The Masterminds:

Who is behind this operation, you might wonder? Codenames Wu and True are the duo who have launched H3IST Herbals. Between the two of them, they have a myriad of expertise and passion that alchemizes into brave experimentation, calculated plan and inspired action. 

What began with a brewing project focused on medicinal and delicious meads, metheglyns, and herbal beers, has transformed into a vinegar based heist. Inspired by old tonics and nostrums, Wu and True aim to create medicine from the best raw ingredients possible that have a wide range of healing attributes. Perhaps back in the day these would be sold as "cure-alls," though with an effort to bypass three letter institutions' scrutiny, they won't claim that (wink wink). The goal is to make tonics: gentle yet potent medicinal liquids that are accessible for general and regular use. 

Bodywork, ancestral earth-skills, wild foraging, herbalism, cooking, mindfulness, Chinese medicine, animism, indigenous studies, local food sourcing, frequency healing, mass media studies, anthropology & sociology, bio-hacking, holistic approaches, revolutionary art, and radical living are some of the skills Wu and True bring together to inspire and inform their collaborations. 

Mission objectives include counteracting the normalization of toxic, harmful lifestyles, rebuilding our body's resilience and energy systems, enlightening our minds to the social structures that disempower us, and remembering our reciprocal relationship to the earth and elements. 

And big thanks Pascal Baudar, whose books provided so much information and insight into the vast world of wild vinegars. Checkout his recipes and knowledge at www.urbanoutdoorskills.com

The Gang:

A heist is nothing without a good team. Our gangs of ingredients are intentionally curated for high level operations. Each ingredient selected is considered for their unique talents and attributes. Fruits, herbs, mushrooms, sugars, and yeasts...we aim to create teams that work together well in terms of flavor and effectiveness. To take back one's health is no small task. 

Zingberry's gang is curated to seduce your senses and boost your immune system. Our vinegars (peach, pear) slow down enzymes in your gut that process glucose and so prevent sugar spikes, as well as having gang members like lemongrass and catnip that sooth your digestive system and support with inflammation. As we put more gangs together to help you take back your health, we intend to give bios for each ingredient because with the skills these allies have, they each deserve a spotlight. 

It may take a team, but each member is a leader in their own right!

The Menstruum:

Defining a menstruum is a great place to start. A menstruum is a carrier for medicine. By acting as a solvent, other ingredients are able to be infused into one cohesive blend.  A few different main players take up the field in the herbal world of menstruums - alcohol, glycerin, and oils. Yet, we have chosen vinegar as our liquid solvent that unifies our gangs of ingredients. In the metaphor of a heist, you can compare the menstruum to the driving motive of the gang, the intention and inspiration behind the heist itself. 

So...vinegar. The epic alchemy that is as old as civilization itself. 

Why does it make a great menstruum and a great binding intention for our products? Well, for starters, it is a great preservative, an effective extractor of volatile oils, alkaloids, and minerals, is easily bioavailable, and historically is one of the most used menstruums. We appreciate things that are so widely tried and true, across cultures and throughout time. And our perspective is, if it's easier to create from our local environment than the other options, it is probably the one we are meant to be using. So, one of the most attractive traits of vinegar is that we can make it ourselves! Therefore, we know the quality of ingredients going into it, and aren't relying on unsustainable industries to procure it. 

But the real ding-ding-ding winner asset that vinegar has, is its ability to support the gut. We love a menstruum that is medicinal in its own right. 

The acetic acid in vinegar slows down the enzymes in our guts that process glucose, so we have slower glucose absorption, which helps us regulate blood sugar levels. It can stimulate stomach acid production, which helps digestion, and has probiotic properties as well. Our gut health is crucial to our entire system. How we absorb and process nutrients impacts our brain, immune system function, metabolic health, cardiovascular system, skin health, mental health and our overall energy levels. Medicinal in its own right. This is why we have chosen vinegar to inspire our gangs of ingredients and carry them in the heist to take back our health. 

Upcoming Plans... 

As we have begun this mission, we have realized that H3IST will likely become so much more than just vinegars and oxymels. We are both dynamic in our creative endeavors, and tend to spread tendrils in a lot of directions, while still being quite particular about the quality craftsmanship. We also believe that many heists are in order: our health, our spirits, our passions & purpose, our bodies...there are many areas that require a reclaiming of power that has slipped away from our sovereign claim. 

So yes, vinegars are the thing today, but keep your eye out for potentially surprising product lines tomorrow that fall under the H3ist Herbals label. You never know what our next move will be...