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guide
15
articles
↑ it bubbles, it's alive!
The bare essentials
Three steps,
and you know the essentials
If you read 90 seconds of this page, read these three cards. The rest is for the curious.
01
Bacteria and yeast
do the cooking
Lactobacillus, acetobacter, leuconostoc, and wild yeasts too: a whole little world turns sugars into acids, gases and aromas. It's cooking, on a tiny scale. No chef, no written recipe, just patient chemistry.
02
Nothing is
pasteurised
Pasteurising would kill the very cultures that make a ferment worth eating. So despite the extra work, the cold chain, the shorter shelf life, we never do it. That's why everything reaches you alive, in the fridge, delivered fresh each week.
03
Your gut
takes over
A varied microbiome supports digestion, mood and immunity. Fermentation isn't magic: it brings bacterial diversity and gives work to enzymes we've forgotten about for 50 years.
What fermentation does
Given time,
everything
changes
For centuries, fermentation was how we kept food from spoiling. But the microbes do more than preserve: they unlock new flavours and textures, make nutrients easier to absorb, and leave the food full of live cultures.
Those cultures are what our gut loves. We feed them, they feed us back. It's the same quiet process behind all four of our ferments.
Sugar
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H20
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Salt
↓ time
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acids
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CO2
Enzymes
raw food + cultures + time → alive
before
Kombucha · tart & fizzy
Tibicos · light & fizzy
Kimchi · sour & crunchy
Tempeh · firm & nutty
after
The vocabulary
The words,
without the jargon
→ 15 words to know
Kombucha
Drink · fermented
kom·boo·cha
Sweet tea fermented by a SCOBY. Lightly tart and sparkling. The name is thought to come from the Japanese "konbu-cha" (kelp tea). Originally from East Asia, >2,000 years old.
Tibicos
Drink · fermented
ti·bee·kos
Sugar water and fruit fermented by living grains, also called water kefir. The grains were traditionally found on the pads of the Opuntia (prickly pear) cactus. Light and gently sparkling.
SCOBY
Culture · symbiotic
skoh·bee
"Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast": the jelly-like disc on the surface of the kombucha. It's the factory. We keep it, feed it and pass it on.
Kimchi
Food · lacto-fermented
kim·chee
Korean-style lacto-fermented vegetables. Napa cabbage with garlic, onion, ginger and chilli. Alive, crunchy, full of Lactobacillus.
Tempeh
Food · fermented
tem·pay
Seasonal beans bound together by the spores of Rhizopus oligosporus, a fungus. Originally from Indonesia. Forms a firm, protein-rich block you can slice and grill. We change the bean with the season.
Lacto-fermentation
Process
lac·to·fer·men·ta·tion
Fermentation by lactic-acid bacteria. No heat. Turns sugars into lactic acid. The method behind kimchi, sauerkraut and more.
Probiotic
Health · biology
pro·by·ot·ic
A live micro-organism that, once eaten, benefits its host. All our products are rich in natural probiotics, not the capsule kind.
Prebiotic
Health · biology
pre·by·ot·ic
Fibres your good bacteria love to eat. Jerusalem artichoke, garlic, onion, green banana. Fuel for the microbiome.
Microbiome
Health · biology
my·kro·by·ome
All the micro-organisms living in (and on) your body. Yours is unique. ~100 trillion cells, more than your own cells.
pH
Measure
pee·aych
Acidity. Mature kombucha: pH 2.5-3.5. That acidity naturally preserves the product, no need for preservatives.
Inoculation
Process
in·ock·you·lay·tion
Adding a live culture to a fresh substrate to start fermentation. For us: 10% of the previous batch, carefully kept.
the Ragis
Our word
rah·gee
What we call our living cultures, the bacteria and yeasts doing the work in every bottle and jar. We keep them alive, feed them, and carry them from one batch to the next.
Spores
Biology
sporz
The reproductive cells of a fungus. Scatter Rhizopus spores over cooked beans, add warmth and time, and they knit the beans into tempeh.
Postbiotic
Health · biology
post·by·ot·ic
The good compounds bacteria leave behind while fermenting: organic acids, enzymes, peptides. You still get them once the live cultures are gone.
Starting culture
Process
star·ting
The living culture you add to kick off a new batch: a bit of the previous kombucha, water-kefir grains, or spores for tempeh. It carries the microbes that do the work.
The gut · what it really does
Far more than plumbing
Your gut is a second brain, an immune system and a mini-ecosystem, all at once. Fermentation gives it exactly what it likes: diversity.
01
Digestion.
Breaks down food, absorbs nutrients. Ferments help pre-digest.
Acidity
02
Immunity.
70% of immune cells live here. A varied microbiome means nimble defences.
Diversity
03
Mood.
Around 90% of serotonin, the "happy" chemical, is made in the gut. The "second brain" isn't just a metaphor.
Gut-brain axis
04
Vitamins.
Your bacteria make K, B12, biotin. Without them we'd be deficient.
Synthesis
05
Metabolism.
The microbiome influences weight, blood sugar, inflammation. Not everything, but a lot.
Cascade
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FEATURE · 14 MIN READ
The gut,
that second brain
Serotonin, the gut-brain axis, microbiome and mood: a plain-language look at what the research actually says, and what it doesn't. We asked the questions we were asking ourselves, then dug into the studies.
Ferments alone cure nothing. But a diverse diet, rich in natural probiotics, clearly moves the needle. Here's what the research says in 2026.
For itchy hands
Try it
at home
Two kits to get you started, both beginner-friendly. Each one comes with a live starter, not a freeze-dried powder, and a step-by-step guide.
Still have a question?
The questions
that keep coming up
Didn't find it? Ask us, we might turn it into an article.
A little, yes. Fermentation always makes some alcohol, and our live drinks land roughly between 0.5% and 1.2% vol, more than a ripe banana, far less than a beer. That small amount, together with the acidity, is part of what preserves the drink naturally, no additives needed.
Our live drinks aren't pasteurised, and they carry a little alcohol (roughly 0.5-1.2%). For both reasons, as a precaution, we suggest avoiding kombucha and tibicos during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Kimchi isn't pasteurised either, so during pregnancy we'd keep it to cooked dishes, stirred through a soup, stir-fry or fried rice where the heat settles things. Tempeh is always cooked before you eat it, so it's fine. When in doubt, ask your midwife.
Most of the sugar is eaten during fermentation, so our kombuchas finish low in sugar, less than an apple. Keto-friendly in moderation. Tempeh is essentially sugar-free. Our kimchi has a little fruit in it (some apple), so it isn't strictly sugar-free, though the amount is small and much of it is eaten during fermentation.
Our live drinks carry a little alcohol (see above), so we don't recommend kombucha or tibicos for young children. The foods are different: mild kimchi, without chilli, works from around age 5-6, and tempeh, like other proteins, from around age 1, then to taste.
A little bit, yes, with some nuances. Like cooking, fermentation transforms raw ingredients and changes their flavour, texture and how easy they are to digest, which is why it's sometimes called "cooking without heat." The nuance: cooking uses heat, while fermentation uses living microbes and time, and it leaves the food alive, cultures and all, rather than cooked. Same idea (transforming food), different method.
There's no magic dose. A little, most days, does more than a lot once in a while, a forkful of kimchi here, a glass of kombucha there. If you're new to it, start small and let your gut settle in.
Not exactly. A capsule gives you a few isolated strains. A plate of live fermented food gives you many microbes, plus the fibres and compounds that feed them, all wrapped up in real food. For most people, food is the simpler place to start.
It can, mildly. If you're not used to live cultures, a bit of bloating or gurgling is normal while your gut adjusts. Start with small amounts and build up. If something really doesn't agree with you, ease off and check with a professional.
