by Christina Lin ‘21

The connection between kombucha and Christine de Pizan’s The Book of the City of Ladies isn’t immediately obvious: how can a jar of sour tea possibly be philosophical? The baseline of comparison is its structure—the starter tea is Lady Justice, the pellicle is Lady Reason, and the yeast is Lady Rectitude. Pizan’s descriptions of the nature of women parallels conceptions we have of kombucha, but it may allow us greater insight into the nature of the inherently variable.