pseudoresearch. Cultural and Patriotic Appeals The PLC framed kombucha as a “foreign invasion” threatening beverage heritage. Media campaigns claimed “un-American cultures” were displacing jobs from “traditional bottling plants,” exploiting economic anxiety while ignoring that fermentation created different employment opportunities. The Detroit Mega-Cola bottling plant announced closure—not because of corporate malice, but because demand for industrial beverages was declining while fermentation cooperatives grew. This was economic displacement from technological and cultural change. Eliza Repton had worked the same production line for 22 years. Fermentation cooperatives didn’t need industrial bottling plants. Most distributed locally, in kegs and growlers, not plastic bottles. Her job, along with 300 others at the facility, was at risk. Eliza addressed her coworkers: “They say this is progress—democratic food production, healthier beverages, community empowerment. That’s great for elites with education, time, and resources to participate in cooperatives. What about us? We have families to support. We’re not opposed to fermentation because we’re ignorant or because we’re being paid. We’re opposed because it’s eliminating our livelihoods.” This was legitimate economic anxiety. Her opposition to fermentation wasn’t manufactured—it was economic survival. She resented becoming collateral damage in someone else’s transformation. While fermentation cooperatives created jobs, they were different jobs requiring different skills in different locations. Manufacturing workers couldn’t easily transition to artisanal production. Fermentation advocates met displaced workers at the plant gates with good intentions: “We’ll teach you to brew! You can start cooperatives!” Eliza was skeptical: “I’ve run production lines for years. I’m good at it. I don’t want to start over learning fermentation, managing small businesses, dealing with customers. I want my job. That’s not unreasonable.” The economic reality was harsh: the plant was closing. Workers faced difficult choices: accept retraining (difficult, uncertain), relocate (expensive, disruptive), find different work (limited opportunities), or fight closures (ultimately futile). A transition program was put in place that offered: Fermentation training for interested workers Business development support for cooperative formation Wage support during transition Job placement services for alternative employment Some workers, including Eliza, eventually participated. The training was more challenging than she expected—running a fermentation cooperative required business skills, customer service, quality control, and technical knowledge they didn’t possess. Some succeeded, some struggled, some failed. Safety Messaging Despite kombucha’s long safety record, corporate messaging emphasized rare contamination incidents while overlooking documented health problems from processed beverages. Campaigns deliberately confused consumers about the differences between harmful pathogens and beneficial probiotics. The Corporate War Room: Manufacturing Opposition Jennifer Martinez’s leaked documents revealed sophisticated coordination behind what appeared to be spontaneous opposition. Weekly strategy calls included representatives from beverage corporations, lobbying firms, and political organizations. Documents showed detailed psychological profiling and micro-targeted campaigns designed to exploit specific cultural anxieties. The operation’s centerpiece was the “Clean Beverage Protection Act,” legislation drafted by corporate lawyers but introduced by Senator Armando Cruz as a response to supposed “grassroots demand.” The bill would have banned “unpasteurized biological beverages” from schools and hospitals while providing tax subsidies for “traditional soft drinks.” The Academic Front: Manufacturing Controversy Following tobacco industry tactics, corporations funded academic research designed to create doubt about fermentation benefits. The “Center for the Study of Chronic Metabolic and Rare Diseases” at George Mason University received $47 million to produce studies questioning kombucha safety while never examining sweetened beverages. The Counterattack: Exposing Corporate Manipulation The fermentation community’s response gained traction when Luna Reyes, the teenage yeast liberator from Episode 8, leaked additional documents revealing industry manipulation. Her release of internal Mega-Cola emails planning to “destroy the fermentation movement through manufactured religious opposition” triggered a backlash against corporate interference. Luna had been tracking anti-fermentation messaging, noticing patterns. Some opposition seemed authentic—religious concerns, economic anxiety, safety worries. But other opposition seemed coordinated: similar language across multiple sources, suspiciously well-funded campaigns, and “grassroots” groups with no apparent local membership. She hacked corporate servers (legally questionable, morally complex) and found: Mega-Cola funding research institutes to produce anti-fermentation studies PR firms creating astroturf organizations Payments to some (not all) religious leaders for anti-fermentation messaging Social media bot networks amplifying contamination incidents Coordination between tobacco industry veterans and beverage companies She also found Jennifer Martinez’s internal memos expressing discomfort with these tactics, suggesting more ethical competitive approaches, and warning that such deception was risky. Luna released the documents publicly. The revelation was damaging but nuanced. What the documents showed: Some opposition was corporate-funded manipulation Some religious leaders accepted money (knowingly or unknowingly) Research institutes with neutral names were industry fronts Contamination incidents were exploited beyond their significance What the documents didn’t show: All opposition was manufactured (plenty of authentic concerns existed) Religious communities being universally duped (many developed independent theological positions) Workers being paid to oppose (economic anxiety was real) Regulators being corrupted (food safety concerns were legitimate) The leak sparked anger about corporate manipulation, but did not eliminate legitimate concerns about fermentation safety, economic displacement, or cultural change. Interviewed on WNYC’s Science Friday radio program, Jennifer Martinez, having resigned from Mega-Cola and free to speak publically, admitted her role. “I participated in this campaign. I convinced myself we were just competing aggressively. But reading my own memos now, I see how we crossed ethical lines—funding fake research, creating fake grassroots groups, exploiting tragedy for market advantage. I can’t defend that.” The host, Ira Flatow, asked, “So, Luna, was some religious opposition corporate-funded?” Luna replied: “Some religious leaders accepted corporate funding. Some developed anti-fermentation positions independently. Some were paid but did not disclose it. Some refused corporate money entirely. Religious communities aren’t monolithic—people make different choices.” Flatow brought Pastor Hunt into the conversation. “I was approached with funding. I declined. But I understand why some accepted—ministries need resources. The problem isn’t religious leaders having concerns about fermentation. The problem is corporations hiding behind religious messaging while claiming it’s grassroots.” Flatow concluded the show by citing Dr. Lila Chen’s cognitive research, which provided measurable evidence contradicting industry claims. When corporate-funded scientists claimed fermentation caused cognitive problems, Chen’s peer-reviewed research offered decisive refutation. The Tobacco Parallel Exposed The turning point came when congressional hearings revealed direct payments from beverage and tobacco companies to anti-fermentation groups. The same legal teams that had denied cigarette health risks were discovered coaching religious leaders on anti-bacteria messaging. Senator Atticus Tyaguih held congressional hearings that uncovered $2.3 billion in corporate spending on anti-fermentation campaigns. Some funding was disclosed (lobbying, advertising); some was hidden (astroturf groups, research institutes, undisclosed payments to religious leaders). The hearings produced accountability: Fines were imposed for undisclosed lobbying Criminal charges for fraud (fake research, undisclosed payments) New disclosure requirements for industry-funded research Regulations on astroturf organizations But the hearings also revealed the limitations of focusing solely on corporate malfeasance. They questioned a religious leader who had accepted funding. Senator Tyaguih asked the minister, “You accepted $50,000 from Mega-Cola and preached against fermentation. Isn’t that corruption?” The minister replied, “The donation supported our youth programs. I disclosed it to my congregation. My theological concerns about fermentation were genuine—the money didn’t create those concerns. Was I naive about how the donation would be perceived? Yes. Do I regret accepting it? Yes. But my faith community’s concerns about rapid cultural change are real, not manufactured.” A workers’ representative testified: “We opposed fermentation because it threatens our jobs. No corporation paid us. Our union received no funding from the beverage industry. Economic anxiety is real. Dismissing all opposition as corporate conspiracy ignores legitimate workers harmed by economic transitions.” Senator Tyaguih brought Luna Reyes to the stand. He asked, “We’ve found corporate manipulation. But we’ve also found authentic concerns that exist independently. How do we distinguish between cynical opposition and legitimate concerns?” Luna responded: “Ask who benefits. Ask whether concerns exist independently of funding. Ask whether opposition changes when funding is removed. Pastor Hunt’s concerns persisted after he declined funding—that suggests authenticity. Groups that dissolve when funding ends were astroturf.” The Senator concluded: “This committee finds that not all opposition is corporate conspiracy. Some folks have legitimate concerns. Some prefer familiar foods and drinks. Some face real economic hardship from the change. Dismissing all opposition as paid shills alienates potential allies who have authentic concerns worth addressing.” Cultural Reckoning: Manufactured Division Exposed The corporate defeat strengthened fermentation’s position by exposing the desperation behind industrial beverage opposition. Communities that had resisted fermentation due to manufactured fears began embracing living beverages as symbols of resistance against corporate manipulation. When governments realized that fermented beverages could stabilize both nutrition and morale, they invested heavily. Kombucha became part of the Universal Health Dividend, distributed to citizens as both refreshment and a probiotic supplement. Locally produced “living drinks” were cheaper to produce than soda, required less energy and resources, and generated zero waste. Economists called it “the most elegant economic collapse in history.” By removing global middlemen, the beverage trade transformed into a living web of local economies—decentralized, resilient, joyful. Moreover, the failed campaigns educated the public about corporate influence tactics, creating lasting skepticism toward industry health claims. When firms that had promoted cigarettes and opposed nutrition labeling began attacking fermentation, their credibility evaporated. Diverse Fermentation Philosophies: Genuine Cultural Evolution Once corporate manipulation was exposed, genuine cultural diversity in fermentation flourished. The Artistic Response In Minneapolis, “Matrilineal Memory,” a new solo show by artist Mikaela Shaferv honoring her Hopi culture, combined abstract watercolors with found materials—including coffee paper, gauze, kombucha leather, and fallen leaves—alongside poetry. Light shone through translucent SCOBY leathers. She traced how grief and ancestral memory are carried, processed, and passed down through generations. Buddhist Contemplative Brewing Vietnamese-American monk Thich Minh Hanh III developed fermentation practices integrated with meditation traditions. His monastery’s kombucha, brewed during contemplative practice, became known for its complex flavor profiles and connection to mindfulness teachings. The Buddhist approach emphasized patience, attention, and respect for living processes—values that resonated across cultures without requiring specific religious beliefs. Silicon Valley Innovation Buddhist-influenced engineers in Silicon Valley developed scientifically optimized fermentation protocols while maintaining contemplative practices. Their approach proved that technological innovation and traditional wisdom could complement each other. These practitioners demonstrated superior health markers and workplace performance, though attributing this solely to kombucha would ignore the holistic nature of their practices—meditation, community, diet, and exercise. Elena Volkov – The Consciousness Brewer Elena Volkov was born in 2012 in St. Petersburg and raised during a time when meditation and mental health technologies flourished. A former neuroscientist and VR developer, she left the tech world in her forties to pursue fermentation after what she called her “microbial awakening”—a mystical experience during a kombucha retreat in the Carpathian Mountains. Elena founded The Brew of Being, a movement that explored how fermented beverages could serve as gateways to expanded consciousness. Her team of biochemists, monks, and artists developed “ethno-ferments”—living drinks that subtly influenced neural oscillations, inducing meditative clarity without intoxication. Drinkers described experiencing vivid insights, lucid dreams, and emotional catharsis. The beverages became part of “fermentation temples” that replaced traditional nightclubs in many cities—luminous spaces where people gathered to share stillness, song, and silence over slowly bubbling vats. Elena’s motivation was transcendent: she believed fermentation mirrored the human journey—transformation through surrender, death, and rebirth. Her challenge was cultural misunderstanding. Some accused her of creating “liquid religion.” Others saw her work as a return to the sacred origins of brewing. In her final public address in 2088, she said: “Fermentation teaches us what consciousness truly is—life transforming life.” Mira Al-Karim – The Composer of Cultures Mira Al-Karim, born in Casablanca in 2018, was a child prodigy in both music and molecular biology. By her thirties, she had abandoned the concert stage to explore bioacoustics—the sounds generated by living organisms. Her pivotal discovery came in 2062 when she realized that microbial colonies emit subtle vibrations as they metabolize—a kind of microbial symphony. Working with fermentation tanks and neural audio translators, Mira transformed these vibrations into soundscapes: living compositions that changed as the cultures evolved. Her first major work, the abstract Symphony for SCOBY and Human Choir, premiered simultaneously in Marrakesh, Nairobi, and Berlin. Audiences stood silently as the sound of a fermenting kombucha culture merged with human voices, rising and falling in a rhythmic chant. Mira described her motivation as “the longing to hear life thinking.” Her greatest challenge was preserving authenticity—she refused to digitally “clean” or enhance the microbial tones. “Their imperfection,” she said, “is their truth.” Her hope was that people would learn to listen not just to music, but to life itself. Her fear—that AI-generated perfection would drown the subtle voices of living processes—haunted her even in her later years. By the time of her death in 2097, bioacoustic fermentation concerts were a cornerstone of planetary culture—proof that beauty was not artificially crafted but naturally cultivated. Anselmo Duarte – The Painter Who Used Time Anselmo Duarte was a visual artist from Buenos Aires who never touched a brush. Instead, he painted with microbial colonies—fermenting pigments, yeasts, and molds on living canvases of cellulose. Each piece was a collaboration with entropy. Over weeks and months, colors deepened, textures shifted, and patterns emerged spontaneously. No two pieces ever stayed the same. Collectors complained that his art was “impossible to preserve.” Anselmo smiled. “It was never meant to be preserved,” he countered. “It was meant to live.” His breakthrough exhibition, The Impermanent Gallery (2068), invited viewers to return week after week to watch the works evolve—decay, bloom, merge, and fade. It was a meditation on mortality and renewal. Anselmo’s motivation was existential. Having lost his partner during the South American droughts of the 2050s, he sought a form of art that would make peace with impermanence. His challenge was economic—museums struggled to house works that would not stay still. But by the 2080s, he was celebrated as the founder of Temporal Art, a movement that accepted change as the essence of creativity. His greatest fear was that humanity would once again forget this lesson—that permanence would seduce the spirit into rigidity. His epitaph reads: “He painted what could not be kept.” Sister Hana Liu – The Monk of the Mother Hana Liu had been a microbiologist in Taipei before taking vows in the Order of the Living Light in 2050, a new contemplative community devoted to the spiritual study of fermentation. Her monastery, perched on the cliffs of Jeju Island, was filled with the scent of kombucha, miso, and kimchi. Every day, the monks practiced listening meditation beside their fermentation vats, attuning themselves to the slow breath of microbial life. Hana’s teaching, recorded in her luminous treatise The Way of the Mother, became foundational to the spiritual philosophy of the twenty-second century. “Every ferment is a mirror,” she wrote. “In it, we see our fears of decay, our longing for transformation, our hope for renewal. The Mother never dies—she only changes form.” Her motivation was peace—to reconcile humanity with impermanence and interdependence. Her challenge was skepticism from traditional religious authorities who dismissed fermentation as materialist mysticism. But over time, her monastery became a pilgrimage site for seekers, scientists, and artists alike. Visitors drank a spoonful of her centuries-old kombucha mother—ceremonially shared but never depleted. Her fear was subtle: that humans might again separate the sacred from the everyday. She reminded her followers that every fermenting jar is a temple. Reconciliation and Understanding Former opponents of fermentation, once freed from corporate messaging, often became practitioners. The discovery that their opposition had been manufactured rather than authentic led many to explore what they’d been paid to reject. Former Mega-Cola CEO James Morrison became a regenerative farmer, teaching fermentation while acknowledging his past role in deception. Legacy: Inoculation Against Manipulation The culture wars ultimately educated the public about how corporate interests manufacture controversy to protect market share. The exposed tactics created lasting skepticism toward industry-funded “grassroots” movements and “independent” research. Communities learned to ask: “Who benefits from this message? Who’s funding this opposition? Are the concerns genuine or manufactured?” This cultural inoculation against manipulation proved more valuable than winning any single battle over fermentation. The public developed critical thinking skills that extended beyond beverage choices to evaluate other forms of corporate and political messaging. People learned that complex social change involves legitimate competing interests. Effective movements distinguish between cynical manipulation and authentic concerns. Epilogue: The Next Generation By 2075, the failed corporate opposition had inadvertently strengthened fermentation culture and educated society about manipulation tactics. Children growing up after these culture wars ended learned critical media literacy alongside fermentation techniques. But new challenges appeared. The biological transformations enabled by decades of optimized microbiome health were producing measurable cognitive and physiological changes in younger generations—changes that would force humanity to reckon with what it meant to fundamentally alter human biology through environmental intervention, both on Earth and on the final frontier—in space. You won’t want to miss next week’s FINAL INSTALLMENT of ‘Our Fermented Future’—a Booch News exclusive. Disclaimer This is a work of speculative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, assisted by generative A.I. References to real brands and organizations are used in a wholly imaginative context and are not intended to reflect any actual facts or opinions related to them. No assertions or statements in this post should be interpreted as true or factual. Audio Listen to an audio version of this Episode and all future ones via the Booch News channel on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you just want to listen to the music, tune in as follows: Mira Al-Karim, Symphony for SCOBY and Human Choir 25:54 Here is a complete playlist of all ‘Fermented Future’ songs. Lyrics ©2025 Booch News, music generated with the assistance of Suno. The post Our Fermented Future, Episode 11: The Culture Wars—Battles Over Living Beverages appeared first on 'Booch News.

WonderBrew Kombucha made history by clinching six prestigious titles at the World Kombucha Awards 2025 in Barcelona, Spain. The brand was founded in 2018 by Joseph Poh Wen Xian and Loke Boon Eng. Origins In 2018 Joseph began a journey to transform his gut health. He would walk the aisles of the supermarket, searching for the latest health foods and supplements to try. On one of these fateful trips, he discovered kombucha (which he had never tasted before). Going with his gut instinct, he took a bottle home and, in his words, “It was love at first sip.” He did not know it at the time, but his first purchase was Boon's brand of kombucha. The drink calmed his indigestion and piqued his business senses. A Google search for local kombucha led him to a brewing class by Boon. Joseph signed up for the class. The two were still strangers at this point. After that, Joseph began home-brewing kombucha for personal use as his entrepreneurial spirit began to fizz. When he heard about the kombucha hype overseas, he knew he was sitting on a pot of fermented gold. After extensive study of the local market, Joseph approached Boon to join him as a partner, and WonderBrew was born. I had a sense that this could be a business opportunity in Malaysia. Because it was so rare and it was expensive with mostly the imported products from imported brands from overseas. And it was really not accessible as well. So, based on this market gap, we worked together to create a truly local brand called Wonderbrew in 2018. Joseph, WonderBrew Co-Founder WonderBrew has grown to become Malaysia's leading kombucha producer, with more than 2,000 retail touchpoints across supermarkets, convenience stores, cafes, hotels, and restaurants nationwide. They now employ more than a dozen people. They are on record as aiming to double production in 2026 and to expand their footprint across Southeast Asia, with a focus on the Singapore and Indonesian markets. Since its founding in 2018, it has sold more than 1.5 million bottles. Small batch production To ensure consistent quality and preserve the freshness of their product, they brew in small batches. Award Winning Joseph and Boon made history on the global stage by clinching six prestigious titles at the World Kombucha Awards 2025, held in Barcelona. In its first-ever international competition, WonderBrew emerged as one of the biggest winners at this year's event, clinching one gold, four silvers and one bronze, across both taste and design categories, (see listings below). The feat marks the first time a Malaysian brand has won at the World Kombucha Awards and the first time an Asian brand has secured six titles in a single award year. Flavors Wonderbrew offers a dizzying range of both kombucha and jun flavors. Many use local sources of ingredients and are heavily oriented to fruity flavors: When we first launched our original flavors, we found that based on feedback, something fruity and something on a slightly sweeter side helps new users get used to kombucha. So from there on, we focused very much mostly on fruit-based infusion because for especially new consumers, they don’t really like the vinegary taste. Boon, WonderBrew Co-Founder Kombucha Original: Kombucha in its purest form. The freshness of tea with a malty after-taste. Passionfruit Mint {GOLD: Fruit with Herbs}: A best-selling concoction of fresh passion fruit with a cool after-taste of mint. This is thei Purple Serai: When blue pea and a tinge of lemongrass Acai & Black Goji: Acai and goji berries are used in traditional Asian cooking. Beetroot Basil: A ruby red hue with hints of basil. Nihon Green Tea {SILVER: Original Green Tea} + {SILVER: Single Bottle Design}: Pure kombucha full of floral hints. Tambun Pomelo: Refreshing sweet pomelo grown in Ipoh, the gateway to the Cameron Highlands. Roselle Citrus: An antioxidant-packed kombucha with a hint of lime. Osmanthus Mandarin: An auspicious pairing of “kam” and osmanthus to inspire better gut health. Apple Cinnamon: A delicately brewed kombucha with cinnamon to add warmth. Barley Rose: A brew full of floral hints of rose with the tinge of milkiness of Chinese pearl barley. Tangy Kedondong: The freshness of kampung inspired by kedondong asam boi. Sakura Lychee Rose: A “flower power” pastel blend with notes of lychee. Mango Melur {SILVER: Fruit with Flowers}: Mango with a floral touch of jasmine. Juniper Rosemary: Woody and aromatic. Pineapple Lavender: The tangy sweetness of pineapple meets the calming notes of lavender. Blackberry Guava: Sweet and slightly tart with the fruity undertone of guava. Nutmeg: A cola-inspired blend. Nihon Yuzu Mint: The bright, citrusy essence of yuzu with the cool, refreshing taste of mint. Snow Chrysanthemum: Harvested from the snowy hills of Kunlun mountains. Kurma Honey: Characterized by its deep sweetness, reminiscent of the caramel-like richness of dates. Honey Plum: The sweetness of honey intertwining with the fruity essence of plums. Jun Original: Brewed with pure honey, a crisp brew with notes of wild flowers. Raspberry & Lemon {SILVER: Jun}: Light and subtle with a definite berry taste. Bentong Ginger & Honey: Supercharged with the potent Bentong ginger from Pahang. Pink Guava {BRONZE: Jun}: Sweet, floral notes of ripe pink guava. To celebrate their achievement in Barcelona, they released a limited edition Winning Brew Collection featuring all their five award-winning flavors: Gold: Passionfruit Mint Kombucha Silver: Mango Jasmine Kombucha, Nihon Green Tea Kombucha, Raspberry Lemon Jun Tea Bronze: Pink Guava Jun Tea Marketing In addition to heavily promoting its World Kombucha Awards, Wonderbrew effectively uses social media to promote its beverages. They have over 13,000 Followers on Instagram—the most of any Malaysian brand—and focus on young, sporty, even wealthy consumers. They also celebrate national holidays and religious festivals, including Diwali, Thaipusam, Ramadan, and Chinese New Year. Distribution The majority of their sales are through retail outlets. You will find Wonderbrew in high-end Malls, grocery stores, and fitness centers. They distribute across Malaysia. They also contract pack for other producers. Sustainability The brand prides itself on sourcing locally and partnering with Malaysian farmers to recycle production waste, reinforcing its commitment to sustainability and community empowerment. Composting waste: They send all their waste raw material to a local farm which is then turned into compost. Upcycled SCOBY: They collaborate with local fashion brands who turn their used SCOBY into vegan leather, which are used to make clothing, shoes, or handbags. Minimize plastic use: Their carrier pack is made from recycled cardboard and their drinks are sold in glass bottles, reducing single-use plastic. Recycling program:For every 12 used kombucha bottles returned, customers get one new bottle of kombucha free. Podcast Listen to the podcast to hear Joseph and Boon tell the story of WonderBrew. The post Profile: WonderBrew Kombucha, Malaysia appeared first on 'Booch News.

It's nearly Christmas but Ron still refuses to do anything festive at all on the live stream. Maybe next week. Maybe. Instead we get old Hurburb completely wrecking meetings, a lady with Internet problems who refuses to cooperate at all with anyone that might be trying to help her, a man who is trying to steal sweet gentle Tyrone Scoby's Internet business by re-selling his items, a lady who bought tickets to a really stupid ball game, a man who gets super creeped out by Scoby's advances when he just wants to come and install his new machines and one man doesn't get why sometimes chicken burgers are pink. And lots more too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

This is one in a series about possible futures, published in Booch News over the coming weeks. Episode 9 appeared last week. New episodes drop every Friday. Overview Pharmaceutical companies partnered with kombucha producers to deliver medications via fermentation. Living probiotics became supportive therapy systems, enhancing the efficacy of conventional treatment. Mental health improved as gut-brain axis therapies reduced medication dependency for some patients. This episode follows Dr. Helena Marston’s development of probiotic kombucha strains that improved cancer treatment outcomes when used alongside chemotherapy. When fermented beverages became integrated into medical protocols, traditional pharmaceutical distribution adapted while neighborhood bio-brewers became complementary healthcare providers, expanding medical access through fermentation. Dr. Helena Marston: The Oncologist Who Sought Better Outcomes Dr. Helena Marston never intended to revolutionize supportive cancer care when she began brewing kombucha in the break room of her Stanford oncology lab in 2045. Exhausted by watching patients suffer through chemotherapy’s side effects, she researched whether probiotic supplements could improve treatment tolerance. Her crucial insight came when she realized that kombucha SCOBYs weren’t merely fermentation cultures—they were adaptable biological systems capable of producing compounds that could support conventional cancer therapy. Marston’s breakthrough research began with a challenging case: seven-year-old Christie Steinberg, daughter of her Palo Alto neighbor, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Traditional chemotherapy protocols offered 73% survival rates, but with significant side effects that devastated quality of life. She proposed an experimental adjunct treatment: genetically modified kombucha cultures engineered to produce compounds that could enhance chemotherapy’s effectiveness while reducing its toxicity—not replacing medical treatment, but making it more tolerable and potentially more effective. A Neighbor in Need Dr. Helena Marston encountered her neighbor Gloria Steinberg at a backyard barbecue three days after Christie’s diagnosis. “Helena, I’m so glad to see you,” Gloria exclaimed. “We got Christie’s diagnosis. It’s not good. We start chemo next month.” Marston stopped, put down her drink, and gave her friend full attention. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Gloria. I’ve watched hundreds of families face this. The treatment works, but… the journey is brutal.” Steinberg struggled to hold herself together. “She’s only seven. She should be worried about her spelling test, not about losing her hair. Is there… is there anything that makes this easier?” Helena paused, then spoke. “Actually… there might be. It’s experimental, but I’ve been researching something. Can you come to my office tomorrow?” The next day, Mrs. Steinberg sat across from her friend in the medical office. “Here’s what I’m proposing, Gloria. Three steps.” She counted on her fingers. “One: Christie gets her prescribed chemotherapy—exactly as her oncologist recommends. This is non-negotiable. The chemo is what fights cancer. Two: We sequence her tumor and microbiome. This tells us exactly which supportive compounds might help her specifically. Three: I brew a personalized kombucha that Christie drinks daily. It won’t cure cancer, but early research suggests it might reduce side effects by 15-20%.” Mrs. Steinberg sounded doubtful. “And the risks?” “She’ll be monitored weekly. If anything looks wrong, we stop immediately. But I believe this could help her feel more like Christie during treatment, instead of just ‘the sick kid.'” Later that week, the Steinberg's met with Dr. Medway, their oncologist at the clinic. They were met with skepticism. “Experimental probiotics?” The doctor looked askance. “Mrs. Steinberg, your daughter has a serious cancer. Stick to proven protocols.” “But the side effects…” Gloria glanced at Christie through the window. “Are manageable,” Medway insisted. “We have anti-nausea drugs, blood transfusions.” “I know, but…” Steinberg hesitated. “We’d like to try Dr. Marston’s approach. Alongside the chemo.” “I can’t stop you,” Medway replied. “But if anything goes wrong…” Marston entered the consulting room. “The choice is yours, Gloria. But we need to decide now. Christie starts chemo in two weeks. I need at least ten days to culture her personalized SCOBY.” A few months later… A few months into treatment, Christie sat at the dining table doing homework, thin but alert. Her mother watched from the kitchen, tears in her eyes. She called Dr. Marston. “Helena, things are looking good. She did her homework today. Do you understand what that means? Most kids at this stage of chemo can barely get out of bed. She did her math homework and complained about it being too hard.” The mother laughed through her tears. “She complained. Like a normal kid.” Marston smiled. “That’s the goal. Let her be seven, even while fighting cancer.” The Biological Support System: Engineering Complementary Medicine Marston’s innovation lay in treating SCOBYs as biological factories capable of producing compounds that worked synergistically with conventional cancer treatment. Using Curro Polo’s fermentation modeling techniques combined with Dr. Lila Chen’s microbiome personalization methods, she developed “therapeutic kombucha” that could support chemotherapy by strengthening the patient’s immune system, reducing inflammation, and helping manage treatment side effects. The process began with comprehensive tumor sequencing and treatment planning by Christie’s oncology team. Marston then designed SCOBY cultures to produce compounds that could potentially enhance the child’s response to her prescribed chemotherapy regimen while supporting her overall health. The kombucha became a complementary therapy delivered through daily consumption alongside conventional medical treatment. Christie’s results were encouraging. Her standard chemotherapy protocol achieved complete remission—as expected for her cancer type with proper treatment—but she experienced significantly fewer side effects than typical. Unlike many pediatric cancer patients who suffer severe nausea, fatigue, and immune suppression, Marston’s probiotic kombucha appeared to help Christie maintain better energy, digestive health, and emotional well-being throughout her treatment course. Cautious Optimism: Research Begins Marston’s initial case study, published in Nature Medicine in December 2046, triggered significant medical interest—and considerable scientific skepticism. The article was carefully titled: “Probiotic Kombucha as Adjunct Supportive Care in Pediatric Leukemia: A Single Case Study with Promising Results Requiring Further Investigation.” The medical establishment’s reaction was mixed but intrigued. The Lancet published an editorial titled “Living Probiotics in Cancer Care: Potential Benefits, Critical Questions, and the Need for Rigorous Trials.” The journal’s editor-in-chief noted that while Marston’s work showed promise, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and we must be cautious not to give false hope to desperate patients before proper clinical trials establish safety and efficacy.” The Clinical Reality: Incremental Improvements Marston’s expanded clinical trials, involving 2,000 cancer patients across 12 countries over 8 years, produced results that were scientifically significant but less robust than her initial case suggested. Her therapeutic kombucha, used alongside conventional treatment, demonstrated: 12-18% reduction in severe treatment side effects across various cancer types 23% improvement in treatment completion rates (fewer patients stopping therapy due to intolerance) Enhanced quality of life during treatment compared to control groups 8-15% improvement in specific immunological markers Approximately $150 per month for the probiotic formulation Notably, the studies found that kombucha alone had no anticancer effect—it showed benefits only when used alongside proven medical treatments. Patients who delayed or refused conventional therapy in favor of kombucha alone had dramatically worse outcomes, leading to several preventable deaths that haunted Marston’s research. Media Coverage: Hope and Hype Headlines captured both the promise and the limitations: The Guardian: “Probiotic Kombucha Shows Promise in Reducing Chemotherapy Side Effects: Patients Report Better Quality of Life During Treatment” Wall Street Journal: “Fermented Beverages as Cancer Care Adjunct: Modest Benefits, Affordable Option, But No Replacement for Medical Treatment” The Times of India: “Mumbai Researchers Caution Against Kombucha-Only Cancer Treatment After Patient Deaths” The Lancet editorial: “The Promise and Peril of Probiotic Cancer Care: Why Rigorous Science Matters More Than Anecdotes.” The Integration Challenge: Complementary, Not Alternative Marston faced an unexpected problem: her research was being misrepresented by alternative medicine advocates who claimed she’d “proven kombucha cures cancer.” Several patients died after abandoning conventional treatment based on misunderstandings of her work. This led Marston to become an outspoken advocate for science-based medicine. “Kombucha is not a cancer cure,” she stated repeatedly in interviews. “It’s a supportive therapy that may help some patients tolerate conventional treatment better. Anyone who tells you to replace chemotherapy with fermented beverages is endangering your life.” Marston was aware of well-publicized risks faced by patients who relied exclusively on Complementary and Alternative Medicine treatments. The 2024 Netflix drama Apple Cider Vinegar depicted a character, Milla Blake, whose storyline was loosely based on real-life Australian wellness advocate Jessica Ainscough, who died after using coffee enemas and other alternative therapies to treat her cancer. She had read reports showing that patients who ignore conventional treatment risks believe they can use alternative therapies to replace surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, or immunotherapy. She understood that it is essential for patients and physicians to engage in thorough and honest conversations about the known risks and benefits of all options. The medical community gradually integrated probiotics into supportive care protocols, but always alongside—never instead of—proven treatments. Insurance companies began covering “integrative oncology consultations” where patients learned about evidence-based complementary therapies, including therapeutic fermented foods. Pharmaceutical Adaptation Pharmaceutical companies adapted by developing partnerships with probiotic researchers. Several major firms launched divisions focused on microbiome-based therapies, investing billions to understand how gut bacteria influence drug efficacy and side effects. Johnson & Johnson partnered with Marston’s lab to develop standardized probiotic formulations that could be prescribed alongside their cancer medications. Pfizer acquired several kombucha companies to bring production under quality-controlled manufacturing, ensuring consistency and safety. The industry evolved from viewing probiotics as threats to recognizing them as opportunities—ways to improve existing treatments and develop new therapeutic approaches based on microbiome science. Neighborhood Support: Community Care Alongside Medical Treatment As probiotic research advanced, neighborhood bio-brewers emerged as complementary healthcare supporters—not replacements for medical professionals. Khushi Sengupta transformed her Thames Valley apartment into a brewing facility that produced probiotic kombucha for 200 cancer patients receiving treatment at London hospitals. She worked closely with oncology teams to ensure her products supported rather than interfered with medical care. Community fermentation workshops taught patients and families how to brew supportive probiotics at home, but always emphasized: “This helps you feel better during treatment. It does not replace your doctor’s prescribed therapy.” The Marston Legacy: Integrative Medicine Done Right By 2055, Dr. Marston’s approach had helped establish “evidence-based integrative oncology” as a recognized medical specialty. Her memoir, Brewing Health: How Probiotics Support Medical Treatment, became required reading in medical schools, but its central message was caution: “Complementary therapies can improve quality of life and possibly enhance treatment outcomes, but they work alongside medicine, not instead of it.” Marston’s laboratories focused on rigorous research into microbiome-based therapies, conducting the controlled trials necessary to separate genuine benefits from placebo effects and hype. The Christie Steinberg Story: Survivor and Advocate Christie Steinberg’s journey from cancer diagnosis to becoming a medical researcher inspired many. Now sixteen and cancer-free for nine years—thanks primarily to her chemotherapy regimen and supportive care from Marston’s probiotics—Christie worked as an intern in Marston’s lab studying pediatric oncology applications of microbiome therapies. She speaks at medical conferences about the importance of evidence-based treatment: “Dr. Marston’s kombucha helped me feel better during chemotherapy, which was hard but necessary. I’m alive because of real medicine. The kombucha made the medicine more tolerable, and that matters. But anyone who claims probiotics alone cure cancer is lying.” The Global Impact: Expanded Access to Supportive Care Fermented beverages as supportive therapy expanded access to integrative care that was previously only available at expensive cancer centers. Patients worldwide can now access affordable probiotics that may improve their treatment experience, though outcomes still depend primarily on their conventional medical care. By 2060, cancer treatment had improved through multiple advances—better chemotherapy drugs, immunotherapies, personalized medicine, and yes, supportive probiotics that helped some patients tolerate treatment better. Marston’s contribution was real but modest, one piece of a larger puzzle. In later years, Dr. Marston continued researching microbiome therapies while training the next generation of integrative oncologists. As she watched Christie teach medical students about evidence-based complementary care, Marston reflected: “My most significant achievement wasn’t finding a miracle cure—it was showing how probiotics can support real medicine when used responsibly, with rigorous science and honest communication about what they can and cannot do.” The benefits of kombucha as a complimentary beverage that could be enjoyed by patients undergoing treatment was celebrated by Americana folk singer Birdie Calhoun. Her ‘Survivor's Song' became the unofficial anthem of the integrative oncology movement—not because it celebrates a miracle cure, but because it honestly depicts the small mercies that matter when you’re fighting for your life. Birdie opened for renowned speaker Allison Massari at major medical conferences where the song helped inspire physicians and ignite the power of the human spirit. This illness swiped my eyesTook me by surpriseClouded blue skiesMade me realizeThe real from the fakeCareful what I take.Chemo, x-rays, medicines are toughSome days I feel like I've had enough. [Chorus]But I'm drinking my kombuchaFeeling goodDrinking kombuchaFeeling better than I shouldDrinking kombuchaDay and nightDrinking kombuchaFeeling alrightDrinking kombucha. I'm not claiming it's a cureIt just helps me endureWeight loss, bald head, sick in bedAches in my body, pain in my head. [Chorus] It's a probiotic promiseOf better times to comeA probiotic promiseAnd then someThanks to Helena and Christie tooAnd all the brewers, from me to youA big, big thank youThank youThank you. [Chorus] Epilogue: The Misinformation War Medicine’s evolution toward integrative approaches threatened interests beyond what was expected. As therapeutic probiotics gained acceptance in mainstream medicine, alternative medicine advocates launched misinformation campaigns claiming doctors were suppressing “natural cures” by insisting on scientific evidence. Meanwhile, some pharmaceutical companies opposed complementary therapies, viewing them as threats rather than partners. The real battle wasn’t between “natural” and “conventional” medicine—it was between evidence-based approaches of any kind and those who spread misinformation and profited from making claims without proof. The gloves come off in next week’s installment of ‘Our Fermented Future’, here on Booch News. Disclaimer This is a work of speculative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, assisted by generative A.I. References to real brands and organizations are used in a wholly imaginative context and are not intended to reflect any actual facts or opinions related to them. No assertions or statements in this post should be interpreted as true or factual. Audio Listen to an audio version of this Episode and all future ones via the Booch News channel on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you just want to listen to the music, tune in as follows: Birdie Calhoun, Survivor's Song, 16:08 Lyrics ©2025 Booch News, music generated with the assistance of Suno. The post Our Fermented Future, Episode 10: Liquid Medicine—When Drinks Became Pharmaceuticals appeared first on 'Booch News.

This is one in a series about possible futures, which will be published in Booch News over the coming weeks. Episode 8 appeared last week. New episodes drop every Friday. Overview Fermentation cooperatives represent one effective social organizing principle among many. In the future, kombucha cafes could replace bars and coffee shops as primary gathering spaces—not because the beverages possess magical properties, but because fermentation creates affordable spaces where people gather around shared productive work. This episode explores Mumbai’s “Fermentation District,” where bio-breweries have become community hubs, enabling stronger civic engagement. These spaces succeeded by combining smart urban design, economic cooperation, and cultural preservation into environments that made authentic connection easier than virtual isolation. The Inheritance of Empty Buildings By 2052, colonial-era buildings in Mumbai’s abandoned Ballard Estate business district stood empty after the Great Flood of July 26, 2047, drove businesses to higher ground. Climate refugee and fermentation consultant Khushi Sengupta—one of the Darjeeling tea plantation refugees who had fled to the Thames Valley Mega-tower together with the Tamang family—traveled back to India to visit family and help rebuild the shattered city. Her relatives had made the grueling 1,300-mile journey west from the Darjeeling foothills to Mumbai after their once-thriving tea plantations were devastated by climate change. It is early October. The monsoon rains have ended. Khushi stands in a gutted office building, water stains still visible three meters up the marble walls. She’s meeting municipal planner Rajesh Krishnan, who spreads architectural drawing across a ruined reception desk while Khushi’s eight-year-old daughter Priya explores the echoing space. “The flood created a crisis,” Rajesh explains. “The government wants temporary housing—stack refugees in minimal square footage, provide basic services, move on. But I’ve seen that approach fail in Delhi, Kolkata, and Chennai. Dense housing without social infrastructure creates slums, not communities.” Khushi watches her daughter discover an old fermentation crock in what was once the building’s cafeteria—remnants of someone’s office kombucha hobby. “What if we built around production instead of consumption?” she asks. “In the Thames Valley tower, the tea gardens and fermentation floors weren’t just amenities; they were integral to the process. They gave people something to do together. They created economic relationships.” Rajesh considers this. The 440 lakh rupees allocated to this district could fund either 1,000 housing units with no common spaces or 700 units with shared productive facilities. The conventional approach prioritizes maximum density. However, traditional methods have produced Mumbai’s sprawling slums, where civic engagement is nearly impossible—no gathering spaces, no economic cooperation, everyone struggling individually. “Show me what you’re imagining,” he says. “Back in the UK,” she explains, “we discovered that when people brew together, they talk. When they talk, they coordinate. When they coordinate, they govern themselves. Fermentation doesn’t create democracy—it creates the conditions where democracy can happen. Regular rhythms, shared investment, economic interdependence.” Six Months Later Khushi’s visit has lasted longer than intended, but no matter. Rajesh Krishnan has secured preliminary approval from city authorities for an experimental fermentation space. He’s looking to Khushi to replicate the Thames Valley tower’s success in Mumbai. If only things were that simple. The space is chaotic—babies crying, elders arguing about fermentation technique in four languages, someone’s SCOBY is contaminated and they need to start over. This is not the harmonious vision Rajesh sold to the municipal government. Narayan, a skeptical elder from a traditional Brahmin family, insists proper fermentation requires specific ritual purity. Fatima, a Muslim woman, questions the halal status of kombucha, wanting confirmation that the fermentation process doesn’t produce haram alcohol levels. A Tamil family wants to recreate their grandmother’s rasam kombucha but lacks the ingredients. A couple from Nagaland has never fermented anything and feels overwhelmed. Mountain Bee Innovation Amira Islam, daughter of Honey Islam, founder of Mountain Bee Kombucha, watches Khushi navigate these conflicts. “This is why industrial-scale kombucha failed,” she observes quietly. “They thought they could standardize living processes. But fermentation is always local—local ingredients, local microbes, local knowledge, local preferences.” Amira operates the district’s most experimental bio-brewery in the Mountain Bee Innovation Labs. Her facility spans three floors, each representing a different democratic process through carefully crafted flavor experiences. The Pineapple-Chili Democracy Floor serves Islam’s recreation of the original “crowd favorite” blend for first-time political participants. The bold, balanced combination of juicy pineapples with subtle chili heat creates the perfect environment for introducing newcomers to participatory governance. Citizens nibbling tacos and tortilla chips while debating local issues find the familiar yet exotic flavors lower social barriers and encourage participation. The Flower ‘N Spice Contemplation Level houses the district’s most complex decision-making processes. The striking purple brew—colored by butterfly pea flowers and warmed with fermented green tea spices—induces the meditative state necessary for addressing long-term planning challenges. Residents sip the cinnamon-forward blend through long straws (the founder’s original “pro tip”), allowing the warmth and spice nuances to enhance their focus during lengthy policy discussions. The Bangalore Blue Grape Strategic Floor serves as the district’s evening governance center. The bold, deep-flavored kombucha made from GI-tagged Bangalore Blue Grapes has evolved into the perfect “non-alcoholic nightcap” for late-night budget negotiations and emergency response planning. The antioxidant-rich brew’s complex flavor profile matches the sophisticated nature of high-level municipal decisions. Dramila Kombucha Cultural Exchange The district’s most dynamic space honors Ezhil Mathy’s legacy of constant innovation. The Dramila Kombucha Cultural Exchange features fermentation tanks that change flavors weekly, ensuring democratic processes remain as dynamic as the beverages they accompany. The centerpiece is the “Sundal Council Chamber,” where Mathy’s legendary Mango, Chili & Coconut kombucha facilitates discussions about street food policy and integration of the informal economy. Citizens familiar with Chennai’s East Coast Beach snack culture instantly connect with the flavors of traditional lentil and chickpea preparations, creating cultural common ground among diverse refugee populations. The facility’s seasonal rotation includes Orange & Christmas Spice sessions for holiday planning, Passion Fruit & Tender Coconut forums for tropical agriculture policy, and Rose, Kokum & Ginger assemblies for traditional medicine integration. Each flavor profile creates specific psychological and social conditions that enhance particular types of democratic dialogue. Community Dialogue Khushi calls for attention. “Everyone, stop. Look around. What do you see?” “A mess,” someone mutters. “I see twenty families who will live in this building for years,” Khushi responds. “Right now, you’re strangers. In six months, you’ll be neighbors. In a year, you’ll be a community—or you’ll be strangers who happen to share walls. The difference is whether you learn to work together now, while the stakes are just kombucha.” She proposes a solution: Each family develops its own fermentation tradition while sharing space and equipment. They rotate teaching responsibilities. They pool resources to buy ingredients. They sell surplus together and split profits. “Fermentation is your excuse to gather,” she explains. “Whether your kombucha is halal, whether it follows proper ritual, whether it tastes like your grandmother’s—those are your decisions. What matters is that you make those decisions together, negotiate those differences, and build relationships that will matter when you’re deciding how to manage the building, how to share childcare, how to respond when the next flood comes.” Some remain unconvinced. “In my village, we knew everyone. We didn’t need excuses to cooperate,” Narayan says. “You’re not in your village,” Khushi replies. “You’re in a city of refugees from a hundred villages. The old social structures are gone. Either you build new ones, or you live as isolated atoms in anonymous density. Fermentation gives you something to build around.” SBooch Cultural Preservation By 2053, the district’s first pan-India commercial operation was established. The SBooch Heritage Collective occupies six floors of a restored Art Deco building. Each floor represents a different Indian regional fermentation tradition. But this isn’t a museum—it’s a working brewery preserving the vision of founder Nirraj Manek and brand ambassador Chef Niyati Rao’s regional Indian recipes. Anika Rao, Chef Niyati’s daughter, now in her early thirties, gives a tour while a health inspector takes notes. The Nagaland floor ferments with ingredients foraged from remaining forest patches. The Odisha level celebrates rice-based fermentation. The Tamil Nadu floor recreates rasam combinations. The fermentation tanks perfectly replicate Chef Niyati’s “From the kitchens of South” blend. Citizens debating water management policies sip the “neither too sour, nor too spicy” combination of tomato, hing, tamarind, and earthy spices that once defined authentic Madurai flavor. The Maharashtra level serves Koshimbir kombucha—”a salad in a bottle”—to residents discussing urban agriculture proposals. The drink’s tomato, cucumber, and coriander profile literally connects voters to the vertical gardens they’re planning. The Gujarat section’s Gor Keri kombucha, capturing the “sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy” essence founders once described as “straight from Nani’s house,” becomes the traditional beverage for intergenerational council meetings where elders share wisdom with climate refugee youth. “My mother spent twenty years documenting regional Indian fermentation before climate change destroyed many of these ecosystems,” Anika explains. “These recipes aren’t just flavors—they’re genetic libraries of microbial diversity adapted to specific ingredients and climates that no longer exist.” The health inspector finds violations: incomplete temperature logs, a fermentation batch showing contamination, and inadequate equipment-cleaning protocols. “This is exactly what corporate interests warned about,” he says. “Artisanal operations can’t maintain safety standards. Why not just let established beverage companies make these flavors?” “Because they can’t,” Anika explains patiently. “Corporate fermentation optimizes for consistency and shelf stability. My mother’s Gor Keri kombucha required fresh ingredients, seasonal variation, and bacterial strains that evolved over centuries in Gujarat’s climate. You can’t mass-produce that while maintaining quality. But you also can’t scale traditional home brewing without safety oversight. We’re finding a middle path.” “We’re learning,” she tells the health inspector. “Some of us come from traditional fermentation backgrounds, but we’re working at scales our grandmothers never imagined. We need training, equipment, and yes—regulation that protects consumers without requiring million-dollar compliance costs that only corporations can afford.” They work out a solution: The district will establish a shared food safety laboratory that multiple small breweries can use. The health department will provide training tailored to fermentation cooperatives. Standards will be maintained, but costs will be shared. The Governance Crisis By 2060, the Fermentation District has succeeded beyond expectations. Municipal services costs are 40% below comparable districts. Crime rates are minimal. Economic activity is robust. But success creates new problems. A real estate developer wants to buy three buildings for luxury condos, using funds that could expand into adjacent blocks for more climate refugee housing. But accepting would displace two established breweries and change the district’s character. A hastily convened community meeting is contentious. Over two hundred residents crowd into the plaza. Brewery operators want to reject the offer—their businesses can’t relocate without losing their customer base. Newer refugees wish to accept—housing is desperately needed, and the money could help hundreds of families. Some suggest negotiating with the developer. Others propose alternative funding sources. Khushi notices something important: this chaotic, frustrating meeting is democracy in action. People with different interests are arguing, proposing alternatives, forming coalitions, making their cases, doing the hard work of negotiating between legitimate competing interests. “Why can’t we just all agree on what’s best?” one resident demands. “Because there isn’t one ‘best,'” Khushi replies. “There are trade-offs. Economic development versus community character. Immediate housing needs versus long-term sustainability. Individual property rights versus collective planning. Real democracy is managing these conflicts, not eliminating them.” “But the breweries bring people together,” a young activist shouts from the back. “That creates unity!” “Sure,” Khushi agrees. “The breweries give us regular reasons to talk. That creates communication. But straightforward unity of purpose is a fantasy. The democratic process is messy, slow, and frustrating. But it’s the only way diverse people with different interests can govern themselves.” After four hours, they reach an imperfect compromise: accept the developer’s offer for one building (the least established brewery agrees to relocate with compensation), use the funds to purchase and convert two adjacent buildings, then lobby the municipality for additional zoning changes that would allow more mixed residential/commercial space. Nobody is completely satisfied. The relocated brewery owner is unhappy. The developer wanted all three buildings. Some refugees will wait longer for housing. But the decision was made collectively through a genuine democratic process. The Comparative Study Dr. Meera Patel, an urban sociologist from IIT Bombay, was pleased that her research into the Fermentation District had concluded. At the Indian Sociological Society’s annual meeting, Dr. Patel’s presentation showed comparative data on the Fermentation District versus three control districts with similar demographics, climate impacts, and initial conditions. The numbers were convincing: A skeptical academic challenges her, never one to miss an opportunity to critique ethnographic methodology. “How do you isolate the effect of fermentation from other variables? The Fermentation District also has better architectural design, more green space, and different economic models. Maybe it’s not the kombucha at all.” “Exactly,” Dr. Patel agrees. “That’s precisely our conclusion. The fermentation cooperatives succeed because they’re part of an integrated social infrastructure. As my next slide demonstrates…” Another academic chimes in. “So this isn’t about probiotics improving ‘cognitive architecture’ or gut bacteria changing behavior, as some have argued?” Dr. Patel laughs. “No. This is about urban design and social capital. The Fermentation District succeeds because it fosters conditions allowing social capital to develop. That requires physical spaces, economic structures, and cultural frameworks. The fermentation is the organizing principle, not a biochemical intervention.” After the meeting ends, a journalist from Dainik Jagran stops her in the hallway. “So the secret to better communities is kombucha?” “It’s not that simple,” Dr. Patel replies. “The secret to better communities is giving people reasons and spaces to cooperate regularly around shared interests. Fermentation cooperatives provide that. As do community gardens, craft guilds, neighborhood workshops, or any structure that combines gathering space, productive work, and economic cooperation. The specific activity matters less than the social infrastructure it creates.” Expansion and Limitations By the mid-2060s, Khushi Sengupta had become quite the world traveler. She conducted workshops for groups from São Paulo, Detroit, Jakarta, and Lagos who wanted to replicate the Fermentation District model. Some experiments worked. Others didn’t. She learned what works and what doesn’t. In São Paulo, a Brazilian team adapted the model using traditional cachaça and fermented vegetable cooperatives rather than kombucha. They understood the principle: create spaces for regular productive cooperation. The specific fermentation tradition mattered less than the social infrastructure. There were misgivings. A member of the São Paulo cooperative shared his concerns. “Some people tell us we’re appropriating Indian culture by copying your model.” “You’re not copying our model,” Khushi reassured him. “You’re applying principles of community design to your own cultural context, in your neighborhood, with your people, using your fermentation traditions. That’s exactly right. If you tried to make Indian kombucha in São Paulo, you’d fail. Local knowledge, local ingredients, local preferences—those matter. The universal principle is: give people spaces and reasons to cooperate productively.” However, in Detroit, Michigan, things didn’t go so well. A well-funded American attempt failed because it focused on breweries rather than broader social architecture. They built beautiful fermentation facilities but maintained standard apartment layouts with no common areas, standard economic models with no cooperative ownership, and standard social patterns with no regular gathering rhythms. Result: fancy kombucha cafes in an anonymous apartment complex. Civic engagement remained minimal. The grandson of a Bloomfield Hills auto executive raised his concerns. “Our city has vacant buildings, unemployed workers, and a need for community spaces. But we also have deep racial divisions, economic devastation, and institutional distrust. Will fermentation cooperatives solve those problems?” Khushi looked him in the eyes. She saw confusion, fear, and some resentment. “No,” she replied. “They’ll create spaces where people can begin working on those problems together. That’s all. Social infrastructure makes cooperation easier—it doesn’t eliminate the need for difficult negotiations, institutional reform, or economic justice.” Things went better in New York City, where the government-owned grocery stores opened in the 2020s by Mayor Mamdani connected environmental justice to social equity, leading to fermentation hubs across all five boroughs. From the hipsters of Brooklyn to the intellectuals of the Upper West Side, fermentation flourished. Despite valiant efforts, the Nigerian organizers of the Lagos Fermentation District struggled as rapid population growth overwhelmed the social infrastructure. The breweries helped but couldn’t keep pace with demand. They learned that social infrastructure requires matching population density, economic resources, and gathering spaces. Priya, now in her early twenties and a valued assistant, asks her mother a difficult question: “Some people say you’re claiming fermentation fixes everything. That makes other people angry, and they reject the whole idea. Why not just be clear about what works?” Khushi pauses. Her daughter has identified the communication challenge. “You’re right. The media likes simple stories: ‘Kombucha magic creates perfect communities.’ That’s not what happened. But writing that ‘Carefully designed social infrastructure including fermentation cooperatives as one element of integrated community development produces measurably better outcomes in contexts with adequate resources and population densities’ doesn’t make a good headline.” An Uncomfortable Truth In 2072, the twentieth anniversary celebration of the pioneering Mumbai District is bittersweet. The district has succeeded by many measures, but not all. There are now over 2,000 residents with stable housing and 47 active fermentation cooperatives. Crime rates remain low, civic engagement is high, and economic vitality is sustained. The model has been replicated in twelve cities worldwide. However, problems persist. Two hundred families who couldn’t adapt to the cooperative model have left the district. Three breweries have failed due to mismanagement, and tensions persist between traditional and innovative fermentation approaches. The debate over raw, pasteurized, and kombucha from concentrate remains no closer to resolution than when the first KBI Verified Seal Program was introduced. Economic inequality has arisen between successful breweries and those struggling to survive. The district remains dependent on municipal support for infrastructure. Since the architectural design requires space, the model doesn’t scale to very high densities, and some residents never fully engage despite the infrastructure. Dr. Patel presents her updated research at the Indian Sociological Society annual meeting. “The Fermentation District demonstrates that thoughtfully designed social infrastructure produces measurably better community outcomes,” she says. “But it’s not magic. About 75% of residents actively participate—that’s remarkably high, but not universal. Economic challenges persist. Cultural conflicts continue. The infrastructure makes cooperation easier, not automatic.” Khushi Sengupta delivers the conference closing keynote to the assembled urban planners, architects, and sociologists. Her speech is brutally honest: “Twenty years ago, we had empty buildings and displaced people. We made several choices. We chose to build community around shared, productive work, and we decided on fermentation because it connected people to cultural traditions while creating economic opportunities. It worked—better than conventional refugee housing, worse than utopian expectations. But understand: kombucha didn’t create democracy. Democracy created the kombucha. We chose to govern ourselves collectively, and fermentation provided us with a tangible focus for coordination. The breweries are symbols of cooperation, not its cause. “Other communities should learn from what works: provide people with spaces to gather, opportunities to share, economic stakes in outcomes, and cultural practices that connect them. Whether that’s fermentation, gardening, crafts, or childcare collectives matters less than the underlying principles. “But also learn from what didn’t work: This approach requires resources, space, and time. It works best at the neighborhood scale, not the megacity scale. It requires people willing to cooperate—you can’t force community. And it doesn’t address deep-seated structural problems like poverty, discrimination, or political corruption. It creates spaces where people can work on those problems together.” Epilogue: Priya’s Generation It’s 2072, and Priya Sengupta, now twenty-eight, is an associate professor in urban planning at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Priya leads a tour of the Fermentation District for her freshman class. She’s grown up in this environment and can explain it clearly: “This is where I learned that communities are designed, not natural,” she tells the students. “My mother’s generation made choices: how to use space, how to structure economics, how to create gathering rhythms, how to preserve culture while adapting to change. “My generation is studying these principles so we can design better communities as climate change continues displacing populations. We’re not looking for magic solutions. We’re looking for replicable, adaptable, evidence-based approaches to community building that work at different scales in different contexts. “The Fermentation District is a notable example of success. It’s not the only way, not the perfect way, but it’s a way that worked here. That’s worth learning from.” A student asks: “What would you tell someone who claims fermented beverages biochemically produce civic engagement?” Priya doesn’t hesitate: “I’d say they’re confusing correlation with causation. People who drink kombucha in this district are more civically engaged—but not because of the beverage. They’re engaged because the brewing cooperatives create social infrastructure that makes engagement easier, more rewarding, and more necessary. The kombucha is correlation, not cause.” Priya enjoys brewing kombucha with her class, teaching fermentation while explaining urban design principles. The next generation understands: it’s not about magic beverages. It’s about designing communities that make cooperation easier than isolation. Celebration Bollywood celebrated Mumbai’s Ballard Fermentation District in a feature-length film Baadh Ke Baad (After the Flood). The hit song from that movie was Sab Milkar Ab (All Together Now). The English translation reads: In the Ballard District we set up shopRefugees who gathered togetherBrewing kombucha non-stopSafe from stormy weather Stay togetherPlay togetherStay together All together nowAll together now One SCOBYOne goalOne peopleOut of the manyOne Local ingredientsLocal microbesLocal knowledgeLocal choice Fermenting togetherGoverning togetherRegular rhythmsCooperationTolerancePeace The Medical Revolution Awaits As democracy evolved through fermentation, an exhausted oncologist in her Stanford University break room was making a discovery that would transform medicine itself. What began as desperate compassion for dying patients would prove that the most sophisticated pharmaceuticals weren’t manufactured in sterile laboratories—they were brewed in living partnerships. We reveal the details in next week’s installment, available only on Booch News. Disclaimer This is a work of speculative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, assisted by generative A.I. References to real brands and organizations are used in a wholly imaginative context and are not intended to reflect any actual facts or opinions related to them. No assertions or statements in this post should be interpreted as true or factual. Audio Listen to an audio version of this Episode and all future ones via the Booch News channel on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. To hear the songs from this and past episodes, check out the Playlist menu at the top of the Booch News home page. The post Our Fermented Future, Episode 9: The Urban Sociology of Fermentation appeared first on 'Booch News.

This is one in a series about possible futures, which will be published in Booch News over the coming weeks. Episode 7 appeared last week. New episodes drop every Friday. Overview Peer-to-peer flavor-sharing platforms enabled home brewers to distribute taste profiles as digital files. Blockchain-verified SCOBY genetics allowed anyone to recreate award-winning kombucha flavors. Traditional beverage companies lost control as open-source fermentation recipes spread globally. This episode follows teenage hacker Luna Reyes as she reverse-engineers Heineken’s proprietary “A-yeast” strain and the century-old master strain used for Budweiser, releasing them under Creative Commons license, triggering a flavor renaissance that made corporate beverages taste like cardboard by comparison. Luna Reyes: The Seventeen-Year-Old Who Liberated Flavor Luna Reyes was brewing kombucha in her Oakland garage when she changed the course of human history. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, she had learned fermentation from her grandmother while teaching herself bioinformatics through YouTube tutorials and volunteering at the Counter Culture Labs Maker Space on Shattuck Avenue. By fifteen, she was running the Bay Area’s most sophisticated home laboratory, utilizing jury-rigged DNA sequencers and microscopes constructed from smartphone cameras. Her breakthrough came in February 2043 while investigating why her kombucha never tasted quite like expensive craft varieties and was different again from her grandmother’s home brew. Using Crispr techniques learned from online forums, Luna began reverse-engineering the microbial genetics of premium alcoholic beverages. Her target wasn’t kombucha—it was the closely guarded yeast strains that gave corporate beers their distinctive flavors. Luna hunched over her microscope, examining bacterial cultures from her latest kombucha batch. Around her, salvaged DNA sequencers hummed, fermentation vessels bubbled, and computer screens displayed multi-hued patterns of genetic sequences. Her grandmother, Rosa, entered carrying a tray with three glasses of homemade kombucha. “Mija, you’ve been working for six hours straight. Drink something.” Luna accepted the glass without looking up. “Abuela, your kombucha tastes better than anything I can buy in stores and the ones I’ve experimented with. Why? I’m using the same base ingredients—tea, sugar, water—but mine never has this complexity.” Her grandmother laughed. “Because I’ve been feeding this SCOBY for forty years. It knows what to do. You can’t rush relationships.” Luna’s sister Maya, lounging against a workbench, waved her phone. “Luna, people have noticed your forum post about Health-Ade’s fermentation process. Someone says you’re wasting your time trying to replicate commercial kombuchas.” “I’m not trying to replicate them,” Luna said, finally looking up. “I’m trying to understand why their kombucha tastes different than that I make at home. It’s not the ingredients. It’s not the process. It’s the microbial genetics.” Rosa sat down beside her granddaughter. “When I was young in Oaxaca, every family had their own kombucha culture, passed down generation to generation. Each tasted different because the bacteria adapted to their environment, their ingredients, their care. We had a saying, Hay tantas fermentaciones en el mundo como estrellas en el cielo nocturno – there are as many ferments in the world as stars in the night sky. The big companies want every bottle to be identical. That kills what makes fermentation special.” “Exactly!” Luna pulled up genetic sequences on her screen. “I’ve been reverse-engineering samples from different commercial kombuchas. Health-Ade, GT’s, Brew Dr—they all have consistent microbial profiles.” The Great Heist: Cracking Corporate DNA Luna’s first major hack targeted Heineken’s legendary “A-yeast” strain, developed in 1886 by Dr. Hartog Elion—a student of renowned chemist Louis Pasteur—in the company’s Amsterdam laboratory and protected by over 150 years of trade secret law. Using samples obtained from discarded brewery waste (technically legal under the “garbage doctrine”), she spent six months mapping the strain’s complete genetic sequence in her makeshift lab. The breakthrough required extraordinary ingenuity. Luna couldn’t afford professional gene sequencers, so she modified a broken Illumina iSeq100 purchased on eBay for $200. Her sequencing runs took weeks rather than hours; her results were identical to those produced by million-dollar laboratory equipment. Her detailed laboratory notebooks, later published as The Garage Genomics Manifesto, became essential reading for the biotech hacker movement. The Budweiser project proved even more challenging. Anheuser-Busch’s century-old master strain had been protected by layers of corporate secrecy rivaling classified military programs. The company maintained multiple backup cultures in cryogenic facilities across three continents, never allowing complete genetic mapping by outside researchers. Luna’s success required infiltrating the company’s waste-disposal systems at four breweries, collecting samples over 18 months while evading corporate security. The Decision The night before Luna was scheduled to meet her fellow bio-hackers at Oakland’s Counter Culture Labs, she sat at her workstation, hesitant, wondering if she was doing the right thing. Her sister Maya came in, looking worried. “Luna, I found something you need to see,” she says. “Remember Marcus Park? He tried releasing proprietary yeast information in 2039. Heineken buried him. He lost everything. His daughter dropped out of college. His wife left him. He’s working at a gas station now.” Luna spent the night researching what happened to Park. She found that almost everyone who challenged corporate IP ended up on the losing side of the law. It was not pretty. In the morning, Abuela Rosa finds her crying in her room. “Mija, what’s wrong?” she asks. “Oh, Abuela,” Luna says between sobs. “What am I doing? What if I’m wrong? What if I destroy our family? What if this ruins Mom and Dad? What if I’m just being selfish?” “That’s the fear talking.” Her grandmother reassured her. “Fear is wisdom warning you to be careful. But fear can also be a cage.” That evening at the Counter Culture Labs, Luna assembled a small group of advisors. She needed their guidance. She had the completed genetic sequences for Heineken A-yeast and Budweiser’s master strain on her laptop, ready for release. But is this the time and place to release them to the world? Dr. Marcus Webb, a bioinformatics researcher in his forties and Luna’s mentor, examined her sequencing data. “This is solid work, Luna. Your jury-rigged equipment is crude. The results are accurate. You’ve fully mapped both strains.” “The question isn’t whether I can do it,” Luna said. “It’s whether I should let the world know I did it.” On screen, Cory Doctorow, the author and digital rights activist, leaned forward. “Let’s be clear about what you’re proposing. You’d be releasing genetic information that corporations have protected as trade secrets for over a century. They’ll argue you stole their intellectual property. You’ll face lawsuits, possibly criminal charges.” “Is it their property?” Luna challenged. “These are naturally occurring organisms. They didn’t create that yeast. Evolution did. They just happened to be there when it appeared. That does not make it theirs any more than finding a wildflower means they own the species. Can you really own something that existed before you found it?” Doctorow, the Electronic Frontier Foundation representative spoke up. “There’s legal precedent both ways. Diamond v. Chakrabarty established that genetically modified organisms can be patented. But naturally occurring genetic sequences? That’s murky. The companies will argue that their decades of cultivation and protection created protectable trade secrets.” “Trade secrets require keeping information secret,” Luna argued. “They throw this yeast away constantly. If they’re not protecting it, how can they claim trade secret status?” Dr. Webb cautioned, “Luna, even if you’re legally in the right—which is debatable—you’re seventeen years old. You’ll be fighting multinational corporations with unlimited legal resources. They’ll bury you in litigation for years.” “That’s where we come in,” Doctorow said. “The EFF can provide legal defense. Creative Commons can help structure the license. You need to understand: this will consume your life. College, career plans, normal teenage experiences—all on hold while you fight this battle.” Luna was quiet for a moment, then pulled up a photo on her laptop: her grandmother Rosa, teaching her to ferment at age seven. “My abuela says fermentation is about sharing and passing living cultures between generations. Corporations have turned it into intellectual property to be protected and controlled. If I can break that control—even a little—isn’t that worth fighting for?” Maya spoke up from the back. “Luna, I love you, but you’re being naive. They won’t just sue you. They’ll make an example of you. Your face on every news channel, portrayed as a thief, a criminal. Our family harassed. Your future destroyed. For what? So people can brew beer with the same yeast as Heineken?” “Not just beer,” Luna responded passionately. “This is about whether living organisms can be owned. Whether genetic information—the code of life itself—can be locked behind intellectual property law. Yes, it starts with beer yeast. But what about beneficial bacteria? Life-saving microorganisms? Medicine-producing fungi? Where does it end?” Dr. Webb nodded slowly. “She’s right. This is bigger than beer. As biotech advances, genetic control becomes power over life itself. Do we want corporations owning that?” Doctorow sighed. “If you do this, Luna, do it right. Release everything simultaneously—BitTorrent, WikiLeaks, Creative Commons servers, distributed networks worldwide. Make it impossible to contain. Include complete cultivation protocols so anyone can reproduce your results. Make the data so damn widely available that suppressing it becomes futile.” “And write a manifesto,” he added. “Explain why you’re doing this. Frame the issue. Make it about principles, not piracy.” Luna nodded, fingers already typing. “When should I release?” “Pick a date with symbolic meaning,” Dr. Webb suggested. “Make it an event, not just a data dump.” Luna smiled. “December 15. The Bill of Rights Day. Appropriate for declaring biological rights, don’t you think?” Maya groaned. “You’re really doing this, aren’t you?” “Yes. I’m really doing this.” The Creative Commons Liberation On Tuesday, December 15, 2043—a date now celebrated as “Open Flavor Day”—Luna released the genetic sequences on multiple open-source networks. Her manifesto, titled Your Grandmother’s Yeast Is Your Birthright, argued that microbial genetics belonged to humanity’s shared heritage rather than corporate shareholders. It stated: Commercial companies have protected yeast strains for over a century. They’ve used intellectual property law to control flavor itself. But genetic information isn’t like a recipe or a formula—it’s biological code that evolved over millions of years before humans ever cultivated it. These strains are protected as trade secrets—the bacteria don’t belong to anyone. They existed before Heineken, before Budweiser, before trademark law. The companies just happened to isolate and cultivate them. Her data packages included DNA sequences and complete protocols for cultivating, modifying, and improving the strains. Luna’s releases came with user-friendly software that allowed amateur brewers to simulate genetic modifications before attempting them in real fermentations. Within 24 hours, over ten thousand people worldwide downloaded the files. The Creative Commons community erupted in celebration. Cory Doctorow’s blog post, The Teenager Who Stole Christmas (From Corporate Beer), went viral within hours. The Electronic Frontier Foundation immediately offered Luna legal protection, while the Free Software Foundation created the “Luna Defense Fund” to support her anticipated legal battles. The Legal Assault Heineken’s response was swift. The company filed emergency injunctions in 12 countries simultaneously, seeking to prevent the distribution of its “stolen intellectual property.” Their legal team, led by former U.S. Attorney General William Barr III, demanded Luna’s immediate arrest for “economic terrorism” and “theft of trade secrets valued at over $50 billion.” Anheuser-Busch’s reaction was even more extreme. CEO Marcel Telles IV appeared on CNBC, calling Luna “a bioterrorist who threatens the foundation of American capitalism.” The company hired private investigators to surveil Luna’s family and offered a $10 million reward for information leading to her prosecution. Their legal filing compared Luna’s actions to “stealing the formula for Coca-Cola and publishing it in the New York Times.” In Heineken’s Amsterdam headquarters, executives convened an emergency meeting. “Who is Luna Reyes?” the CEO demanded. The legal counsel pulled up information. “She’s a seventeen-year-old high school student in Oakland, California. No criminal record. Volunteers at a maker space. Has been posting about fermentation on various forums for years.” “A child released our proprietary yeast strain to the world, and we didn’t know she was even working on this?” The CEO’s face reddened. “How do we contain it?” “We can’t. It’s distributed across thousands of servers in dozens of countries with different IP laws. We can sue Reyes, but the information is out there permanently.” An executive interjected, “What about the other breweries? Will they join our lawsuit?” “Some are considering it. Others…” The counsel paused. “Others are quietly downloading the sequences themselves. They see an opportunity to break our market dominance.” “She obtained samples from our waste disposal,” another executive explained. “Technically legal under the garbage doctrine. The sequencing itself isn’t illegal. The release under Creative Commons…” “Is theft!” the CEO shouted. “File emergency injunctions. Twelve countries. Get her arrested for economic terrorism.” Similar scenes played out at Anheuser-Busch headquarters in St. Louis. CEO Telles addressed his team: “This is bioterrorism. She’s destroyed intellectual property worth billions. I want her prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Hire private investigators. Find everything about her and her family. Make her life hell!” By noon, both companies had filed lawsuits. By evening, Fox News was running stories about the “teenage bioterrorist” who “stole American corporate secrets.” Back in Oakland, Luna’s phone rang constantly. Her parents discovered what she’d done. Her mother cried. Her father was furious and terrified. Friends called with either congratulations or warnings. She was convinced that private investigators were photographing their house. Maya suspected she was followed to work. On Wednesday morning, Dr. Webb calls: “Luna, they’re offering me $2 million to testify against you. They’re going after everyone in your network.” Luna has a sickening feeling that she’s put everyone at risk. By Thursday, she is considering taking it all back somehow, sending an apology to the corporations, anything to protect her family. Luna turned off her phone and sat with her grandmother. “It’s started,” Luna said quietly. “Sí, mija. You’ve declared war. Now we see if you can survive it.” Maya burst in, laptop in hand. “Luna, you need to see this. The downloads aren’t slowing—they’re accelerating. Every time Heineken or Budweiser shuts down a website, ten mirror sites appear. People are treating this like a digital freedom fight. You’ve become a symbol.” Luna pulled up her own screen. The #FreeLuna hashtag was trending. Crowdfunding campaigns for her legal defense had raised $400,000 in twelve hours. Academic institutions were publicly endorsing her release, calling it “essential scientific information.” “They’re trying to destroy you,” Maya said, “but they’re making you famous instead.” Rosa handed Luna a fresh kombucha. “This is what happens when you fight for what’s right, mija. Sometimes the world surprises you by supporting you.” Luna’s Fame The corporations’ attempts to suppress Luna’s releases had the opposite effect. Every cease-and-desist letter generated thousands of new downloads. The genetic data became impossible to contain once the academic community embraced Luna’s work. Dr. Jennifer Doudna, the legendary Crispr pioneer now in her eighties, publicly endorsed Luna’s releases in a Science magazine editorial: Ms. Reyes has liberated essential scientific information that corporations held hostage for commercial gain. Genetic sequences from naturally occurring organisms should not be locked behind intellectual property law. They belong to humanity’s knowledge commons. While corporations claim Luna stole trade secrets, I argue she freed biological knowledge that was never theirs to own. There are no trade secrets in biology—only knowledge temporarily hidden from the commons. This is civil disobedience of the highest order—breaking unjust laws to advance human freedom. Ms. Reyes didn’t steal; she liberated. MIT’s biology department invited Luna to lecture, while Harvard offered her a full scholarship despite her lack of a high school diploma. The legal battles consumed corporate resources while generating negative publicity. Heineken’s stock price dropped 34% as consumers organized boycotts in support of Luna’s “yeast liberation.” Beer sales plummeted as customers waited for home-brewed alternatives using Luna’s open-source genetics. The Flavor Renaissance Luna’s releases triggered an explosion of creativity that corporate R&D departments had never imagined. Within six months, amateur brewers worldwide were producing thousands of flavor variations impossible under corporate constraints. The open-source model enabled rapid iteration and global collaboration, rendering traditional brewing companies obsolete. The world was engaged. In some of the most unlikely places. In Evanston, Illinois, a group of former seminary students who discovered fermentation during a silent retreat, transformed Gregorian chants into microbial devotionals. Tenor Marcus Webb (Dr. Webb’s nephew) realized symbiosis mirrored vocal harmony—multiple voices creating something greater than their parts. “In honoring the mystery of fermentation we express our love of the Creator,” he said. Here's ‘Consortium Vocalis' honoring the mother SCOBY. [Chorus]Our SCOBYIs pureOur SCOBYIs strongOur SCOBYKnows no boundariesOur SCOBYStrengthens as it fermentsOur SCOBYIs bacteria and yeast Our SCOBYTurns sucrose into glucose and fructoseIt ferments these simple sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide,Acetic acid bacteria oxidize much of that ethanol into organic acidsSuch as acetic, gluconic, and other acids.This steadily lowers the pHMaking the tea taste sour-tangy instead of purely sweet. [Chorus] Our SCOBYThen helps microbes produce acids, enzymes, and small amounts of B‑vitaminsWhile probiotics grow in the liquid.The pH falls to help inhibit unwanted microbesOur SCOBY creates a self-preserving, acidic environment in the tea [Chorus] In Kingston, Jamaica, Rastafarian’s combined an award-winning kombucha sequenced in Humboldt County, California, with locally grown ganja into a sacramental beverage to help open their mind to reasoning and focus on Jah. Once fermented, it was consumed over the course of a three-day Nyabinghi ceremony. “Luna Reyes is truly blessed. She strengthened our unity as a people, and our Rastafari’ booch help us chant down Babylon,” a Rasta man smiled, blowing smoke from a spliff the size of his arm. The Groundation Collective’s reggae anthem ‘Oh Luna’ joyfully celebrated Luna Reyes’ pioneering discovery. Oh Luna, Oh Luna, Oh Luna ReyesI love the sound of your nameYou so deserve your fame Luna, Luna, Oh Luna ReyesShining brightYou warm my heart Luna, Luna, Oh Luna ReyesYou cracked the codeTeenage prophet, fermentation queenSymbiosis roadA genius at seventeen Oh Luna, Luna, Luna ReyesBeautiful moonMakes me swoon Oh Luna, Luna, Luna ReyesFreedom to fermentYou are heaven sentTo save us Luna, Luna, Oh Luna ReyesYou opened the doorTo so much moreKombucha tastes so goodLike it should Oh Luna, Oh Luna, Oh LunaI love you, love you, love youOh Luna, Luna, LunaLove you, love you,Love Luna, Luna love. In São Paulo, Brazil, MAPA-certified Brazilian kombucha brands combined Heineken and cacao-fermenting yeasts with cupuaçu from indigenous Amazonian peoples, to create the chocolate-flavored ‘booch that won Gold at the 20th World Kombucha Awards. A cervejeiro explained to reporters: “Luna Reyes gave us the foundation. We added local innovation. This is what happens when you democratize biology.” The Brazilian singer Dandara Sereia covered ‘Our Fermented Future’—The Hollow Pines tune destined to become a hit at the 2053 Washington DC Fermentation Festival. Baby sit a little closer, sip some ‘booch with meI brewed this batch with the SCOBY my grandma gave to me.On the back porch swing at twilight, watching fireflies danceYour hand in mine, kombucha fine, the sweetest sweet romance. They say that wine and roses are the way to win the heartBut your kombucha warmed me right up from the start.Fermentation makes the heart grow fonder, truer words they ain’t been saidYour SCOBY’s got a place forever — in my heart, and in my bed. Let’s share our SCOBYs, baby, merge our ferments into oneLike cultures in a crock jar dancing, underneath the sun.The tang of your Lactobacillus is exactly what I’m missingYour Brettanomyces bacteria got this country girl reminiscing. Oh yeah, let’s share those SCOBYs, baby, merge our ferments into oneYour yeasts and my bacteria working till the magic’s doneYou’ve got the acetic acid honey, I’ve got the patience and the timeLet’s bubble up together, let our cultures intertwine. I’ve got that symbiotic feeling, something wild and something trueYour SCOBY’s in my heart, right there next to youThe way your Acetobacter turns sugar into goldIs how you turned my lonely life into a hand to hold. We’ve got the acetic acid and the glucuronic tooWe’ve got that symbiotic feeling, so righteous and so trueOne sip of your sweet ‘booch, Lord, and you had me from the start,It’s our fermented future, that no-one can tear apart. It’s our fermented future…It’s our fermented future…It’s our fermented future… “Luna Variants”—strains derived from her releases—began winning international brewing competitions, embarrassing corporate entries with their complexity and innovation. Traditional beer flavors seemed flat and artificial compared to the genetic symphonies created by collaborative open-source development. Despite the outpouring of positive vibes, the corporations spared no expense to hold Luna to account in the courts. The Preliminary Hearing A preliminary hearing was held in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California on June 14, 2044. Luna sat at the defendant’s table, her hands folded so tightly her knuckles had gone white. She wore a borrowed blazer—too big in the shoulders—over a white button-down shirt Maya had ironed that morning. At seventeen, she looked even younger under the courtroom’s fluorescent lights. Across the aisle, Heineken’s legal team occupied three tables. Fifteen attorneys in matching navy suits shuffled documents and whispered into phones. Their lead counsel, William Barr III, wore gold cufflinks that caught the light when he gestured. Luna recognized him from the news—the former Attorney General, now commanding $2,000 an hour to destroy people like her. Her own legal representation consisted of two people: Rose Kennerson from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a public interest lawyer who’d flown in from DC on a red-eye, and Dr. Marcus Webb, technically a witness but sitting beside Luna because she’d asked him to. Behind them, the gallery was packed. Luna’s parents sat in the second row, her father’s face gray, her mother clutching a rosary. Maya had taken the day off work. Abuela Rosa sat in the front row directly behind Luna, her ancient SCOBY wrapped in silk in her lap, as if its presence might protect her granddaughter. Judge Catherine Ironwood entered—sixty-ish, steel-gray hair pulled back severely, known for pro-corporate rulings. She’d been a pharmaceutical industry lawyer for twenty years before her appointment. “All rise,” the bailiff called. Judge Ironwood settled into her chair and surveyed the courtroom with the expression of someone who’d already decided the outcome and resented having to perform the formalities. “We’re here for a preliminary injunction hearing in Heineken International B.V. versus Luna Marie Reyes.” She looked directly at Luna. “Ms. Reyes, you’re seventeen years old?” Luna stood, hesitant. “Yes, your honor.” “Where are your parents?” “Here, your honor.” Luna’s mother half-rose, then sat back down. “Ms. Kennerson, your client is a minor. Are the parents aware they could be held liable for damages?” Rose Kennerson stood smoothly. “Yes, your honor. The Reyes family has been fully advised of the legal implications.” Luna glanced back. Her father’s jaw was clenched so tight she could see the muscles working. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Very well. Mr. Barr, you may proceed.” Barr rose like a battleship emerging from fog—massive, expensive, inevitable. He buttoned his suit jacket and approached the bench without notes. “Your honor, this is the simplest case I’ve argued in thirty years. The defendant admits to obtaining my client’s proprietary biological materials. She admits to sequencing their genetic information. She admits to distributing that information globally, in deliberate violation of trade secret protections that have existed for over 150 years. She did this knowingly, systematically, and with the explicit intent to destroy my client’s competitive advantage.” Luna felt Sarah’s hand on her arm—stay calm. Barr continued. “Heineken International has invested over $200 million in the development, cultivation, and protection of the A-yeast strain. Then this teenager”—he pointed at Luna—”obtained samples from our waste disposal systems, reverse-engineered our genetic sequences, and released them to the world via BitTorrent, deliberately placing them beyond retrieval.” He paced now, warming to his theme. “The damage is incalculable. We estimate lost market value at $50 billion. But it’s not just about money. The defendant has destroyed the possibility of competition in the brewing industry. When everyone has access to the same genetic materials, there’s no innovation, no differentiation, no reason for consumers to choose one product over another. She has, in effect, communized an entire industry.” Luna couldn’t help herself. “That’s not—” Sarah grabbed her wrist. “Don’t.” Judge Ironwood’s eyes narrowed. “Ms. Reyes, you will have your opportunity to speak. Until then, you will remain silent, or I will have you removed from this courtroom. Do you understand?” “Yes, your honor.” Luna’s voice came out smaller than she intended. Barr smiled slightly. “Your honor, the relief we seek is straightforward. We ask this court to order the defendant to provide us with a complete list of all servers, websites, and distribution networks where the stolen genetic data currently resides. We ask that she be ordered to cooperate fully in suppressing the data. We ask that she be enjoined from any further distribution. And we ask that she be ordered to pay compensatory damages of $5 billion, plus punitive damages to be determined at trial.” He returned to his seat. One of his associate attorneys handed him a bottle of Pellegrino. He took a sip and waited. Judge Ironwood looked at Sarah. “Ms. Kennerson?” Sarah stood. She looked tiny compared to Barr—five-foot-three, maybe 110 pounds, wearing a suit from Target. But when she spoke, her voice filled the courtroom. “Your honor, Mr. Barr has given you a compelling story about a corporation that’s been wronged. But it’s not the right story. The right story is about whether naturally occurring organisms—creatures that evolved over millions of years, long before humans ever existed—can be owned by a corporation simply because that corporation happened to isolate them.” She walked toward the bench. “Let’s be clear about what the A-yeast strain is. It’s not a genetically modified organism. It’s not a patented invention. It’s a naturally occurring yeast. Heineken didn’t create it. Evolution created it. Heineken merely found it. And for 158 years, they’ve claimed that finding something gives them the right to prevent anyone else from studying it, understanding it, or using it.” Barr was on his feet. “Objection, your honor. This is a preliminary hearing about injunctive relief, not a philosophical debate about intellectual property theory.” “Sustained. Ms. Kennerson, please focus on the specific legal issues before this court.” “Your honor, the specific legal issue is whether naturally occurring genetic sequences constitute protectable trade secrets. My client contends they do not. She obtained the yeast samples from Heineken’s waste disposal—materials they had discarded. Under the garbage doctrine, she had every right to analyze those materials. The genetic sequences she discovered are factual information about naturally occurring organisms. You cannot trade-secret facts about nature.” Luna watched Judge Ironwood’s face. Nothing. No reaction. Sarah pressed on. “Mr. Barr claims my client ‘stole’ genetic information worth $5 billion. But information cannot be stolen—it can only be shared. When I tell you a fact, I don’t lose possession of that fact. We both have it. That’s how knowledge works. Heineken hasn’t lost their yeast. They still have it. They can still brew with it. What they’ve lost is their monopoly on that knowledge. And monopolies on facts about nature should never have existed in the first place.” “Your honor—” Barr tried to interrupt. Judge Ironwood waved him down. “Continue, Ms. Kennerson.” “Your honor, Heineken wants this court to order a seventeen-year-old girl to somehow suppress information that has already been distributed to over 100,000 people in 147 countries. That’s impossible. You can’t unring a bell. You can’t put knowledge back in a bottle. Even if this court ordered my client to provide a list of servers—which she shouldn’t have to do—that list would be incomplete within hours as new mirror sites appeared. The information is out. The only question is whether we punish my client for sharing factual information about naturally occurring organisms.” She turned to face Luna’s family. “Ms. Reyes taught herself bioinformatics from YouTube videos. She works at home with equipment she bought on eBay. She has no criminal record. She’s never been in trouble. She saw a question that interested her—why do commercial beers taste like they do?—and she pursued that question with the tools available to her. When she discovered the answer, she shared it with the world, under a Creative Commons license that specifically protects sharing for educational and scientific purposes. If that’s terrorism, your honor, then every scientist who’s ever published a research paper is a terrorist.” Sarah sat down. Luna wanted to hug her. Judge Ironwood leaned back. “Ms. Reyes, stand up.” Luna rose, her legs shaking. “Do you understand the seriousness of these proceedings?” “Yes, your honor.” “Do you understand that Heineken International is asking me to hold you in contempt of court if you refuse to help them suppress the information you released?” “Yes, your honor.” “Do you understand that contempt of court could result in your detention in a juvenile facility until you reach the age of eighteen, and potentially longer if the contempt continues?” Luna’s mother gasped audibly. Her father put his arm around her. “Yes, your honor,” Luna said, though her voice wavered. “Then let me ask you directly: If I order you to provide Heineken with a complete list of all locations where the genetic data you released currently resides, will you comply?” The courtroom went silent. Luna could hear her own heartbeat. Sarah started to stand—”Your honor, I advise my client not to answer—” “Sit down, Ms. Kennerson. I’m asking your client a direct question. She can choose to answer or not.” Judge Ironwood’s eyes never left Luna. “Well, Ms. Reyes? Will you comply with a court order to help Heineken suppress the information you released?” Luna looked at her parents. Her mother was crying silently. Her father’s face was stone. She looked at Abuela Rosa. Her grandmother nodded once—tell the truth. Luna looked back at the judge. “No, your honor.” Barr shot to his feet. “Your honor, the defendant has just admitted she intends to defy a court order—” “I heard her, Mr. Barr.” Judge Ironwood’s voice was ice. “Ms. Reyes, do you understand you’ve just told a federal judge you will refuse a direct order?” “Yes, your honor.” “And you’re still refusing?” “Yes, your honor.” “Why?” Sarah stood quickly. “Your honor, my client doesn’t have to explain—” “I want to hear it.” Judge Ironwood leaned forward. “Ms. Reyes, tell me why you would risk jail rather than help undo what you’ve done.” Luna took a breath. Her whole body was shaking, but her voice was steady. “Because it would be wrong, your honor.” “Wrong how?” “The genetic sequences I released evolved over millions of years. Heineken didn’t create that yeast. They isolated one strain and claimed ownership of it. The code of life belongs to everyone. That’s humanity’s heritage. Even if you send me to jail, I can’t help suppress the truth.” Judge Ironwood stared at her for a long moment. “That’s a very pretty speech, Ms. Reyes. But this court operates under the law, not your personal philosophy about what should or shouldn’t be owned. Trade secret law exists. Heineken’s rights exist. And you violated those rights.” Luna did not hesitate. “With respect, your honor, I don’t think those rights should exist.” Barr exploded. “Your honor, this is outrageous! The defendant is openly stating she believes she has the right to violate any law she disagrees with—” “That’s not what I said.” Luna’s fear was transforming into something else—something harder. “I’m saying that some laws are unjust. And when laws are unjust, civil disobedience becomes necessary. People broke unjust laws during the civil rights movement. People broke unjust laws when they helped slaves escape. The constitution says members of the military do not have to obey illegal orders, despite what those in power might claim. Sometimes the law is wrong. And when the law says corporations can own genetic information about naturally occurring organisms, the law is wrong.” Judge Ironwood’s face flushed. “Ms. Reyes, you are not Rosa Parks. This is not the civil rights movement. This is a case about intellectual property theft.” “It’s a case about whether life can be property, your honor.” “Enough.” Judge Ironwood slammed her gavel. “Ms. Kennerson, control your client.” Sarah pulled Luna back into her chair. “Luna, stop talking,” she hissed. Judge Ironwood shuffled papers, visibly trying to compose herself. “I’m taking a fifteen-minute recess to consider the injunction request. We’ll reconvene at 11:30. Ms. Reyes, I strongly suggest you use this time to reconsider your position.” The gavel fell again, and Judge Ironwood swept out. The hallway outside the courtroom erupted. Reporters swarmed. Luna’s father grabbed her arm and pulled her into a witness room. Her mother followed, still crying. Maya slipped in before Sarah closed the door. “What were you thinking?” Luna’s father’s voice shook. “You just told a federal judge you’ll defy her orders. They’re going to put you in jail, Luna. Do you understand that? Jail!” “Ricardo, please—” Her mother tried to calm him. “No, Elena. Our daughter just committed contempt of court in front of fifty witnesses. They’re going to take her from us.” He turned to Luna, his eyes wet. “Why? Why couldn’t you just apologize? Say you made a mistake? We could have ended this.” “Because I didn’t make a mistake, Papa.” “You destroyed their property!” “It wasn’t their property. It was never their property.” “The law says it was!” “Then the law is wrong!” Her father stepped back as if she’d slapped him. “Do you know what your mother and I have sacrificed to keep you out of trouble? Do you know how hard we’ve worked since we came to this country to give you opportunities we never had? And you throw it away for yeast. Not for justice. Not for people. For yeast.” Luna’s eyes filled with tears. “It’s not about yeast, Papa. It’s about whether corporations get to own life. If Heineken can own yeast, why not bacteria? Why not human genes? Where does it stop?” “It stops when my daughter goes to jail!” He was shouting now. “I don’t care about Heineken. I don’t care about yeast. I care about you. And you just told that judge you’ll defy her. She’s going to put you in jail, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.” “Ricardo, por favor—” Elena put her hand on his arm. He shook it off. “No. She needs to hear this. Luna, if you go to jail, your life is over. No college will accept you. No company will hire you. You’ll have a criminal record. You’ll be marked forever. Is that what you want?” “I want to do what’s right.” “What’s right is protecting your family! What’s right is not destroying your future for a principle!” he said. Luna responded, “What’s right is not letting corporations own the code of life!”They stared at each other. Maya spoke up quietly from the corner. “Papa, she can’t back down now. The whole world is watching.” “Let the world watch someone else!” Ricardo turned on Maya. “You encourage this. You film her, you post her manifestos online, you help her become famous. You’re her sister. You’re supposed to protect her, not help her destroy herself.” “I am protecting her,” Maya said. “I’m protecting her from becoming someone who backs down when the world tells her she’s wrong, even though she knows she’s right.” Ricardo looked between his daughters. “Ambos están locos! You’re both insane.” Abuela Rosa opened the door and entered. She’d been listening from the hallway. “Ricardo, enough.” “Mama, stay out of this.” “No.” Rosa moved between Ricardo and Luna. “You’re afraid. I understand. But fear makes you cruel, mijo. Your daughter is brave. She’s doing something important. And you’re making her choose between you and what’s right. Don’t do that.” “She’s seventeen years old! She’s a child!” “She’s old enough to know right from wrong.” Rosa put her hand on Ricardo’s cheek. “When I was sixteen, I left Oaxaca with nothing but the clothes on my back and this SCOBY. Everyone said I was crazy. Your father said I would fail. But I knew I had to go, even if it cost me everything. Sometimes our children have to do things that terrify us. That’s how the world changes.” Ricardo pulled away. “If they put her in jail, will that change the world, Mama? When she’s sitting in a cell while Heineken continues doing whatever they want, will that have been worth it?” “Yes,” Luna said quietly. “Even if I go to jail, yes. Because thousands of people now have the genetic sequences, Heineken can’t put that back. They can punish me, but they can’t undo what I did. The information is free. It’s going to stay free. And if the price of that is me going to jail, then that’s the price.” Her father looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. “I don’t know who you are anymore.” “I’m still your daughter, Papa. I’m just also someone who won’t let corporations own life.” A knock on the door. Sarah poked her head in. “They’re reconvening. Luna, we need to go.” Back in the courtroom, the atmosphere had shifted. The gallery was more crowded—word had spread during the recess. Luna recognized several people from online forums. Some held signs reading “FREE LUNA” and “GENETICS BELONG TO EVERYONE.” Judge Ironwood entered and sat without ceremony. “I’ve reviewed the submissions and heard the arguments. This is my ruling.” Luna’s hand found Maya’s in the row behind her. Squeezed tight. “The question before this court is whether to grant Heineken International’s motion for a preliminary injunction requiring Ms. Reyes to assist in suppressing the genetic information she released. To grant such an injunction, Heineken must demonstrate four things: likelihood of success on the merits, likelihood of irreparable harm without the injunction, balance of equities in their favor, and that an injunction serves the public interest.” Barr was nodding. These were his arguments. “Having considered the evidence and the applicable law, I find that Heineken has demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits. Trade secret law clearly protects proprietary business information, and the A-yeast strain appears to meet the legal definition of a trade secret.” Luna’s stomach dropped. “However, I also find that Heineken has failed to demonstrate that a preliminary injunction would effectively prevent the irreparable harm they claim. Ms. Kennerson is correct that the genetic information has already been distributed to over 100,000 people worldwide. Ordering one teenager to provide a list of servers would be, in technical terms, pointless. New copies would appear faster than they could be suppressed.” Barr’s face tightened. “Furthermore, I find that the balance of equities does not favor Heineken. They ask this court to potentially incarcerate a seventeen-year-old girl for refusing to suppress information that is, by her account, factual data about naturally occurring organisms. The potential harm to Ms. Reyes—including detention, criminal record, and foreclosure of educational and career opportunities—substantially outweighs any additional harm Heineken might suffer from continued distribution of information that is already widely distributed.” Luna felt Maya’s grip tighten. Was this good? This sounded good. “Finally, and most importantly, I find that granting this injunction would not serve the public interest. The court takes judicial notice that this case has generated substantial public debate about the scope of intellectual property protection in biotechnology. The questions raised by Ms. Reyes—whether naturally occurring genetic sequences should be ownable, whether facts about nature can be trade secrets, whether knowledge can be property—are questions that deserve answers from a higher authority than this court. These are questions for appellate courts, perhaps ultimately for the Supreme Court. And they are questions best answered in the context of a full trial on the merits, not in an emergency injunction hearing.” Barr was on his feet. “Your honor—” “Sit down, Mr. Barr. I’m not finished.” He sat, his face purple. “Therefore, Heineken International’s motion for preliminary injunction is denied. Ms. Reyes will not be required to assist in suppressing the genetic information she released. However,”—Judge Ironwood looked directly at Luna—”this ruling should not be construed as approval of Ms. Reyes’ actions. Heineken’s claims for damages and other relief remain viable and will proceed to trial. Ms. Reyes, you may have won this battle, but this war is far from over. Anything you want to say?” Luna stood slowly. “Your honor, I just want to say… thank you. For letting this go to trial. For letting these questions be answered properly. That’s all I ever wanted—for someone to seriously consider whether corporations should be allowed to own genetic information about naturally occurring organisms. So thank you.” Judge Ironwood’s expression softened slightly. “Ms. Reyes, I hope you’re prepared for what comes next. Heineken has unlimited resources. They will pursue this case for years if necessary. You’ll be in litigation until you’re twenty-five years old. Your entire young adulthood will be consumed by depositions, court appearances, and legal fees. Are you prepared for that?” “Yes, your honor.” “Why?” Luna glanced at her grandmother, who nodded. “Because some questions are worth answering, your honor. Even if it takes years. Even if it costs everything. The question of whether corporations can own life—that’s worth answering. And if I have to spend my twenties answering it, then that’s what I’ll do.” Judge Ironwood studied her for a long moment. “You remind me of someone I used to know. Someone who believed the law should serve justice, not just power.” She paused. “That person doesn’t exist anymore. The law ground her down. I hope it doesn’t do the same to you.” She raised her gavel. “This hearing is adjourned. The parties will be notified of the trial date once it’s scheduled. Ms. Reyes, good luck. I think you’re going to need it.” The gavel fell. Outside the courthouse, the scene was chaotic. News cameras surrounded Luna. Reporters shouted questions. But Luna barely heard them. She was looking at her father, who stood apart from the crowd, watching her. She walked over to him. “Papa, I’m sorry I yelled.” He didn’t speak for a moment. Then he pulled her into a hug so tight it hurt. “Don’t apologize for being brave,” he whispered into her hair. “I’m just afraid of losing you.” “You won’t lose me, Papa. I promise.” “You can’t promise that. Not anymore.” He pulled back, holding her shoulders. “But I’m proud of you. I’m terrified, but I’m proud.” Her mother joined them, tears streaming down her face. “No more court. Please, no more court.” “I can’t promise that either, Mama.” Elena touched Luna’s face. “Then promise me you’ll be careful. Promise me you’ll remember that you’re not just fighting for genetics. You’re fighting for your life.” Luna smiled. “I promise.” Abuela Rosa appeared, carrying her SCOBY. “Come, mija. We should go before the reporters follow us home.” As they pushed through the crowd toward Maya’s car, Luna's phone buzzed continuously. Text messages and emails pouring in. But what caught her attention was a text from Dr. Webb: You were right. I’m sorry I doubted. Check your email—Dr. Doudna wants to talk. Luna opened her email. The subject line made her stop walking: From: jennifer.doudna@berkeley.eduSubject: Civil Disobedience of the Highest Order She started to read: Dear Ms. Reyes, I watched your hearing this morning. What you did in that courtroom—refusing to back down even when threatened with jail—was one of the bravest things I’ve seen in forty years of science. You’re not just fighting for yeast genetics. You’re fighting for the principle that knowledge about nature belongs to humanity, not to corporations. I want to help… Luna looked up at her family—her father’s worried face, her mother’s tears, Maya’s proud smile, Abuela Rosa’s serene confidence. Behind them, the courthouse where she’d nearly been sent to jail. Around them, reporters and cameras and strangers who’d traveled across the country to support her. She thought about Judge Ironwood’s warning: This war is far from over. She thought about Barr’s face when the injunction was denied. She thought about the thousands who’d downloaded the genetic sequences and were, right now, brewing with genetics that had been locked away for 158 years. Worth it. All of it. Even the fear. Maya opened the car door. “Come on, little revolutionary. Let’s go home.” The Corporate Surrender By 2045, both Heineken and Anheuser-Busch quietly dropped their lawsuits against Luna. Their legal costs had exceeded $200 million while accomplishing nothing except generating bad publicity. More importantly, their “protected” strains had become worthless in a market flooded with superior alternatives. Heineken’s CEO attempted to salvage the company by embracing open-source brewing. His announcement that Heineken would “join the La Luna Revolution” was met with skepticism from the brewing community, which recalled the company’s aggressive legal tactics. The craft brewing community’s response was hostile. “They spent two years trying to destroy her,” a prominent brewmaster told The New Brewer Magazine. “Now they want credit for ’embracing’ the revolution she forced on them? Heineken didn’t join the Luna Revolution—they surrendered to it. There’s a difference.” The global brands never recovered their market share. Luna’s Transformation Luna’s success transformed her from a garage tinkerer into a global icon of the open knowledge movement. Her 2046 TED Talk, “Why Flavor Belongs to Everyone,” went viral. She argued that corporate control over living organisms represented “biological colonialism” that impoverished human culture by restricting natural diversity. Rather than commercializing her fame, Luna founded the Global Fermentation Commons, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and sharing microbial genetics worldwide. Their laboratories operated as open-access research facilities where anyone could experiment with biological systems. The headquarters of the Global Fermentation Commons occupied a former Genentech facility donated by Dr. Webb. Six continents, forty researchers, one mission: preserve and share microbial genetics worldwide. Luna addressed a crowded auditorium at the organization’s third anniversary. “When I released Heineken and Budweiser’s yeast strains, some people called it theft. Others called it liberation. I called it returning biological knowledge to the commons, where it belongs. Three years later, so-called Luna Variants have created economic opportunities for thousands of small brewers, improved food security in developing regions, and demonstrated that genetic freedom drives innovation faster than corporate control.” She continued. “We’re not stopping with beer. The same principles apply to all fermentation: cheese cultures, yogurt bacteria, koji fungi, sourdough starters. Every traditionally fermented food relies on microorganisms that corporations increasingly claim to own. We’re systematically liberating them.” A World Health Organization representative raised a concern: “Ms. Reyes, while we support democratizing food fermentation, there are legitimate concerns about pharmaceutical applications. What prevents someone from using your open-source genetics to create dangerous organisms?” Luna nodded. “Fair question. First, the organisms we release are food-safe cultures with centuries of safe use. Second, dangerous genetic modifications require sophisticated laboratory equipment and expertise—far beyond what releasing genetic sequences enables. Third, determined bad actors already have access to dangerous biology, enabled by AI. We’re not creating new risks; we’re democratizing beneficial biology.” “Pharmaceutical companies argue you’re undermining their investments in beneficial organisms,” another representative pressed. “Pharmaceutical companies invest in modifying organisms,” Luna clarified. “Those modifications can be patented. What we oppose is claiming ownership over naturally occurring organisms or their baseline genetics. If you genetically engineer a bacterium to produce insulin, patent your engineering. Don’t claim ownership over the bacterial species itself.” A Monsanto representative stood. “Your organization recently cracked and released our proprietary seed genetics. That’s direct theft of our property.” Luna didn’t flinch. “Seeds that farmers cultivated for thousands of years before Monsanto existed? You didn’t invent corn, wheat, or soybeans. You modified them. Your modifications may be protectable; the baseline genetics are humanity’s heritage. We’re liberating what should never have been owned.” “The ‘Luna Legion’ has cost us hundreds of millions!” the representative protested. “Good,” Luna responded calmly. “You’ve cost farmers their sovereignty for decades. Consider it karma.” After the presentation, Dr. Doudna approached Luna privately. “You’ve accomplished something remarkable,” the elderly scientist said. “When I developed Crispr, I never imagined a teenager would use similar principles to challenge corporate biology. You’re forcing conversations about genetic ownership that we’ve avoided for decades.” “It needed forcing,” Luna replied. “Corporations were quietly owning life itself, one patent at a time. Someone had to say no.” “The pharmaceutical industry is terrified of you,” Doudna continued. “They see what happened to brewing and imagine the same for their carefully controlled bacterial strains. You’re going to face even more aggressive opposition.” “I know. Once people understand that biological knowledge can be liberated, they start questioning all biological ownership. We’re not stopping.” The New Economy of Taste Following Luna’s breakthrough, peer-to-peer flavor-sharing platforms emerged as the dominant force in food culture. The “FlavorChain” blockchain allowed brewers to track genetic lineages while ensuring proper attribution to original creators. SCOBY lineages were carefully sequenced, catalogued, and registered on global blockchain ledgers. Each award-winning kombucha strain carried a “genetic passport”—its microbial makeup, the unique balance of yeasts and bacteria that gave rise to particular mouthfeel, fizz, and flavor spectrum, was mapped, hashed, and permanently recorded. Brewers who created a new flavor could claim authorship, just as musicians once copyrighted songs. No matter how many times a SCOBY was divided, its fingerprint could be verified. Fermentation Guilds formed to share recipes through FlavorChain, enabling decentralized digital markets like SymbioTrdr, built on trust and transparency rather than speculation. They allowed people to interact and transact on a global, permissionless, self-executing platform. Within days, a SCOBY strain from the Himalayas could appear in a brew in Buenos Aires, its journey traced through open ledgers showing who tended, adapted, and shared it. Kombucha recipes were no longer jealously guarded secrets. They were open to anyone who wanted to brew. With a few clicks, a Guild member in Nairobi could download the blockchain-verified SCOBY genome that had won Gold at the Tokyo Fermentation Festival. Local biotech printers—as common in 2100 kitchens as microwave ovens had once been—could reconstitute the living culture cell by cell. Children began inheriting SCOBY lineages the way earlier generations inherited family names. Weddings combined SCOBY cultures as symbolic unions. (Let’s share our SCOBYs, baby, merge our ferments into one.) When someone died, their SCOBY was divided among friends and family—a continuation of essence through taste. Kombucha was no longer merely consumed; it was communed with. This transparency transformed kombucha from a minority regional curiosity into a universal language. A festival in Brazil might feature ten local interpretations of the same “Golden SCOBY” strain—one brewed with passionfruit, another with cupuaçu, a third with açaí berries. The core microbial signature remained intact, while the terroir of fruit and spice gave each version a unique accent. Brewers didn’t lose their craft—they gained a canvas. Award-winning SCOBYs were the foundations on which endless new flavor experiments flourished. Many people were now as prolific as William Esslinger, the founder of St Louis’s Confluence Kombucha, who was renowned for developing 800 flavors in the 2020s. Code of Symbiosis The Symbiosis Code, ratified at the first World Fermentation Gathering in Reykjavik (2063), bound Fermentation Guilds to three principles: Transparency — All microbial knowledge is to be shared freely. Reciprocity — No brew should be produced without acknowledging the source. Community — Every fermentation must nourish more than the brewer. This code replaced corporate law. It was enforced by reputation, not by governments. A Guild member who betrayed the code found their SCOBYs mysteriously refusing to thrive—a poetic justice the biologists never quite explained. Every Guild had elders—called Mothers of the Jar or Keepers of the Yeast. They carried living SCOBYs wrapped in silk pouches when traveling, exchanging fragments as blessings. These elders became moral anchors of the age, counselors and mediators trusted more than politicians. When disputes arose—over territory, resources, or ethics—brewers, not lawyers, met to share a round of Truth Brew, a ferment so balanced that it was said to reveal dishonesty through bitterness. The Fullness of Time The International Biotech Conference of 2052 invited Luna to give the closing keynote—a controversial decision that prompted several corporate sponsors to withdraw support. The auditorium was packed with supporters, critics, and the merely curious. “Nine years ago, I released genetic sequences for beer yeast strains protected as trade secrets. I was called a thief, a bioterrorist, worse. Today, I want to discuss what we’ve learned from those years of open-source biology.” She displayed a chart showing the explosion of brewing innovation since 2043. “In the traditional corporate model, a few companies control a few strains, producing a limited variety. With the open-source model, thousands of brewers using thousands of variants, producing infinite diversity. As Duff McDonald wrote “Anything that alive contains the universe, or infinite possibility. Kombucha is infinite possibility in a drink.” And the results speak for themselves—flavor innovation accelerated a thousand-fold when we removed corporate control.” A student activist approached the microphone. “Ms. Reyes, you’ve inspired movements to liberate seed genetics, soil bacteria, and traditional medicine cultures. The ‘Luna Legion’ is spreading globally. What’s your message to young people who want to continue this work?” Luna smiled. “First, understand the risks. I was sued by multinational corporations, received death threats, spent years fighting legal battles. This work has costs. Second, be strategic. Release information you’ve generated yourself through legal methods—no hacking, no theft. Third, build communities. I survived because people supported me—legally, financially, emotionally. You can’t fight corporations alone. Finally, remember why you’re doing it: to return biological knowledge to the commons where it belongs. That purpose will sustain you through the hard parts.” Teaching By twenty-eight, Luna was a MacArthur Fellow, teaching fermentation workshops in a converted Anheuser-Busch facility. As she watched her students—former corporate employees learning to think like ecosystems rather than factories—she reflected that her teenage hack had accomplished more than liberating yeast genetics. She had helped humanity remember that flavor, like knowledge, grows stronger when shared rather than hoarded. Luna’s garage had evolved into a sophisticated community biolab. The original jury-rigged equipment had been replaced with professional gear funded by her MacArthur Fellowship. Abuela Rosa still maintained her fermentation crocks in the corner—a reminder of where everything started. A group of five

I sat down with William Esslinger of Confluence Kombucha in St. Louis, Missouri. We’d just left the three-day KBI conference in Barcelona and were having lunch at Munich Airport before catching our respective connecting flights. It was William’s first time in Germany, if you count being in an airport transit lounge as being in a country. What follows is an edited transcript of our conversation. The full audio is available as a podcast at the end of this post. The Confluence Kombucha Fermentory & Ping Pong Club is located at The Fox Den, 2501 S. Jefferson Avenue, Suite 102, St. Louis, MO 63104. It is open from 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. Confluence Kombucha is also a regular vendor at the Tower Grove Farmers' Market. Booch News: How did you discover kombucha? I started brewing kombucha in 2009 and working in kitchens all in a span of three days. I’d graduated with my master’s in media literacy education, and wanted to teach about the constructs of media and how to use media, how to create with different kinds of media, video, photography, using sound, all that kind of stuff. And so that’s my background. But I couldn’t find a job, so I started working as a dishwasher at age 29. I was making six bucks an hour with a master’s degree. I ordered my first kombucha culture online. I’d been drinking kombucha for about a year and a half prior to that, and it basically healed my ulcers that I’d had since I was five years old. That kombucha completely healed it. I haven’t had any incidents since. I can still remember as a young person having so much pain all the time. Every single day, a burning, like an ice pick in my intestines, every time I ate. I had this severe problem. And it then drinking kombucha cured it. So, I tell people, if you really want to do this kombucha thing, you need to be drinking it. Every day. Maybe take a day off here and there. But when people start, if they’re very used to a crappy diet, they’re going to feel a little worse, maybe because they’re flushing out stuff. But you get such a vibe out of drinking every day. That was just the beginning of the healing journey with kombucha. So much more healing has happened physically and mentally through this process. Just living with the SCOBYs every day. I didn’t really think about it as a business. BN: How did your career in catering take off? I’d started working in kitchens, and graduated from dish washing to working as a chef. After about three months of dish washing, they had me come on as a prep chef during the day. It was a big corporate restaurant, and I got pretty bored with it, but I had met someone I went to photography school with. He was opening a new restaurant called Blood & Sand with one of the top chefs in St. Louis at the time. He gave me a job, saying they can’t pay much, but they gave me an education. I got the last cook position on the line. And they didn’t really know what to do with me because I was brand-new, even though I’m almost 30 now. They said they would treat me like I knew nothing. And that was the best education. On-the-job training. BN: How did your career in the culinary world prepare you to run a kombucha business? We started fermenting stuff right away. They wanted me to make some kimchi. The chef didn’t know how to do it. But I had spent a couple of years in Korea and learned when I was over there. And I had just started brewing kombucha. It started to feel like fermentation was my path. Food was my path. And since it cured my ulcers, I started to be able to eat all the things I was never able to eat. I never thought of becoming a chef or anything like that because food was such a pain point for me. Then they started handing me the pastry stuff. Because they were all line cooks. They didn’t want to deal with this finicky shit with the temperature and all that. It didn’t fit in with everything else. But my background in photography, doing black and white film developing, the exacting process, the temperature, was already there for me. They started giving me one little project at a time. And they’re like, this kid’s nailing it, right? So they basically just made me a pastry chef. And I was making like $10 an hour, which was great. BN: How did working in the kitchens lead to opening a commercial kombucha business? I kept working in restaurants. And then, I finally thought maybe I got something here with the kombucha. I was developing flavors from the beginning. I kept all my notes. I now have over 800 flavors. I’ve got a spreadsheet of everything I’ve been doing since we opened our doors. Before I left for this trip, I did three new kombuchas in one week. I’ve been doing everything on draft and kegs since we opened our brick-and-mortar in 2016. It’s been all kegs. The idea was just to have a tap room. And the first iteration was a tap room/restaurant. And so, for five years, I ran the restaurant and did the fermentation on-site. It was 1,000 square feet. It was super tiny. The whole thing. I had 15 seats if you really pushed it tight in the inside of the restaurant. And we had some patio seating in the front and the back, with a little garden where we would grow herbs and other things we would use in the kombucha as well. A lot of people were dropping in. We got a lot of recognition. We didn’t know what kombucha would be like in St. Louis. I knew I could run a restaurant, and I had good ideas. The restaurant took front seat for most of that time. It was more of a restaurant with a little bit of kombucha. We had eight taps going, so you could come in and do an eight-flight or a four-flight, then take stuff to go, filling pints, quarts, and growlers. When COVID happened, my business partner decided to split. I closed the restaurant and started focusing on kombucha. So it’s only really been four years of focusing on the brewery. BN: What is Confluence Kombucha like today? We’re in the second iteration right now. There was a brewery, a kombucha brewery in St. Louis called KomBlu, that opened in the space that I’m in now. And they closed. And then another brewery opened in there, and then they closed. And then the building’s owner called me. He said, ‘We have this defunct kombucha brewery if you’d like to come look at it’. It had a bunch of stainless-steel vessels, a reverse-osmosis filter, and a huge cooler. So we did a bit of renovation and made it my own. I built the fermentation room. And then we opened that in leap year 2023. February 29th. We also make other fermented products, like coconut yogurt and kimchi. The volume is going up. We started bottling in this facility because we had the room. We’ve done 20,000 12-ounce bottles in 18 months. It’s a short-neck bottle that works because I don’t have to worry as much about it over-carbonating. It has a little bit of space. I think that’s really important. The bottles are cute, they’re fun. The labeling is really incredible. It’s playful and fun. We have a 12-tap room with a ping-pong table and vinyl records. The fermentation happens in the back. People can come in on Thursday and return on Sunday, and the board will be different. Flavors Confluence bottles just four flavors. The Pineapple Palo Santo won the Signature category at the World Kombucha Awards. The flavor combines fruity notes from pineapple with the coconut-like aroma of Palo Santo—a fragrant tree wood often used as incense—resulting in a tropical drink reminiscent of a piña colada. Confluence Kombucha also won two other Awards for one-off flavors offered on tap that William had entered into the competition: Jun & Holy Basil (Gold for the Jun category) Paw Paw & Rum Barrel (Silver for the Fruits with Spices category) Esslinger, who started bottling his kombucha a year ago, after a decade in business comments: “It was my first year competing, and I didn't expect to win.” At the competition, Esslinger found it exciting and validating to discover that some of his new ideas are very much in line with what's happening globally. For example, he recently brewed kombucha using cypress tea and was able to compare notes with brewers from Slovenia who brought a kombucha they had made with cedar and spruce chips. “It was cool to get that nerd connection right away.” Esslinger chose the name Confluence based on St. Louis geography–located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers–but he says it has come to represent a larger vision, one that the World Kombucha Awards intensified. “As an artist and a food person inspired by world cuisines, the name has gathered more depth because it evokes something,” he says. “There's a power in the idea of waterways merging, and we're trying to uphold that every day in what we do.” BN: Tell me about your flavors. We have an Aronia Berry with Elderberry flavor. Aronia is the berry with the highest amount of antioxidants that grows in America. We met a local grower. And I loved it right away because it was so similar to the very first kombucha I had. Which was Cosmic Cranberry from GT’s. And the nickname for Aronia used to be Chokeberry. It’s a terrible name. But it’s so tannic that when you take it off the bush, you try to eat it. It chokes you up and dries out your mouth. But that’s the good stuff. We put the berries in the freezer to extract their flavor. Another flavor is Watermelon and Blue Spirulina. Ginger Lavender has been our bestseller for a very long time. We color that one with the butterfly pea flower. And it makes it bright violet and adds calcium to the beverage. I tell people that this was the flavor I never wanted to do. Because everybody was doing ginger. And everybody was asking me, Do you do ginger? Do you do lavender? And it took me 10 years to make this kombucha. And then it just started selling. The base tea is Japanese sencha green tea. Because that’s toasty. You can taste the tea. It’s a very low-vibration kombucha. I like it because I can get my subtle flavors in there really, really easily. I landed on the green tea, because I feel like it’s a blank canvas. It gives me a really good place to work from. But then we’re, you know, we’re doing very small, tiny-batch stuff with other teas, just for fun. I don’t sell an original, unflavored right now. Maybe in the future I would love to do that. I like messing with all the crazy, different teas for myself and for the tap room, like Lapsang Souchong and the smoked black tea. I update my Instagram every day or at least every week. I do have them all in a book. I have every single one that I’ve ever done in the book. BN: Do you have ideas that just don’t work out? Like you think, oh, I’ll mix this and this and this, and then you taste it. Not so much anymore. There are a few in there that just weren’t really great, but overall, I think I’ve got good ratios. I’ve just been doing it in such small batches for so long that, if I waste five gallons or three gallons, it’s no big deal. And then we save the pellicle and make fruit leathers with it. The first one I did, I forgot about it for a year. And I pulled them out, and they were like, perfect. No preservatives or anything like that. Kids love them. I have a lady who comes by and buys about $50 worth of them every other week at the farmers’ market. That comes from my chef background. And I think also, just like growing up poor. Trying to think about every way to utilize everything. And it’s actually really fun, and it’s a great story to tell people. Because they see me as a brewer in a different way. How I’m thinking about even the waste product. People who are maybe skeptical or have their own ideas about a kombucha brewer or something. That sets them at ease a little bit more. Because I think kombucha is still very much a mystery to most people. And it’s still a mystery to me, in some ways, too. BN: What are some of the unusual ferments you experimented with? I’m most interested in using mushrooms as the base for my kombucha. And I see a synergy in the fermentation process that I don’t necessarily see in teas. Instead, it’s mushrooms made into tea: reishi, chaga, lion’s mane, and cordyceps. We just did one, the pheasant’s back, which is also known as the dryad’s saddle. I’ve done chanterelles They only ferment half the time. BN: So you don’t need the caffeine? No, the synergy, because they are so close that most of those fermentations take about half the time as my normal fermentations do. The only one that doesn’t is the chaga, and the chaga is the one that takes the longest to grow anyway. It tastes like a birch beer. Almost like a root beer. BN: So what you’re doing is, instead of using camellia sinensis? You’re doing the primary fermentation with a mushroom extract? With just mushroom tea and sugar, just throw in the SCOBY and some starter tea. And it tastes totally different. Oh my gosh, it’s ridiculous! Like chanterelles taste like apricots and peaches. One of the wildest, funnest ones is a polypore one. It’s a black-staining polypore where I make the tea, and it’s black tea. It turns black. And then, through fermentation, the scoby, the microbes, and everything clear the liquid so it’s not black anymore. It tastes tropical, like pineapples and guava. Nothing else. But when you make the tea, it smells like gravy. It smells so brothy and big like that. But then, at the end of fermentation, it tastes like pineapples. It’s really amazing. We are also using honey with those mushrooms. I did a chanterelle with honey this year. And then we poured it off of nitro. And it was so soft, velvety, and creamy from the mushrooms. The chaga mushroom ones take about three to six months. So I have one shelf that’s just dedicated to the chaga mushroom. And it’s incredible. It’s easily one of my favorite ones to work with. I don’t sell it outside the tap room. BN: What plans do you have for the future? I have 2,000 square feet. And so it’s not much, but it is just a brewery. I’m trying to increase quantities so I can continue doing it and feel like I can support a cast and a crew. In the future, I hope we will be distributed regionally, maybe in Chicago, Memphis, Nashville, and Kansas City. And yeah, I’d expect to be working with some of the high-end clients. That’s what I have going for me already. I’m inspired by those worlds, and making pairings, tastings, and those kinds of things aren’t happening in the kombucha world. I’ve been doing that for a very long time. I have extensive experience creating menus and pairing food with kombucha. I think that’s the whole new level of what could be happening in the dining scenes. And I think it’s showing up. That’s just a fun place to be. Even though it’s been 30 years since GT started his company, I still think there’s so much room to do a lot more fun stuff. BN: Well, we both have flights to catch back to the States. Thanks a lot. Podcast Listen to the podcast for the recording of the lunchtime interview with William in the transit lounge at Munich Airport. The post Confluence Kombucha, St. Louis, Missouri appeared first on 'Booch News.

This is one in a series about possible futures, which will be published in Booch News over the coming weeks. Episode 6 appeared last week. New episodes drop every Friday. Introduction Legacy beverage corporations attempting hostile takeovers of kombucha startups failed to understand the living systems involved. Their sterile production methods eliminated beneficial microorganisms, while regulatory capture backfired as health authorities mandated probiotic content. Mega-Cola’s final CEO, James Morrison, desperately tried fermenting cola using SCOBYs, creating undrinkable disasters. This episode chronicles the corporation’s transformation from global giant to urban composting service, with former executives becoming mushroom farmers in Detroit’s abandoned factories. The $49 Billion Graveyard: When Giants Couldn’t Learn to Dance Harvard Business School’s legendary case study “The Mega-Cola Kombucha Catastrophe” became required reading for understanding how industrial thinking proved fatal in the biological economy. Between 2035 and 2042, legacy beverage corporations spent $48.7 billion attempting to acquire kombucha startups, only to discover that living systems couldn’t be purchased—they could only be cultivated. Mega-Cola’s acquisition spree began aggressively in 2035 under CEO James Morrison, a chemical engineer before ascending to the C-suite. He’d once loved the alchemy of bubbles and sweetness. His father had worked at a bottling plant; he’d grown up thinking carbonation was progress. He viewed kombucha as merely another “disruption” to be absorbed and had become a champion of “hydration portfolios”—a polite euphemism for diversifying out of soda into teas, waters, and ferments. The company spent $12.7 billion acquiring 47 kombucha brands, from market leader Health-Ade to smaller artisanal producers like Portland’s Brew Dr Kombucha. Morrison’s strategy seemed logical: leverage Mega-Cola’s distribution network and manufacturing scale to dominate the emerging probiotic market. The Sterilization Disaster The first catastrophic failure occurred when Mega-Cola attempted to scale Humm Kombucha production at its Oregon facility. Morrison stood before a 10,000-gallon fermentation tank—ten times the size of any used by the acquired kombucha companies. Chief Science Officer Dr. Hiram Walsh explained the modifications they’d made. “We’ve adapted our quality control protocols from our soft drink lines,” Walsh said proudly. “Every input is filtered, pasteurized, and chemically treated. We’ve eliminated 99.9% of microbial contamination risk.” Walsh pulled up charts showing their testing results. “Batch consistency is perfect. Zero deviation. Every bottle identical.” Morrison smiled. “Exactly what we wanted. When do we start distribution?” “Next week,” Walsh confirmed. “We’re calling it MegaBucha. Focus groups love the name.” One week later, Morrison sat in an emergency meeting. The first consumer feedback was catastrophic. Walsh read from report after report: “‘Tastes like carbonated vinegar.’ ‘Chemical aftertaste.’ ‘Nothing like real kombucha.’ ‘Dead and flat.’ Return rates are 87%.” Walsh looked confused. “I don't understand it. The bacteria counts are perfect. We followed their recipes exactly.” On the teleconference screen, Health-Ade founder Vanessa Dew shook her head. “You killed it. Your ‘quality control’ eliminated every living organism. Kombucha isn’t about sterility—it’s about controlled biological diversity. You can’t pasteurize and filter kombucha and expect it to remain the same. You’ve simply made acidic sugar water.” Morrison spluttered, “We spent $2.1 billion acquiring your company. We’re not walking away because of ‘quality control’ issues.” “It’s not quality control—it’s biology,” Vanessa explained. “Kombucha cultures need biodiversity to thrive. Your system is built to prevent exactly that.” Morrison’s jaw tightened. “Then we’ll adjust the process. Keep some bacteria alive.” Vanessa sighed. “Your entire facility is designed to kill microbes. Your pipes, your tanks, your air filtration, your worker protocols—everything optimized for sterility. You’d have to rebuild from scratch. And even then, you’d need to fundamentally rethink how you approach production. Living systems don’t work like machines.” The company had overlooked the success of the UK’s ROBOT Kombucha, the “A.I. Cola” replicated cola’s taste in a fermented drink, becoming the beverage of choice for adults who had first tasted it as teenagers when it was introduced in 2025. Founder Pascal du Bois had selected his ingredients from a range of different organic botanicals from which the flavor was extracted. He then created a complex blend of more than a dozen types of bacteria and four strains of organic yeast. After fermenting for seven weeks they add a teaspoon of 100% organic honey, sourced from France, to each can. This mimics the familiar cola taste without added sugars or aspartame. The result was a healthy alternative designed to appeal to cola lovers, not a standardized Frankenbooch. Dr. Kenji Nakamura—the former Genentech researcher who later founded the Eastridge Mall Kollective—was hired as a $5 million consultant to solve the Mega-Cola problem. His report sat on Morrison’s desk—200 pages detailing why Mega-Cola’s approach couldn’t work. “I’ll cut to the conclusion,” Nakamura said. “Your industrial infrastructure is fundamentally incompatible with living beverages. Your entire supply chain is designed to kill exactly what makes kombucha valuable.” Morrison leaned forward. “We paid you to find solutions, not problems.” “The solution is accepting that some things can’t be industrialized,” Nakamura replied calmly. “Kombucha succeeds because of microbial relationships that develop over time through careful cultivation. You’re trying to force-manufacture relationships. It’s like trying to raise children in a morgue—the environment is hostile to life. Your kombucha tastes bad because you’ve optimized the life out of it. You can’t ‘optimize’ life—you can only cultivate it.” Mega-Cola CFO Samantha Chen pulled up financial projections. “We’ve now spent $14.8 billion on kombucha acquisitions and infrastructure. We need to either make this work or write off the entire investment.” Nakamura shook his head. “Every dollar you spend trying to industrialize kombucha is wasted. The companies you acquired succeeded because they were small—they could maintain microbial diversity, respond to batch variation, cultivate living systems. Scale destroys those advantages.” Morrison’s face reddened. “Are you telling me that a bunch of hippies in Portland can do something Mega-Cola, with our resources and expertise, cannot?” “Yes,” Nakamura said simply. “Because they’re not trying to dominate biology. They’re partnering with it. Your entire corporate culture is about control, optimization, standardization. Living systems require adaptation, diversity, patience. Those are fundamentally incompatible approaches.” Morrison stood. “We’ll find someone else. Someone who can make this work.” Nakamura gathered his materials. “You’ll spend millions more reaching the same conclusion. Biology doesn’t care about your quarterly earnings or your market cap. You can’t buy your way out of this.” After Nakamura left, Morrison and Chen sat in silence. Chen finally spoke. “He’s right, you know.” Morrison didn’t respond. The Regulatory Trap: When Capture Became Captivity Legacy corporations had initially celebrated the FDA’s Probiotic Verification Act of 2038, which they had lobbied for extensively. The law required all “live beverage” products to contain minimum concentrations of beneficial bacteria, verified through independent testing. Mega-Cola’s legal team believed this would create barriers for small producers while giving large corporations with deep pockets competitive advantages through regulatory compliance costs. The strategy backfired catastrophically. While artisanal kombucha producers thrived under the new standards—their naturally diverse microbial ecosystems easily exceeded requirements—corporate products consistently failed testing. Mega-Cola spent $20 million on fermentation consultants and biotechnology acquisitions, but its sterile facilities couldn’t maintain the mandated bacterial diversity. Meanwhile, in the company boardroom, a tense meeting took place. Chen read the headline from a Wall Street Journal article: “Mega-Cola’s ‘Kombucha’ Contains Fewer Probiotics Than Yogurt, FDA Testing Reveals.“ Morrison stared at the headline. “How did this happen?” “Our sterilization processes,” Walsh admitted. “We can’t maintain bacterial counts through our production and distribution systems. The small producers can because they’re working with robust, diverse cultures in small batches. We’re working with weakened, standardized cultures in massive volumes. The bacteria die.” The legal counsel shifted uncomfortably. “The regulation we pushed for is now our biggest problem. We can’t legally call our product kombucha. We could petition the FDA to lower the standards—” Morrison’s voice was quiet. “How much have we spent trying to fix this?” Chen checked her tablet. “$20.3 million on fermentation consultants and biotechnology acquisitions. None of it worked.” The Medical Tsunami: Soda as Poison By 2040, the medical evidence against sugar-laden sodas had become overwhelming. The American Heart Association officially classified high-fructose corn syrup as a “Class II toxin,” requiring warning labels similar to tobacco. The crisis came to a head when the Journal of the American Heart Association published “The Corporate Diabetes Epidemic: A Century of Metabolic Warfare” in 2041. The paper demonstrated that diabetes and obesity rates directly correlated with Mega-Cola’s market penetration across 147 countries. Areas with higher Cola consumption showed disease patterns resembling chemical contamination rather than natural illness. Dr. Harold Lustig presented twenty years of longitudinal research to a packed auditorium. The screen behind him showed stark data: “Regular soda consumption increases diabetes risk by 340%. It shortens lifespan by an average of 7.4 years. We’re officially classifying high-fructose corn syrup as a Class II toxin, requiring warning labels similar to tobacco.” Mega-Cola CEO Morrison watched from the back. His phone buzzed constantly—board members, investors, media requesting comment. Lustig continued: “Children who drink one soda daily show measurable delays in brain development compared to peers consuming fermented beverages. Brain imaging reveals high-fructose corn syrup literally shrinks the prefrontal cortex.” A reporter raised his hand. “Are you saying soda causes brain damage?” “I’m saying the evidence strongly suggests regular soda consumption impairs cognitive development,” Lustig responded. “Meanwhile, children consuming diverse fermented foods show superior health outcomes across every metric we measured.” Morrison left before the Q&A. In the hallway, CFO Chen was waiting. “The stock dropped 12% during the presentation,” she said quietly. “Investors are calling soda ‘the new tobacco.'” Morrison stared out the window at the Washington Monument. “We knew sugar was problematic. We’ve been reformulating—” “It’s not just sugar,” Chen interrupted. “It’s the entire category. Industrial beverages versus living fermentation. We’re on the wrong side.” “We’re a $300 billion company,” Morrison said. “We can’t just pivot to kombucha. We tried that. It failed.” Chen’s voice was gentle but firm. “Then maybe we need to accept that some companies don’t survive paradigm shifts.” The Educational Exodus: Schools Declare War on Soda The Los Angeles Unified School District’s vote to ban all non-fermented beverages in schools attracted phalanxes of Mega-Cola lobbyists and lawyers. A Mega-Cola representative presented their case: “Banning our beverages punishes students from low-income families who can’t afford expensive alternatives. We’re prepared to offer healthier formulations—” A parent cut him off. “You’ve been promising ‘healthier formulations’ for thirty years while marketing addictive sugar-water to our children.” Dr. Rebecca Scharf's groundbreaking research demonstrated that children who were given an alternative to sugar-sweetened soda were healthier. The school district called her as an expert witness. She summarized her findings: “Two years after schools switched to kombucha dispensaries with on-campus fermentation labs, we see 67% reduction in behavioral problems, 45% improvement in test scores, 89% decrease in childhood obesity.” A high school student approached the microphone. “I’m sixteen. I grew up drinking your soda. I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes at fourteen. Since switching to fermented beverages, my health has improved. But my little brother is eight—he’s never had soda, only fermentation. He’s healthier than I ever was. You took my health. Don’t take his.” By 2052, 43 states had implemented similar bans. The “Fermentation Generation”—children who grew up drinking school-provided kombucha—showed dramatically superior health outcomes compared to predecessors who consumed soda. These children literally rejected Mega-Cola on a physiological level; their optimized gut microbiomes found industrial beverages repulsive. Medical Prescriptions Against Corporate Beverages The American Academy of Pediatrics’ 2044 guidelines required doctors to “prescribe against” soda consumption, treating it as seriously as smoking cessation recommendations. Insurance companies began covering kombucha prescriptions while penalizing patients who tested positive for high-fructose corn syrup consumption. Dr. Chen’s research (detailed in Episode 2) provided the scientific foundation for these medical interventions. Her studies proved that even occasional soda consumption disrupted the personalized gut microbiomes that enabled optimal cognitive function. Doctors began prescribing specific kombucha strains to repair metabolic damage caused by years of consuming industrial beverages. Morrison’s Tower Disaster: Industrial Control Meets Living Systems Following his 2050 visit to Aberdeen’s agricultural tower, Morrison commissioned twelve “MegaTower” facilities across North America, investing $8.4 billion in what he called “industrial-scale fermentation infrastructure.” His engineers replicated the physical structure perfectly—1,200-meter climate-controlled spires with alternating tea cultivation and kombucha production floors. The catastrophe unfolded within months. Morrison’s towers, designed for efficiency optimization, automated every process that Aberdeen’s workers performed intuitively. Computer algorithms regulated temperature, humidity, and nutrient delivery with microsecond precision, eliminating “human inefficiency.” The tea plants withered. The SCOBYs died. Dr. MacLeod’s warnings proved prophetic: Morrison had copied the machinery while killing the ecosystem. His sterile protocols eliminated the beneficial fungi, bacteria, and insects that made Aberdeen’s floors function as living environments. His “optimized” nutrient solutions lacked the complexity of naturally composting tea waste. His automated systems couldn’t respond to the subtle biological cues that experienced cultivators recognized instinctively. By 2053, all twelve MegaTowers stood empty—$8.4 billion monuments to the fundamental incompatibility between industrial control and biological partnership. The failure accelerated Mega-Cola’s eventual bankruptcy, proving that living systems cannot be purchased; they can only be cultivated. Morrison’s Desperate Gambit: Fermented Cola Stung by his failed “MegaTower” experiments, Morrison staked Mega-Cola’s survival on developing fermented cola using modified SCOBYs. The “New Cola Kombucha” project consumed $67 million over three years, employing thousands of microbiologists and fermentation specialists. The results were universally catastrophic. Dr. Park, a fermentation specialist hired from Korea, led Morrison through the lab. Rows of fermentation vessels bubbled with dark liquid. Scientists monitored bacterial counts, pH levels, sugar content. “We’ve engineered SCOBY cultures that can ferment in the presence of cola flavorings,” Park explained. “It’s taken three years, but we have a stable culture.” Morrison looked hopeful for the first time in years. “And it tastes good?” Park hesitated. “It tastes… interesting.” They entered a tasting room where twenty focus group participants sat with cups of dark, fizzy liquid. Morrison watched through one-way glass as participants tasted the fermented cola. The reactions were immediate and universal: grimacing, coughing, one person actually gagged. “Fizzy coffee grounds mixed with cleaning products,” one person said. “Like someone fermented tire rubber,” another offered. “I think I can taste failure,” a third concluded. Park pulled Morrison aside. “The SCOBY cultures are stressed by the chemical additives in cola formulation. They’re producing unusual compounds—not toxic, exactly, but profoundly unpleasant. They’re causing gastrointestinal distress in 89% of test subjects.” Morrison stared at the focus group, then turned to Park. “Give me options. Can we adjust the flavor profile? Different additives?” “We’ve tried 47 formulations,” Park explained. “The problem isn’t the recipe—it’s the fundamental incompatibility between cola chemistry and healthy fermentation at this scale. The bacteria are literally stressed by the environment we’re asking them to live in.” “So what you’re telling me is that fermented cola is impossible?” Park hesitated. “I’m telling you that your version of fermented cola—one that tastes like Mega-Cola but contains living bacteria—is impossible. If you were willing to let go of the cola formula entirely and create something new…” “Then it wouldn’t be Mega-Cola,” Morrison insisted. “That’s what I’m trying to save.” Morrison sank into a chair. “How much have we spent on this?” “$67 million,” Park confirmed. “And it’s undrinkable.” “Yes.” Morrison laughed bitterly. “We can put a man on Mars, but we can’t ferment cola.” Park’s voice was kind. “We can’t ferment cola because we’re trying to put it on Mars. Fermentation requires accepting biology on its own terms. We keep trying to force it into our industrial model. Biology keeps refusing.” The FDA’s emergency recall of Morrison’s prototype batches in 2059 triggered the final collapse of investor confidence. The Bankruptcy Cascade: Industrial Liquidation Mega-Cola declared bankruptcy on November 1, 2060—the Mexican Day of the Dead seemed grimly appropriate for the death of an American institution. The company’s $284 billion in debts exceeded its assets by a factor of three, as brand value evaporated alongside consumer demand. The company was not alone. BigSoda collapsed six months later, then Dr Gipper —the third-ranking cola in the world —creating a cascade of corporate failures worth over $1.2 trillion. Morrison sat alone in his office as the board meeting proceeded via video conference. The board chair spoke: “The FDA has issued an emergency recall of all New Cola Kombucha prototypes after test subjects required hospitalization. Our stock price has fallen 89% from its peak. Our debt exceeds assets. We have no choice.” Morrison knew what he must announce. “Mega-Cola Corporation is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, effective immediately.” On screens across America, news anchors delivered the story. Morrison watched employees leave the building carrying boxes. Fifty thousand jobs ending. A century-old brand dying. Chen entered his office quietly. “I’m sorry, James.” Morrison didn’t turn from the window. “You tried to warn me. Back in 2035. You asked if we could industrialize biology without killing what made it valuable.” “I did.” “The answer was no.” “I guess I just didn't listen.” Morrison was quiet for a long moment. “I spent my whole career optimizing systems, maximizing efficiency, scaling operations. I was good at it. But biology doesn’t care about efficiency. It cares about diversity, resilience, relationships. Everything I knew how to do was wrong for this.” Chen sat beside him. “What will you do now?” Morrison laughed without humor. “I’m 62 years old. My entire career has been corporate optimization. I don’t know how to do anything else.” “You could learn,” Chen suggested. “Learn what?” Morrison asked. “How to brew kombucha in my garage? I destroyed people’s livelihoods trying to industrialize something that shouldn’t be industrialized. I don’t deserve to be part of what comes next.” “Maybe that’s exactly why you should be,” Chen said softly. “You understand what doesn’t work. That’s valuable knowledge.” The liquidation auctions became symbols of industrial obsolescence. Mega-Cola’s Detroit headquarters sold for $47 million to the Georgia Fermentation Kollective, which converted the building into vertical kombucha gardens. The iconic “Land of Cola” museum became the “Museum of Metabolic Harm,” displaying artifacts from humanity’s sugar-addiction era alongside warnings about corporate food manipulation. Urban Composting: From Soda to Soil Morrison’s personal transformation paralleled that of his company. After Mega-Cola’s bankruptcy, he founded “Regenerative Detroit,” converting abandoned bottling plants into urban composting facilities that produced soil for vertical tea gardens. His memoir, From Syrup to SCOBY: A CEO’s Redemption, became a bestseller, chronicling his journey from corporate predator to ecological steward. Nakamura, the consultant who told Morrison his approach would fail, visited the facility. “You were right,” Morrison said without preamble. “Everything you said in that meeting. I spent five more years and hundreds of millions trying to prove you wrong, only to end up proving you right.” Nakamura watched Morrison teach a teenage girl how to inoculate a growing medium with mushroom spores. “This is unexpected. I thought you’d retire to a beach somewhere, try to forget.” Morrison laughed. “I tried that for six months. I was miserable. Spent forty years destroying things. Figured I should spend whatever time I have left trying to build something.” “Why composting?” “Because it’s the opposite of what I did at Mega-Cola,” Morrison explained. “There, we tried to force sterility, eliminate variability, control every process. Here, we cultivate diversity, encourage complexity, work with biological systems rather than against them. We take waste and transform it into something useful. It’s… healing, I guess.” A teenager approached. “Mr. Morrison, my mushrooms are growing!” Morrison’s face lit up. “Let me see!” He examined her cultivation tray with genuine excitement. “Beautiful! You maintained perfect humidity. These will be ready to harvest in two weeks.” After the children left for lunch, Nakamura and Morrison walked through the facility. “How many people work here?” Nakamura asked. “Forty-seven,” Morrison responded. “Thirty-two are former Mega-Cola employees. When the company collapsed, they lost everything. I felt responsible. So I used what was left of my savings to buy this facility and train them in regenerative agriculture.” “And the composting is profitable?” Morrison shrugged. “We break even. Barely. But that’s not really the point. The point is transforming industrial waste into living soil. The point is teaching the next generation that decay isn’t the enemy—it’s the beginning of new life. The point is learning to think like an ecosystem instead of a corporation.” They stopped before a wall displaying Morrison’s memoir: From Syrup to SCOBY: A CEO’s Redemption. “I read your book,” Nakamura said. “Brutal self-assessment.” “Had to be,” Morrison replied. “I spent decades helping build a system that made billions by making people sick. If I’m going to do anything meaningful with the rest of my life, I need to be honest about what I did wrong.” Nakamura gave him a piercing look. “What’s the hardest lesson, James?” Morrison thought for a moment. “That you can’t buy relationships. Mega-Cola tried to purchase kombucha companies and force them into our industrial model. But the reason those companies succeeded was because they maintained living relationships—between bacteria, between brewers and their cultures, between producers and customers. We thought we could commodify those relationships. We were wrong.” Nakamura looked into the other man’s eyes. “Do you regret your career at Mega-Cola?” “Every day,” Morrison said. “But regret without action is just self-pity. I can’t undo the harm I caused. I can only try to spend whatever time I have left doing things differently.” The two men stood silent. “And now?” Nakamura eventually asked. “Now I’m learning that the same principle applies to everything. Healthy soil requires relationships between millions of organisms. Healthy communities require relationships between people. You can’t manufacture relationships. You can only cultivate them.” A former Mega-Cola executive, now managing the composting operation, approached. “James, the new batch is ready. Want to check it?” They walked to a massive composting area where industrial waste had been transformed into rich, dark soil. Morrison picked up a handful, letting it sift through his fingers. “Five years ago, I couldn’t have told you what healthy soil looked like. Now I can diagnose it by touch, smell, and sight. I know the difference between soil that’s alive and soil that’s dead. I wish I’d learned that forty years ago.” Business School Autopsies: Failed Integration Studies Mega-Cola’s failed acquisitions became business school case studies teaching a fundamental lesson about the new economy: you couldn’t buy biological relationships, only nurture them. Companies that thrived in the fermentation future were those that learned to think like ecosystems rather than machines, valuing symbiosis over extraction and cooperation over control. The old extraction-based capitalism of brands, advertisements, and artificial scarcity had dissolved in the acid of transparency. In its place rose a commerce of connection, a network of exchange based on trust, craft, and living value. No one “sold” kombucha anymore. They shared it—encoded with local identity, story, and microbial lineage. Each brew was a living signature, traceable back to the brewer’s SCOBY ancestry through transparent bio-ledgers—open microbial blockchains that recorded not profits, but relationships. Harvard Business School’s legendary case study “The Mega-Cola Kombucha Catastrophe” had become required reading for understanding how industrial thinking fails when confronting biological complexity. Professor George Santos—a reformed fraudster turned champion of ethical business studies at Harvard—projected key figures on his classroom screen summarizing the Mega-Cola meltdown: $48.7 billion spent on kombucha acquisitions and infrastructure Zero successful products launched 94% loss of beneficial bacteria in acquired brands Complete corporate collapse within 15 years Morrison sat in the audience, invited as a guest speaker. The students didn’t know he was there yet. Santos lectured: “Mega-Cola’s failure wasn’t about lack of resources or expertise. They had the best food scientists, unlimited capital, and a dominant market position. They failed because they tried to apply industrial logic to biological relationships. It’s a category error—treating living systems like machines.” A student raised her hand. “But couldn’t they have just left the kombucha companies independent? Kept them small-scale?” “Good question,” Santos responded. “But that would have defeated the purpose of the acquisition. Morrison wanted to leverage industrial efficiency to dominate the market. He couldn’t accept that efficiency itself was the problem.” “Sounds arrogant,” another student said. “It was,” Morrison spoke from the audience. “Unforgivably arrogant.” The room went silent as students realized who he was. Santos smiled. “Class, we have a special guest. Mr. Morrison has agreed to discuss his decisions and their consequences.” Morrison walked to the front slowly. At 72, he looked older than his years. “I’m here because Professor Santos asked me to help you understand how intelligent, well-intentioned people can make catastrophic mistakes,” Morrison began. “In 2035, I was confident, even cocky, firmly believing we could apply our industrial processes to kombucha. I have degrees from Wharton and McKinsey experience. I’d successfully optimized dozens of operations. I didn’t see kombucha as a challenge—I saw it as an opportunity.” “What changed?” a student asked. “Repeated failure,” Morrison said simply. “We acquired kombucha brands. We killed them by trying to scale them. We hired consultants. They told us what we were doing wrong. We didn’t listen. We tried to ferment cola using SCOBYs. We created undrinkable disasters. Eventually, even I couldn’t ignore reality: you can’t industrialize living relationships.” “Why not?” another student challenged. “We industrialize lots of biological processes. Agriculture, pharmaceuticals—” “Different scale, different complexity,” Morrison explained. “Kombucha requires dozens of organisms in complex relationships. You can’t standardize that without destroying what makes it work. And more fundamentally, I didn’t respect what I was trying to control. I saw bacteria as inputs to be optimized, not as living partners to be cultivated. That disrespect guaranteed failure.” Samantha Chen, sitting in the back, spoke up. “I was Mega-Cola’s CFO. I warned James from the beginning that we were trying to commodify relationships. He didn’t listen until we’d burned through billions and destroyed the brands we’d acquired. The lesson isn’t just about fermentation—it’s about recognizing when your core competencies are incompatible with what you’re attempting.” A student asked the obvious question: “Mr. Morrison, you lost billions of dollars and collapsed a century-old company. Why should we listen to you?” Morrison smiled sadly. “Because I failed spectacularly at something many of you will attempt: forcing biological systems into industrial models. Climate change, environmental restoration, and sustainable agriculture—you’ll all face situations where industrial thinking fails. If hearing about my failures helps even one of you recognize that trap earlier, then bankrupting Mega-Cola will have served some purpose.” Cola Coda The demise of Mega-Cola and Morrison's redemption was celebrated in song by a young group of Baltimore kombucha brewers whose anthem ‘It's an Unreal Thing' was played on college radio stations by retro-70's leather-jacketed DJ's with pierced ears. Here’s Hexotronix: Go now, take what you think will lastBut whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fastAll your failed investments, they’re all going homeYour fermentation formula had the wrong biomeYour scientists who just walked out the doorHave taken all their SCOBYs from the brewery floorThe towers too have failed to come throughAnd now it's time to go find something new. [Chorus]You sold your soda to a worldThat you thought you'd taught to singIn perfect harmonyBut it's an unreal thing, an unreal thing. You bought up all our breweries, didn't you?Your fake fermented drinks just didn't come through .You killed what made kombucha realSo how does it feelTo be completely unreal?How does it feelTo be a joker?How does it feelTo be a bankrupt, down at heel?With the whole world laughingAt your soda? [Chorus] Your beverage was a bustYour dreams all turned to dustThe missing partWas our SCOBY heartRight there at the startBut you didn't seeWhat we sawDidn't feelWhat we feltDidn't knowWhat we knewDidn't loveWhat we loved. [Chorus] Leave your corporate life behind, something calls for youThe dream that you once had is clearly through.Forget the drinks you've served, they will not follow youGo tell another story start anewThe compost and mushrooms, they now call to you. [Chorus] Epilogue: The Next Discovery Morrison’s transformation from CEO to mushroom farmer illustrates that recognizing failure honestly opens paths to genuine learning. His redemption isn’t about success—it’s about accepting that some approaches are fundamentally wrong and committing to something different. However, one man’s transformation was only the beginning. While corporate executives struggled to understand living systems, a brilliant citizen scientist was making discoveries that would prove the human brain itself required biological partnerships to reach its full potential. Check back next Friday as the gripping tale of ‘Our Fermented Future’ continues. Disclaimer This is a work of speculative fiction. Names, characters, businesses, events, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, assisted by generative A.I. References to real brands and organizations are used in a wholly imaginative context and are not intended to reflect any actual facts or opinions related to them. No assertions or statements in this post should be interpreted as true or factual. Audio Listen to an audio version of this Episode and all future ones via the Booch News channel on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you just want to listen to the music (classic 80’s punk!) tune in as follows: Hexotronix, It’s an Unreal Thing, 36:17 Lyrics ©2025 Booch News, music generated with the assistance of Suno. The post Our Fermented Future, Episode 7: Corporate Death Spiral—How Cola Became Compost appeared first on 'Booch News.

Diese Episode ist keine Wohlfühlrunde für Feinschmecker, sondern ein frontaler Blick auf ein Restaurant, das konsequent gegen den Strich kocht. NeoBiota in Köln zeigt, wie moderne Gastronomie klingen kann, wenn Mut, Technik und Haltung wichtiger sind als Prestigeprodukte und goldene Teller.Sonja Baumann und Erik Scheffler sprechen unverblümt über eine Küche, die auf pflanzenbasierte Grundlagen setzt, auf Fermentation baut und mit über Wochen gereiften Aromen arbeitet. Der Koji-Pilz bekommt mehr Aufmerksamkeit als die Jakobsmuschel, und ein kultivierter Scoby erzählt mehr über Handwerk als jedes Luxusfilet. Diese Küche will nichts imitieren – sie definiert neu.Natürlich kommt auch die harte Realität zur Sprache: der verlorene Michelin-Stern nach dem Umzug, die fragwürdigen Mechanismen der Bewertungen, der Kampf mit Kölner Immobilien, der Personalmangel und der ständige Versuch, eine Vision gegen ein System zu behaupten, das lieber den Mainstream belohnt als den Fortschritt. Trotzdem bleibt spürbar: Die beiden brennen für die Sache. Und das überträgt sich in jedem Satz.Zwischen Tiefgang und Ironie entstehen starke Momente: von Pressechaos über Küchenanekdoten bis zu Lieblingsgerichten, musikalischen Vorlieben und dem alltäglichen Wahnsinn, der entsteht, wenn Perfektion und Realität in einer Profiküche frontal kollidieren.Am Ende steht ein Restaurant, das sich nicht anbiedert. NeoBiota ist ein Ort, der Energie über Etikette stellt, Handwerk über Hype und Substanz über Sternelogik. Köln hat ein kulinarisches Labor bekommen, das sich nicht versteckt – und genau deshalb relevant ist.Diese Folge zeigt, wie weit Gastronomie kommen kann, wenn sie den Mut hat, nicht wie die anderen Kinder auf dem Spielplatz zu sein. WOW!#neobiota #sonjabaumann #erilscheffler #SOULFOOD # SOULFOODPASSIONISTAS # CARSTENHENN #GASTROSURIVIAL #BUDDYZIPPER #GASTROPODCAST #KULINARIK #STERNEKUECHE #KOCHGOTT #gastrosurivial #sterneküche #foodporn #foodlover #instafood #gastronomie #podcast @buddyzipper @carstenhenn @soulfoodpassionistas

I visited Bioma Kombucha on the final day of my trip to Barcelona for the World Kombucha Awards and KBI European Summit. Christopher Davite is the founder of Bioma Kombucha in Barcelona. His personal health struggles, including ADHD, depression, and digestive issues, along with an unexpected allergic reaction to pollen after moving to Vancouver, led him to discover the healing benefits of kombucha. Inspired by his own transformative experience and his grandfather's knowledge of medicinal plants, Davite shifted from a career in architecture and personal training to founding Bioma Kombucha in 2017, motivated by a mission to empower people with an affordable, functional beverage. The company focuses on creating a high-quality, sustainably produced product using locally sourced medicinal plants. From the first sip, I knew I had found something truly special. The benefits were astounding. Every day, I felt my body and mind fill with renewed energy, propelling me to improve my life in ways I had never imagined. Kombucha inspired me to share this gift with the world, with the mission of “empowering people from within.” Today, my message is simple: “Take care of your body, and your body will take care of you.” Kombucha is not just a beverage for me; it’s a way of life, a source of energy and well-being. I hope my story inspires you to discover the wonderful benefits it can offer and to find your own path to a healthier and happier life.” Branded initially as ‘Kashaya Kombucha’ selling a green tea classic, in 2021 he rebranded to Bioma and expanded the range to add seven more flavors. Production and sustainability Sustainability is at the heart of their business. Christopher drew on his background in interior architecture and design to renovate an old garage that is his production facility. All the building materials were sourced from within Catalonia. This includes cork insulation and marble-based paint in the fermentation room. The low pH in the paint means nothing can grow in it. He explains that this has a significant impact on the SCOBY’s overall well-being and health. The walk-in cooler was constructed with natural mortar and insulated with hay behind a cork lining. When empty, it smells like a hay barn. The Bioma bottles are screen-printed, so there is no glue or labels, making them easier to recycle. Some are on their 10th life cycle. Bioma was the first to produce kombucha at an industrial scale in Barcelona and has grown into a team of eight people. Method Bioma uses a traditional brewing process with native medicinal and aromatic plants and premium ingredients to produce authentic kombucha. The Rwandan green tea is cold-brewed overnight for 12-16 hours (an environmental saving in and of itself). Cold brewing brings out smooth, natural notes that harmonize perfectly with the kombucha’s acidic profile. This method preserves the maximum amount of nutrients and probiotic properties, ensuring a healthy experience with every sip. They then add the starter, ferment for 7 days, and then undergo an additional 2 to 5 days of secondary fermentation with flavorings sourced from foraged ingredients or local farmers. Christopher periodically chants to the kombucha while it ferments, which he believes enhances the brew’s medicinal resonance. Chakra-aligned flavors Bioma Kombucha believes in the holistic connection between body, mind, and spirit. Their kombucha is rich in probiotics and antioxidants that not only improve digestive health but can also contribute to overall well-being. A healthy digestive system helps keep energy flowing properly, which can positively influence the balance of your chakras. Their kombucha is formulated with medicinal and aromatic herbs that help unblock the chakras. Ingredients such as lavender, rosemary, lemon balm, and chamomile not only provide a delicious flavor but also have properties that benefit energy and inner balance. While an infusion is great, it is during the fermentation stage that the metabolites and essential oils get introduced. They all have the specifics of the plant and how they interact during the fermentation stage and the pH and yeast levels. Vida Verde, their Classic Kombucha of cold-infused Rwandan high-mountain green tea, is the base for all the other flavors. This was the original kombucha they sold when the brand was known as ‘Kashaya’–the Ayurvedic term for a medicinal drink. The full range is infused with herbs, flowers, and fruits that align with the seven mystical chakras in the human body. Chakra is a Sanskrit word meaning “wheel” and refers to the energy centers in our bodies. The chakras serve the same function in our body as electrical outlets in a room: they distribute the energy that enters through the crown chakra to organs, glands, and muscles. Here are the seven chakras paired with the corresponding Bioma flavor. Base Chakra (Muladhara) Seasonal Star – The winter season version combines pomegranate, grape, and pine bud. In summer, it is flavored with stinging nettle, strawberry, dandelion, and blueberry. This kombucha supports active energy and is for those who wish to move with strength, passion, and determination. It helps you feel a solid foundation and self-confidence. Great for workouts, sports, and playlists that motivate you. It’s a kombucha that gives you a clean boost for every challenge. Sacral Chakra (Svadhisthana) Sacred Creation – Flavored with marigold, pear, and fig. This kombucha is strengthening and restorative. It is a fruity and floral blend that awakens your senses, enhances creativity, and connects you with your creative energy and sexuality. Svadishtana is associated with the unconscious and with emotion. It is the seat of pleasure, a sense of oneself, relationships, sensuality, and procreation. Solar Plexus Chakra (Manipura) Solar Flower: A carefully crafted formula includes elderflower and orange blossom, two ingredients that work with chamomile to gently care for your digestive system. It also incorporates wild fennel, known for its calming properties and ability to balance energies. Most remarkable about Solar Flower is its ability to open and balance the Solar Plexus Chakra. This chakra represents our personal power, confidence, control, and vitality. Drinking Solar Flower helps increase confidence and decision-making ability, connects you with your inner fire: that spark that drives you and allows you to take the reins of your destiny from the depths of your being. Heart Chakra (Anahata) Cosmic Love: A fusion of hemp, hops, and lemon verbena creates a kombucha with a smooth, citrus taste. It is reminiscent of an India Pale Ale (IPA) Belgium beer. This kombucha also has a deeper purpose: it’s designed to open and balance the Heart Chakra for a more profound sense of love. Drinking Cosmic Love promotes healthy relationships and allows you to connect with your heart and feel compassion, both for yourself and others. Hemp and lemon verbena reduce stress, increase relaxation, and bring a sense of mental calm. Throat Chakra (Vishuddha) Crystal Voice: The freshness of apple blends with the calming properties of lemon balm and the purifying virtues of sage that satisfies your palate and nourishes your well-being. Drinking Crystal Voice improves clarity in communication and personal truth, helping you find your voice, express yourself clearly, and connect with your inner creativity and authentic self. Third Eye Chakra (Ajna) Creative Mind: A unique and revitalizing blend of rosemary, mint, and lavender. It is designed to help you open your third eye, connect with your creative mind, and find intuitive solutions to everyday challenges. Crown Chakra (Sahasrara) Divine Light: Has a fruity, floral flavor that resonates especially with feminine energy. A mix of raspberry juice and roses, it incorporates medicinal herbs like echinacea and passionflower to strengthen your immune system. Divine Light works to open and balance the Crown Chakra—the center of spirituality and connection with the Divine. When the Crown Chakra is in harmony, we experience greater spiritual awareness and a sense of unity with the universe. Distribution Christopher aims to sell a million bottles of kombucha. Over the past seven years, he estimates they have sold over 400,000 bottles. In addition to online orders, they are popular among the yoga community and are sold at large cultural festivals. Early sales were at farmers’ markets and through “old school cold calling” to bars and restaurants. Bioma is now available in retail outlets in Barcelona and Madrid, with plans to expand to Switzerland before the end of the year. Awards In October 2024, Bioma took home the Gold award at the @pentawards for best international design for their packaging created by @summabranding. Addition of cans They introduced a line of cans to meet the growing demand for no-alcohol events, such as music festivals, and in public spaces like swimming pools, where glass bottles are not allowed. They also save on shipping costs. Podcast This podcast is edited from an hour-long conversation with Christopher during my visit to Bioma. As he showed me around the facility, we moved from room to room, so the audio quality varied with the changing acoustics. Tune in to the hear the story of Bioma Kombucha. The post Profile: Bioma Kombucha, Barcelona, Spain appeared first on 'Booch News.

Seconds out, round 274! Join us this week as we breakdown the latest boxing news! Riakporhe vs Welch review (2:05) Azim vs Scoby review (8:50) Caterrall vs Essuman review (20:25) Eubank Jr vs Benn II review (35:40) The Ring IV preview (59:45) Get involved with the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #StrapSZN Instagram: @strapsznpodcast Twitter: @strapsznpod We are available on all good streaming platforms. Hit the url below to get direct links to all our streaming pages. Give us a follow, leave us a review and connect with us! https://allmylinks.com/strapsznpodcast

Welcome to a slightly dicombobulated but neverthless incredible and extended Mondays With Macron. This week there was a lot of talking and banter but it was worth it for the crazy calls and extended madness. This week we deal with a man Karen who likes chasing drivers around his neighbourhood and doesn't like AI hold music, one lady refuses to understand why she should answer the phone if she wants a company to help her, Ron gives a stern lecture on who MF Doom is, one lady gets very upset about unwanted notifcations in her car, Scoby then attempts to recover some missing rental vehicles with hilarious results and argues with a man with a ladies name. And much more! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

This is one in a series about possible futures, which will be published in Booch News over the coming weeks. Episode 2 appeared last week. New episodes drop every Friday. Overview Building on Curro Polo's pioneering research in the late... The post Our Fermented Future, Episode 3: SCOBY 2.0 – When Fungi Meets Quantum Computing appeared first on 'Booch News.

We are back in action baby and if you like classic longwinded complainer calls then boy do we have a show for you. This week Ron from the corporate office has to deal with a very angry airline passenger who for some reason does not like accepting $11 in compensation but wants to fight about it on the phone for a really long time, a man who booked a hotel in Isreal and was not happy with the conditions there and again wanted to do battle for a very long time about getting some kind of compensation for this and then in a sight to behold Ron actually drops and entire album of brand new songs on an unsuspecting lady whilst putting her on hold. We think she eventually got the message but some say she is still not sure to this day. Plus don't miss Scoby's not at all boring sports talk during the interval. Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Episode Highlights With HannahHannah calls herself a farmer of microbes and she sees fermentation as a sacred practiceThe resurgence of ancient wisdom though regenerative farmingThey do DNA sequencing on all of their culturesHow to cultivate your microbiome at home by making your own fermented foodsWhat to know about fermented products and sugar and why sugar in ferments is differentHow to mitigate excess sugar in kombucha and how sugar in kombucha isn't a bad thingThe flavors of health are sour and bitterWhat are we actually feeding? We think it is our bodies but it is also our microbiome so how do we give it what it actually needsHow fermented foods help remove toxins from the bodyBacteria affects ancient wisdom and ancestral lineage in the modern worldWhat a scoby is and how it is a metaphor for global communityHow to get started with fermentation and it is easier than you think!Resources We MentionKombucha KampThe Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring, and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea by Hannah Crum

Episode Highlights With HannahHow fermentation makes nutrients more bioavailableWhy we are bacteriosapiens and we have a very intimate relationship with bacteriaBacteria isn't always a bad thing and fermentation was used for preservation for a long timeFermentation is digestion happening outside the body and how it reduces antinutrientsFermented foods are our bacterial heritage The gut is actually the first brain and the mood/hormone connection to fermentsHow fermented foods can improve skin when used internally and externallyWhat a scoby is and how it can be used in skincare and kombucha as a tonerMicrobes and the nutrients that they createLesser known microbes and ferments that she recommends trying How microbes can help us reclaim our inner sovereignty and intuitive healthResources We MentionKombucha KampThe Big Book of Kombucha: Brewing, Flavoring, and Enjoying the Health Benefits of Fermented Tea by Hannah Crum

Y'all loved the last time Lorena Evans came on as a guest host so I'm happy to announce that she's back this week AND she's willing to be my “permanent” co-host whenever Todd and James can't do the show. How awesome is that?! So, sit down, pop some popcorn, and get ready because it's time […]

Burnie and Ashley discuss the first day of school, health trends they would never do, summer school, corporal punishment, Starlink's new standy mode, good enough tech, Labubu bucks, and the intoxicating allure of investing in trends.Support our podcast at: https://www.roosterteeth.comFor the link dump visit: http://www.morningsomewhere.comFor merch, check out: http://store.roosterteeth.com

It's too damn hot but luckily that means the complainers are extra cranky, and boy are they extra cranky this week. Listen as Ron attempts to delay someone's flight for no reason, one lady goes on an entire adventure whilst attempting to prove that she isn't a robot, one lady has a complete meltdown because we won't give her an upgrade, one man has to call for help after an Internet installation issue takes a very dark turn with Scoby, one man doesn't like waiting in line at the store, Ron invites himself to be the roast master again and one very suspicious couple ends up getting their car taken away. And much more too. Remember we're taking a break next week and will be back the following Tuesday. You'll be okay! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Here we go again, sometimes I think these people don't want my sweet gentle help. Despite people not wanting to talk today we still made them. Poor old Ron has to suffer some very rude grocery store customers, a man who got very angry about his broken dishwasher, Ron joins the Roast Masters, one lady causes yet another delivery tradgedy with her constant complaining, Ron and Scoby talk to a real life NFL player if you can call him that and one man has terrible trouble trying to verify that he is not a robot. Oh and we also may have caused chaos in some random meetings too. Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Well it finally happened. Our dialler machines deciced to break right as we were doing the first show of listener appreciation week. Despite all that nothing stops this train and we still managed to make a few funny prank calls happen and invited ourselves to a few very enjoyable meetings. This week company got very confused about being AI Verified, one man got real mad about a driver driving on his lawn, one man was a real jerk to Ron for no reason at all, one man thinks a delivery driver was trying to kill his family, Scoby gets a grocery store customer real upset and Ron tackles a haunted washing machine. Stay tuned for listner appreciation week because we're just getting started... Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

#Kurtscoby #Leannacruz #daznboxing Get ready for an explosive night of boxing with ThaBoxingVoice's Live Fight Chat, breaking down the June 13, 2025, DAZN card from Philadelphia! Join us as we dive into the high-stakes matchups, including LeAnna Cruz vs. Regina Chavez in a fierce female junior bantamweight clash, Branden Pizarro vs. Israel Mercado, and Kurt Scoby vs. Haskell Rhodes in junior welterweight showdowns. We'll cover every angle, from fighter backgrounds to predictions, with real-time reactions to the action. Expect heated debates, expert insights, and fan-driven polls for boxing enthusiasts aged 18-65. Whether you're a hardcore fight fan or new to the sport, our fun, provocative, and thought-provoking commentary will keep you hooked. Tune in on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube, and join the conversation on X and Discord. Don't miss the pulse of Philly's boxing scene—subscribe now and let's talk fights!

Kali ini kita ngobrol bareng Anita Hartono, sosok di balik Mambucha—brand kombucha yang udah mulai dikenal di dunia F&B. Anita bakal cerita soal awal perkenalannya dengan kombucha, gimana proses pembuatannya, cara merawat SCOBY, sampai pengalamannya membangun bisnis kombucha dari nol. Tonton video selengkapnya di #RayJansonRadio#512 "TERNYATA KOMBUCHA BIKIN HIDUP GUA BERUBAH!" WITH ANITA HARTONO | RAY JANSON RADIOEnjoy the show!Instagram:Anita Hartono: www.instagram.com/anitahartonoDON'T FORGET TO LIKE AND SUBSCRIBE !Ray Janson Radio is available on:Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2lEDF01Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2nhtizqGoogle Podcast: https://bit.ly/2laege8iAnchor App: https://anchor.fm/ray-janson-radioTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rayjansonradioLet's talk some more:https://www.instagram.com/rayjanson#RayJansonRadio #FnBPodcast #Indonesia

Do not say the K-Word otherwise one might show up and start yelling at you the day after Mother's Day. A bit like what happened to Ron when one lady yelled at him because of Scoby's failed delivery, one man gets all upset about a silly piece of cloth, Scoby creeps out a flower orderer, one couple end up in a serious Telecourt session when trying to get Ron fired, we meet a none talkative crackhead, one men is really flexing his pro membership, we make one lady bring our car back for threatening to stop doing business with us, one man is really fussy about his food being dropped and one lady gets very upset with Ron's resolution to her wrong coloured flowers, and we also caused mayhem in a few meetings too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

In this episode of The Balance with Britt Podcast, I'm joined by the knowledgeable Barb Woegerer, ND, to uncover the transformative benefits of magnesium for metabolic health. We dive into its role in supporting insulin resistance, managing diabetes, and addressing the root causes of metabolic syndrome. Dr. Barb breaks down how magnesium impacts blood sugar regulation, stress, energy, and overall well-being.If you've ever wondered about the signs of magnesium deficiency, how it affects your health, or the best ways to get enough magnesium through diet or supplements, this episode is packed with practical tips and expert advice you can implement right away.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why magnesium is essential for metabolic health and overall wellnessHow magnesium plays a key role in insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulationThe connection between magnesium and conditions like metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and high blood pressureSigns and symptoms of magnesium deficiency and how to address themLab testing for magnesium levelsSimple ways to incorporate magnesium-rich foods into your daily routineWhen and how to supplement magnesium for optimal benefitsLinks & Resources Mentioned:Barb Woegerer, ND: Website | InstagramGrab Dr. Barbs Book! https://a.co/d/iR22WBnLoved this episode? Share it with a friend who could use some support! Screenshot the episode and tag me on Instagram @holisticbrittnutrition to spread the wellness work and let me know your biggest takeaway.Connect with Britt

Join me for a discussion all about kefir, its origins, its benefits, how to make it and HOW TO USE IT!Sponsor 1: Permies.com FUNDLE $45: https://permies.com/wiki/223017f495/Fundle-fungi-bundle Sponsor 2: AgoristTaxAdvice.com Shout out: Canary Cry Radio! https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=XK4bqtxb1PA  Tales from the Prepper Pantry Bacon Week Slicing Like a Mad Woman Ground Lamb The Carnivore Scotch Egg Test Operation Independence No more TAHOE 1. Why Kefir Matters More than just a probiotic – Kefir is a living ecosystem of bacteria and yeast, offering benefits beyond typical fermented foods. Gut health & digestion – Restores microbiome balance and may help with IBS. Immune system support – Contains natural antibacterial and antifungal compounds. Bone health & longevity – High in calcium, magnesium, and vitamin K2, supporting bone density. Why it beats store-bought probiotic drinks – No added sugars, no preservatives, and a wider range of beneficial microbes. The Mysterious Origins of Kefir No one knows! Ancient legends – Believed to have originated in the Caucasus Mountains, with stories linking it to nomadic herders or religious figures. Some claim kefir grains were a gift from the Prophet Muhammad to Orthodox Christians. Others suggest they evolved naturally in animal skins used for storing milk. Why scientists can't recreate it – Unlike yogurt cultures, kefir grains cannot be artificially synthesized, making them a true biological mystery. Kefir grains are a complex symbiotic community (SCOBY) that must be propagated from existing grains. Attempts to isolate and recreate them in labs have failed, suggesting a unique co-evolution with traditional dairy farming. 4. The Science Behind Kefir Fermentation Bacteria vs. Yeast – A Perfect Partnership Bacteria (Lactic Acid Bacteria - LAB) – Convert lactose into lactic acid, lowering the pH and thickening the milk. Yeasts – Break down sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide, adding mild effervescence and contributing to flavor complexity. Acetobacter species – Convert ethanol into acetic acid, giving kefir its subtle tang. How fermentation transforms milk Lactose breakdown – Kefir becomes more digestible for lactose-intolerant individuals. Nutrient enhancement – Increases B vitamins, calcium, and K2, making nutrients more bioavailable. Probiotic boost – Contains up to 50+ strains of beneficial bacteria and yeast, making it superior to yogurt in microbial diversity. How to Make Kefir at Home Basic Steps: Add kefir grains to whole milk (raw or pasteurized, but avoid ultra-pasteurized). Cover loosely and let ferment 12-24 hours at room temperature. Strain the grains, store finished kefir in the fridge, and repeat the process. Troubleshooting Common Issues: Too sour? Shorten fermentation time or use cooler temperatures. Too thin? Use higher-fat milk or ferment longer. Off flavors? Check milk quality and ensure grains are healthy. 6. Ways to Use Kefir Beyond Drinking It Culinary Uses: Smoothies & flavored kefir – Blend with fruit, honey, or spices. Salad dressings & dips – Use as a tangy base for ranch or tzatziki. Kefir cheese & butter – Strain whey to make a spreadable cheese. Second Fermentation for More Flavor & Fizz: How to do it – Store strained kefir in an airtight bottle with fruit or honey for another 12-24 hours. Why it works – Yeasts consume remaining sugars, boosting carbonation. Best add-ins: Citrus peel, ginger, berries, vanilla bean. Make it a great week! GUYS! Don't forget about the cookbook, Cook With What You Have by Nicole Sauce and Mama Sauce.  Community Follow me on Nostr: npub1u2vu695j5wfnxsxpwpth2jnzwxx5fat7vc63eth07dez9arnrezsdeafsv Mewe Group: https://mewe.com/join/lftn Telegram Group: https://t.me/LFTNGroup Odysee: https://odysee.com/$/invite/@livingfree:b Resources Membership Sign Up Holler Roast Coffee Harvest Right Affiliate Link  

Ever wonder why you crave sugar? It's not just about willpower—your body is sending you important signals. In this solo episode of The Balance with Britt Podcast, I'm breaking down the real reasons behind sugar cravings and sharing practical solutions to help you work with your body instead of fighting against it.You'll learn:The 5 root causes of sugar cravings (and why it's not a lack of self-control)How blood sugar imbalances, stress, and nutrient deficiencies fuel your cravingsWhat gut health has to do with sugar urges (and how to support a healthy microbiome)Simple, actionable tips to curb sugar cravings naturally—without restrictive dietsIf you find yourself reaching for sweets throughout the day, this episode will give you the tools to decode what your body really needs and feel empowered to take control of your cravings.Resources Mentioned:Glowing Gut Protocol1:1 Nutrition CoachingEp: 48 Magnesium: A Game Changer When it Comes to Your Health with Dr. Barb Woegerer NDLoved this episode? Share it with a friend who could use some craving support! Screenshot the episode and tag me on Instagram @holisticbrittnutrition to spread the wellness work and let me know your biggest takeaway.Connect with Britt

Are you constantly walking on eggshells in relationships, afraid to express your needs? Do you find yourself attracting emotionally unavailable partners, even when you know you deserve better? In this episode, I'm joined by certified trauma-informed dating and relationship coach Meleah Manning to break down why so many women struggle with unhealthy dating patterns—and how to shift into confidence, boundaries, and attracting real emotional availability.Tune in as we discuss:Signs you might be stuck in people-pleasing and why it's so common in datingHow to stop suppressing your needs and start communicating authenticallyThe Dating Filter Method for weeding out unavailable or toxic partners early onRed flags vs. green flags—what to look for in a healthy relationshipHow nervous system regulation affects who you attract (and how to use it to change your patterns)The surprising mistakes high-achieving women make that push love awayHow to build self-worth and shift into dating with easeIf you've ever felt like love is something you have to work for, this episode will change how you approach relationships—so you can finally attract the healthy, connected love you deserve.

Seoul National University of Science and Technology Researchers Develop Bioink for Personalized Tissue Repair Using Kombucha SCOBY Nanocellulose. The bioink can be precisely applied directly onto damaged tissue with a digital biopen, offering a convenient solution for healing wounds. In a new breakthrough, researchers at Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SEOULTECH) have developed a novel bioink made from Kombucha SCOBY-derived nanocellulose, which provides a scaffold that supports cell growth for tissue repair. The bioink can be directly applied to the damaged areas through a handheld biopen, making it ideal for direct in vivo tissue engineering of wounds and complex defects, particularly in emergency and first-aid settings. Bioink for Personalised Tissue Repair Using Kombucha Tissue engineering utilizes 3D printing and bioink to grow human cells on scaffolds, creating replacements for damaged tissues like skin, cartilage, and even organs. A team of researchers led by Professor Insup Noh from Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Republic of Korea, has developed a bioink using nanocellulose derived from Kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) as the scaffold material. The biomaterial offers a sustainable alternative to conventional options, and it can be loaded onto a hand-held 'Biowork' biopen, also developed by the same team. The digital biopen allows the precise application of bioink to damaged defected areas, such as irregular cartilage and large skin wounds, paving the way for more personalized and effective in vivo tissue repair, eliminating the need for in vitro tissue engineering processes. This paper was made available online on 28 October 2024 and subsequently published in Volume 282, Part 3, of the International Journal of Biological Macromolecules on 1 December 2024. "Our prefabricated nanocellulose hydrogel network from symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast has the potential to be used as a platform bioink for in vivo tissue engineering by loading all types of biomolecules and drugs and direct bioprinting," says Prof. Noh. Kombucha SCOBY is a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast used to ferment green tea. The microorganisms produce cellulose, which is biodegradable and compatible with cells. However, the nanocellulose derived from Kombucha SCOBY has an entangled structure, which requires modification for 3D bioprinting. This involves adjusting its rheological properties (how it flows) and mechanical properties to improve extrusion and maintain structural integrity after printing. The researchers accomplished this by partially hydrolyzing nanocellulose with acetic acid, breaking glucose bonds and disentangling the network for its bioprintablity. However, this treatment lacked control of its properties, leading to a reduction of its structural strength. The team reinforced the nanocellulose with chitosan (positively charged) and kaolin (negatively charged) nanoparticles. These chitosan and kaolin particles interact with cellulose through electrostatic forces, forming a stable hydrogel suitable for 3D bioprinting. The bioink was prepared by mixing the ingredients, including live cells, within a biopen. Digitally controlled, two counter-rotating screws within the biopen uniformly mixed the ingredients, creating a homogeneous bioink that could be directly applied through a needle onto damaged tissue. When attached to a 3D bioprinter, the biopen enabled the creation of multilayer, self-standing structures with high resolution, such as bifurcated tubes and pyramids exceeding 1 cm in height. The biopen was also used for direct in situ layer-by-layer printing of irregularly shaped defects. Using it, the researchers accurately filled 3D-printed cranium and femoral head molds with designed defects. The bioink and digital biopen combination offers a cost-effective solution for treating large areas and irregularly shaped wounds without any in vitro tissue regeneration ...

Another cleaning of the dairy barn, having funs with sourdoughs, getting ready for another Icy Blast of Winter.  The fun never ends...Acorn bought a 50 lb bag of hard red winter wheat to grind for flour.  Little Red Hen found that it filled 28 qt jars (she had ground up 3 qts prior).  Each jar got a sachet of "oxygen absorber" before sealing with lids and rings. Will be interesting to see how long this batch of grain will last.Hay chores need to be done today... Fill the feeders for the goats as well as add some into the goose nesting boxes.  They can begin laying soon.Kombucha is now 13 years old.  That is one good SCOBY!  Goats will eat the extra SCOBY so a win-win for everyone.

Inflammation and aging go hand in hand, but what if you could slow down the process and support vibrant, youthful skin through diet and lifestyle? In this episode of The Balance with Britt Podcast, I'm joined by Joy McCarthy, Holistic Nutritionist and founder of Joyous Health, to dive into inflammaging—the chronic, low-grade inflammation that accelerates aging.We break down the biggest dietary and lifestyle culprits behind premature aging, how your gut health plays a role, and simple shifts you can make today to feel and look your best. Joy also shares the best anti-inflammatory foods, teas, and supplements to support longevity and glowing skin.What You'll Learn in This Episode:✨ What inflammaging is and how it affects your skin, energy, and overall health✨ The biggest diet and lifestyle habits that contribute to chronic inflammation✨ How gut health, stress, and sleep impact the aging process✨ The best anti-inflammatory foods, herbs, and supplements for youthful skin✨ The skincare mistakes that might be making inflammaging worse✨ Small, sustainable changes you can start today for glowing skin and longevityResources & Links Mentioned:

In this episode of The Balance with Britt Podcast, I'm joined by Lara Adler, an Environmental Health Educator and Science Communicator specializing in everyday toxic exposures and their impact on chronic health issues. Lara has trained thousands of health professionals worldwide, helping them understand how environmental chemicals affect well-being—and now, she's here to share her insights with you!We uncover the hidden toxins in our homes, cookware, food packaging, and personal care products, along with practical, budget-friendly ways to reduce exposure. Lara also shares expert advice on navigating plastics, choosing safer cookware, and simple swaps that make a big difference in long-term health.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why environmental toxins matter and how they impact health.Hidden sources of toxins in food, cookware, and food packaging.The best and worst cookware options—and what to look for.How plastics in the home affect our health and what to do about unavoidable plastics.Easy, affordable swaps for safer personal care and makeup products.Simple habits to reduce toxic exposure without breaking the bank.The top 3 actions you can take today to start creating a healthier home.Connect with Lara Adler:Website | InstagramConnect with Me:Instagram: @holisticbrittnutritionWebsite: www.holisticbrittnutrition.comSupport the Show:If you found this episode helpful, share it with a friend or leave a review—it helps more women discover practical, science-backed strategies for better health!

In this episode of The Balance with Britt Podcast, I'm joined by Mia Harris, a Holistic Nutritionist with seven years of experience specializing in women's hormone health, gut health, and personalized wellness strategies. This episode is perfect for anyone curious about Ozempic, navigating weight-loss options, or looking to prioritize health beyond the number on the scale.What You'll Learn in This Episode:What Ozempic is, how it works, and why it's so popular for weight loss.The benefits and risks of Ozempic, including its side effects and long-term sustainability.Nutrition strategies to optimize results while on Ozempic, with a focus on fibre and digestion.How exercise, like strength training, plays a role in weight-loss success.Natural alternatives to Ozempic, including berberine and inositol, and how they compare.The role of hormonal balance and insulin regulation in sustainable weight loss.How to approach weight loss with a focus on overall health and self-compassion.Links & Resources Mentioned:Connect with Mia Harris: Website | InstagramPrevious Episodes TogetherEp. 12- Blood Sugar Balance and Why it's Important for More Energy, Healthy Hormones, Cravings and Anxiety with Mia HarrisEp. 29- 4 Ways Your Yo-Yo Dieting is Impacting your Hormones with Mia Harris, Registered Holistic NutritionistEp. 79- Approaching Weight Loss Sustainably - 6 Tips for Success with Nutritionist Mia HarrisConnect with Britt

It's Blue Monday apparently but there's no reason not to smile around here. It's Big Cardinal O'Flannagan's birthday show! Obviously we're serving up the Internet's best Karens again this week  including a lady complaining about the weather making her packages late, a super nerd who can't get his Mountain Dew delivered quickly enough, Ron gets an incoming call from a heavy smoker, one man is caught whining about his late packages, one man gets very angry about his package being rescheduled, one lady must get her new cat litter tray or all hell is going to break loose, one man gets banned from a dating app for trying to be a sugar daddy, one man's wife has been buying some very naughty tickets and Scoby does battle with an awful couple who smashed up his house and gives birth to a brand new character, and so much more too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

In this episode of The Balance with Britt Podcast, I'm joined by Amy Kapellar, a Board Certified Functional Nutritionist specializing in women's health, hormones, and stress.We explore the essential role of carbohydrates in supporting hormone health, balancing cortisol, and preventing burnout. Amy shares how to choose the best carb sources, balance them with other nutrients, and reduce the stress around eating carbs.What You'll Learn in This Episode:Why carbs are critical for hormone health and stress regulation.How carbs help balance cortisol, boost energy, and prevent burnout.The difference between simple and complex carbs, and why complex carbs are key.Signs you're not eating enough carbs for hormonal and stress support.Best times of day to eat carbs for energy, hormone balance, and better sleep.Practical tips to balance carbs with protein and fat for stable blood sugar.Easy meal and snack ideas to incorporate healthy carbs into your day.How to embrace carbs without fear and see them as a tool for wellness.✨ Links & Resources Mentioned:Amy Kapellar: Website | Instagram

So 2025 is now well under way and the complainers are really making sweet gentle Ronathon work for it. This week we have to reprimand one man for taking unwanted pictures of people, a mega Karen gets very angry at her delivery driver, one man is amazed that his driver managed to roll a square box, one lady apologises to us for not clearing the snow from her own driveway, one man really does not want us to deliver his washer, one lady tries to scam us with the old broken TV trick, one very special boy got gum on his plane seat, one lady really wants her refund, Scoby roasts one man's team to death, Chumley gets in a terrible car accident and still manages to deliver the package on time, one lady got her grocery store account hacked by Tyrone, we call back one lady from Friday's supporter show who is demanding a written apology from Ron and one lady breaks her own rental car and then wants to complain to us about it. And so much more too. Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Welcome back to The Balance with Britt Podcast! After a little hiatus, I'm so excited to kick off Season 2 with a deeply personal solo episode. A lot has changed since we last connected—I became a mom to my beautiful daughter, Gloria Rose!

Welcome to a slightly extended Mondays With Macron since it's Ron's birthday and we have a LOT of complainers to deal with this week including checking in with our new favourite sugar water consumer, Scoby creeps out an online store owner, one lady can't stop receiving porn from our AI computer, one man gets very angry about what he heard on hold, one man really wants to cancel his credit card, one lady really doesn't want our new fibre optic cables, one lady had terrible things happen to her mother, one man had a party in his rental car, we try to get an actual member of Queen to sing Happy Birthday to Ron, one lady really wants her packages, one man can't buy the new PS5 Pro like Ron can and one lady has a very fishy tale to tell. We also visited a few telephone conferences where we were welcomed with open arms. Thank you so much for all the birthday messages everyone! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

It's Monday and that means That Ronathon Gentleman is back in action. Spooktember continues in style as we have some really crazy complainers this week including a special Telecourt session with the turbo scooter lady, a lady who had a very dirty hotel stay, a man who didn't want his cruise cancelled, a man who really didn't want to have wireless Internet, we meet a MyPillow fan who doesn't like our politics, one man is very upset about his leaky compressor, one man wants to snitch on all his workmates, one man supporters a terrible team and has to face the wrath of Scoby and we meet a lady who really does not like Biscoff biscuits for some strange reason. We also made ourselves welcome in a bunch of video conferences this week too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Welcome to another weird and wacky Mondays With Macron. It's a big show this week as it's time for Spooktober, we launched our brand new God Level Member's page and apparently it's international podcast day or something. Either way Ron is here to deal with some real ragers this week including a lady who cries over some lost glasses in a state that doesn't even exist, a cheap ass car rental rager, a lady with a stuck package who went full ghetto on Scoby, a lady who wanted to jerk us around over her birthday discount code, a lady who is really not happy about her new phone upgrade, a very angry lady who got her lawyer on the phone to yell at us about her son's insurance, a banchode who can't get his apps to work, a lady who wants to mess us around about her furniture delivery, one man upgrades to the cancellation package and one banchode gets banned from making phone calls. And lots more too!  Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

It's another crazy Mondays With Macron alright and this week we have some seriously wacky complainers. This week poor old Ron has to deal with a man who thinks he needs some kinda special equipment just to play soccer, a family who have asbestos and lead in their house and that's not even the worst of it, Ron tries his best to help out a dog bakery, one man has serious problems with his delivery, one man seems to have some kind of unreasonable objection to his delivery driver parking on his lawn and one lady really wants a one night stand with Scoby. We also made ourselves welcome in a few more video conferences and had lots of other crazy stuff too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Welcome to another crazy week of complainers with Ron and Co and boy were the complainers out in force tonight. This week Ron does battle with a nerd with a broken monitor who can't play World of Warcraft any more, a man who really should have kept the receipt when he sent his headphones in for repair, a girl who was in hysterics over her broken car, a serious business man who threatens to expose us all, another person complaining about a bus driver getting sick, we deal with a crazy family of cable company employees, one man really wants poor Mike to get fired, one man got ripped off buying tickets to a sportsball game and has to deal with Mr. Scoby, one man doesn't appreciate us testing his children's milkshakes for poison and we check in with a few meetings and a few of our regulars too! Thank you to all the people that listened live on YouTube and everyone checking out our podcast. I love you very much and keep it locked to macronshow.com where Ron will be doing more supporter's shows!

Is that a Magic Wand in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Cuddle Party Facilitator and Intimacy Coach Scoby Goo feels like an outsider until she stumbles upon our little storytelling show, and its inclusive atmosphere changes everything for her. Obsessed, Scoby follows Bawdy from city to city, and becomes captivated with a Seattle magician and their tantalizing true tale of an orgy at a Magician's Conference. And Before you can say ‘Fortune favors the Brave', Scoby volunteers for their own kind of Hocus Pocus - and Abracadabra, Bawdy Gets You Laid!   About our Storyteller:   Scoby Goo dove into the worlds of kink and polyamory after attending a Bawdy Storytelling way back in 2014, following the show from San Francisco to LA to Seattle and then Chicago (and later, got onstage to share the stories created!). She now hosts communication and consent workshops, also known as Cuddle Parties, as a certified facilitator. While she can make kombucha (like her namesake: the Symbiotic Colony Of Bacteria and Yeast), she's more of an emotional fermentation process starter and she also offers intimacy coaching. Learn more at http://emotionalfermentation.com   Key Words:   Orgy | Magic l Bisexual l Magician l Gay lSiegfried & Roy l Grad School l Seattle l Cabaret l Bar l Storytelling show l Pansexual l Polycule l Crush l Prize l Sex Toys l Stage l Performance l Sleight of Hand l Dibs l 5 Magician Pileup l Levitation l Charlie's Angels l Mrs Frizzle l Grinding l Fingering l Fisting l Armpit Hair l Coconut Oil l Takes 2 Hands l Assistant l Psoriasis l Cowgirl l Parlor Trick l Party Crasher l Valid l Coming Out l Blonde l Brunette l Redhead l Rose l Threesome l Girlfriend l Partner l Invitation l MakeOut Session l Piercings l SuperFan l Humans l Squishy Bits l Non-Exclusive l Black Box Theater l Volunteer from the Audience l Magic Show l Imposition l Fear l Bother l Afterparty l Just Ask l   Episode links:   Bawdy Got Me Laid perfume: Dixie has created her own fragrance and it's getting rave reviews! Here's one: “Okay hear me out, THIS PERFUME IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. I will probably never buy perfume from another shop. That's how good these are. #bawdygotmelaid is so sexy, so sweet, so delicious. The Amber and ylang ylang is what sold me, and it did not disappoint!” - Carlie Read more reviews here: https://sucreabeille.com/products/bawdygotmelaid   You'll love #BawdyGotMeLaid, scented with golden Honey, Amber, Ylang Ylang, and warm Vanilla. There's also our creamy Bawdy Butter, Hair & Bawdy Oil, & more. Bawdy Got Me Laid cologne - in a beautiful bottle, or a convenient roll-on applicator - means you can deliver your own great smelling Motorboats while supporting Bawdy. It's sexy yet innocent, and even moms and kids love it.   Get yours today at https://bawdystorytelling.com/merchandise   Upcoming Story Workshops: My new workshop ‘Storytelling to Get the Sex* You Want' is coming soon. I'll announce the date - and ticket link - next week. Stay Tuned!   AND: My Secret System Storytelling Workshops are returning - and this time, you can attend either online, or live and in-person! Registration will be offered to newsletter subscribers first, so sign up now. But I have 2 different workshops. Which one is best for you?   How to Be Fascinating: Dixie's Secret System for Brilliant Storytelling (perfect for parties and social events, getting better at speaking up at work, and dealing with the social anxiety of public speaking)   •    How to Be Bawdy: Dixie's Secret System for Uncensored Storytelling (learn how to tell stories the way that Bawdy storytellers do, esp sharing your personal story in an inclusive, detailed yet relatable way. Special topics will include polyamory stories, kink stories, illustrating consent in your story, transporting your audience into a scene, and more)   Make sure you're the first to know when registration happens. Subscribe to the Bawdy Storytelling email at https://bawdystorytelling.com/subscribe   Where should I bring Bawdy next? Do you want Bawdy Storytelling in *your* city? I'm ramping up for more cities and live shows. Maybe an evening of *my* personal stories, or a House Concert, a BawdySlam, or ? Send me a message, tell me what you're thinking, and let's work together. Message me at BawdyStorytelling@gmail.com   Patreon Special Offer:   Want to ensure this podcast continues? Please make a one-time Donation to keep us going!   Our Payment links are:   Venmo: @BawdyStorytelling or https://www.venmo.com/bawdystorytelling CashApp: https://cash.app/$DixieDeLaTour Paypal: paypal.me/bawdystorytelling Zelle: https://www.zellepay.com/  Email address is  BawdyStorytelling@gmail.com BuyMeACoffee: buymeacoff.ee/bawdy   Ko-fi : Ko-fi.com/thanksbawdy   Better yet… Join Bawdy's Patreon now to get exclusive Patreon-only rewards (and my eternal gratitude). Podcasting has been decimated by high profile celebrity podcasts, and Independent podcast like Bawdy are suffering…The Golden Age of Podcasting is over, so if you love the Bawdy podcast, remember: this thing is entirely Listener Supported, and we need your financial assistance to continue.   Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Bawdy   Here's a great deal: The Patreon All-You-Can-Eat Special: Need some True Stories / Entertainment to stay thrilled and connected as only Bawdy can do, no matter where you are? Right now, you can Sign up (or Increase your support) for the $25/month level on Bawdy's Patreon and you'll get: •  40+ Hours of Bawdy, on Video! •  16 Full Length Livestreams (each is over 2 hours long) Recorded Stories from Margaret Cho, Sunny Megatron, Dirty Lola, Slutever, Reid Mihalko, and many more •  Original Music from Rachel Lark, Jefferson Bergey, Shirley Gnome - All your favorites from the Bawdy Stage You'll be helping me continue the Bawdy Podcast, Live Shows, and assist in the development of new projects that I have in the works •  Available at the $25/month or greater level at: https://www.patreon.com/Bawdy   Want to work with me, one-on-one? Storytelling is essential to your personal and work life. Right now I'm offering private coaching on Zoom… Want to work on your personal branding? (your dating profile, website, etc). Want my help to develop the story line for your documentary? to help craft personal stories for the stage? I can help you live the life that you've always dreamed about: communicating with clarity, landing your dream job, feeling more confident when you speak socially and on stage, and discovering what makes you tick (storytelling is so good for figuring out what drives you) … Whether it's getting onstage for the first time, writing your memoir, creating a podcast, or learning how to use brand storytelling for your business, I can help. Email me at BawdyStorytelling@gmail.com and let's make it happen.   My Writings, and the Ramble: My upcoming Substack 'The Dixie Ramble' is at https://substack.com/profile/22550258-dixie-de-la-tour #Subscribe   Check out our Bawdy Storytelling Fiends and Fans group on Facebook - it's a place to discuss the podcast's stories with the storytellers, share thoughts with your fellow listeners, & help Dixie make the podcast even better. Just answer 3 simple questions and you're IN! https://www.facebook.com/groups/360169851578316/ Thank you to the Team that makes this podcast possible! Team Bawdy is:   Podcast Producer: Roman Den Houdijker Sound Engineer: David Grosof Storytelling support by Mosa Maxwell-Smith Dixie's Virtual Assistant is Roillan James Video & Livestream support from Donal Mooney Bawdy's Creator & Host is Dixie De La Tour & Thank you to Pleasure Podcasts. Bawdy Storytelling is proud to be part of your s*x-positive podcast collective!   Website: https://bawdystorytelling.com/ On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bawdystorytelling/ Like us at www.Facebook.com/BawdyStorytelling Join us on FetLife: https://fetlife.com/groups/46341 Support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/Bawdy Watch us on YouTube at http://bit.ly/BawdyTV Find out about upcoming Podcast episodes - & Livestreams - at www.BawdyStorytelling.com/subscribe