Cultured: adj. Bacteria grown or propagated.

guru: n. a teacher or a guide; a person who has a lot of experience in or knowledge about a particular subject. 

Guru is a Sanskrit term for a “mentor, guide, expert, or master” of certain knowledge or in a certain field. The title “Guru” is given to the highest spiritual leaders in Hinduism and Buddhism.

I’ve taught fermentation for many years, and many students have referred to me as their fermentation “guru”, hence the name Cultured Guru, which I take with great responsibility.

I only intend to bring respect and honor to the term Guru. If I am to be considered a “Guru” of fermentation, I cannot withhold what I know about fermentation for only profit.

In the true wisdom-sharing pursuit of the Guru, here you will find everything I know about fermentation microbiology, fermented foods, and nourishing microbial ecosystems, all open access, all for free. 

To me, microbes are the most ancestral, spiritual and sacred organisms among us. Microorganisms in the soil, sea and sky make all life possible. They literally give us life and to microbes our bodies will return one day.

Learning how to make fermented foods and nourishing the sacred life within us should always be accessible to all.

I hope you enjoy learning here.

so hello!

I’m Kaitlynn; I’m a microbiologist (BSc Microbiology, LSU) certified in Food Safety and Preventive Controls. Food microbiology is my jam.

I love teaching people a holistic view of the microbial ecosystems that shape our foods, lives, and planet. I’m on a mission to make microbes, gut health, and microbial-made foods approachable, accessible, easy, and enjoyable. So I’m glad you’re here to learn with us.

I’d also like you to meet the man that makes our digital presence possible, the love of my life, Jon. He’s the photographer, videographer, creative and web designer for our blog and The Cultured Guru School of Fermentation.

He has a degree in digital advertising and marketing from LSU. Jon enjoys all things aesthetically pleasing and using food photography to show people that microbes are pretty neat. He’s here to help every student have a smooth, easy, and enjoyable digital learning experience.

Creating our modern, science-focused fermentation school has brought such great joy; we adore teaching students on our blog and in The Cultured Guru School of Fermentation… and what we’ve created here is going to age like the finest wine, getting better and better with time.

Even if you’ve tried fermentation before and failed, even if you’re scared of microbes and fermenting at home, we have the skills and education to guide you to understand, embrace and appreciate the microorganisms of fermentation and the powerful foods they help us to create.

We are happy to have you here!

From 2016 through 2022 we owned and operated our Cultured Guru brand of fermented foods. Launched in 2016, Cultured Guru was Baton Rouge and Louisiana’s first commercial fermented foods company.

Our mission was to share our sustainable, probiotic, nourishing fermented foods with our community while educating people about the relevance and necessity of microbes and microbiome health in our daily lives.

Our entire fermented foods company was operated by only Jon and me. We made every batch of fermented foods in American white oak barrels by hand, we filled and labeled every jar, we delivered them to grocery stores, and shipped every online order.

We were focused on operating a small, local-focused business that deals only in the highest quality. Our business got better every week that went by, not bigger, which means the quality of our food stayed intact. We only supplied stores in south Louisiana, including all 6 south Louisiana Whole Foods Market stores.

After the pandemic, we decided to close our fermented foods business on a good note, and focus solely on this blog and our online courses.

want to work with us?

We are always looking for great brands and people to collaborate with. We are content creators who love to work with other brands that align with our own mission of promoting microbiome health through real food.

Email us at [email protected]