Sweet, tangy and packed with probiotics, gira has long been a go-to winter tonic – and is now making a comeback in craft breweries and kombucha-style artisanal brands.

When Tadas Eidukevičius was crafting his latest winter menu at Demoloftas in Vilnius, Lithuania, the Michelin-starred chef turned to an unassuming staple: the turnip. But rather than deconstructing the simple ingredient beyond recognition, Eidukevičiusd slow-roasted and lightly smoked the root vegetable before serving it with gira, Lithuania’s traditional fermented beverage.

“I wanted to create a dish that highlights the traditions of Lithuania on a plate, and using gira to make the glaze brought so many flavours together without over-complicating things – it was a no brainer,” says Eidukevičius. “The gira adds acid, sweetness and a pleasant tang, which gives more complexity to the otherwise simple vegetable.”

While Eidukevičius’ creative approach no doubt helped capture the attention of Michelin inspectors, gira remains largely absent from Lithuania’s fine-dining scene. Instead, the naturally fermented drink is a household staple, enjoyed chilled in summer or as a soothing remedy for a sore throat. Once brewed in homes out of necessity – particularly during Soviet times when things were scarce – in recent years, its increased popularity has led it to be mass produced and sold by the can in soft-drink aisles of supermarkets and corner shops throughout the country.

Dating back to ancient times, gira is more commonly known as kvass across north-eastern Europe where it can be made with grains, fruits or vegetables, and is widely popular in Baltic and Slavic countries where fermentation traditions run deep.

“Traditionally, [in Lithuania] it was a homemade drink using old rye bread because it was a smart way to use up leftovers,” says Tomas Josas, a beer historian and 2023 beer sommelier champion of Lithuania who grew up drinking his grandparents’ homebrewed gira. “Fermentation not only preserved nutrients but also lowered the pH, killing harmful bacteria – meaning kvass was often safer to drink than water.”

A traditional recipe involves soaking toasted or dried-out rye bread in hot water to extract the flavour. Once cooled, yeast and maybe sugar in the form of raisins are added to kickstart the natural fermentation process. It is then cooled, strained and bottled, to be consumed within three to five days. The result is a slightly tart, mildly effervescent drink with an ABV of up to 1.2%, akin to traditionally brewed kombucha, and contains healthy probiotics that benefit gut health and immunity. In Lithuania, traditionalists see it as a tonic for the common cold because it can be made with honey, ginger and other herbs as an immunity booster.

“When I was little, my grandmother would make gira for Easter and Christmas as a festive drink but I also remember drinking gira when I was sick – consuming it more commonly as a natural remedy,” explained Ieva Šidlaitė, a cultural historian and the author of Naturally Fermented who teaches fermentation classes on her farm outside Vilnius. “In the 20th Century, when sugar was available to everyone, it became sweet,” she added. “Before this time, it was completely fermented and a sour liquid without any bubbles. It was mostly used to acidify food, make soups and also sauces because in our culture, food is dominated by a sour taste.”

Josas agrees. “Many believed kvass was good for digestion and immunity, thanks to its probiotics. My great-grandparents made traditional homebrewed gira, very different from today’s commercial versions [that are sweeter]. It had a funky, tangy flavor from lactobacillus – like sauerkraut has, but in liquid form. I wasn’t a fan as a child since it lacked sugar, but once I got into beer, I learned to love its complexity,” he says.

The early ’80s is what Josas describes as “the golden age of gira” with mobile barrels selling it on every street corner during summer. However as global soft drinks like Coke flooded the Baltic market, gira struggled to compete, losing its appeal and audience. To survive, manufacturers began mass-producing the drink using sugar for appeal and cheap malt extract to speed up the process, shifting it closer to soda than traditional fermentation.

“Kvass lacks a strong identity, a clear drinking culture or an image that appeals to younger generations,” says Josas, noting that while gira shares the same probiotic qualities of kombucha, it has never been “hyped” as a health drink. But things are changing, he says. Artisanal gira brands are reviving traditional methods, tapping into kombucha’s success. 

One of Lithuania’s largest producers of beer and gira is Gubernija Brewery in northern Lithuania who, despite their large-scale production, still make their gira traditionally: with black grain bread. However, the 360-year-old brewery is also adapting for modern palates. 

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“We have created different varieties of kvass to widen our audience in the last few years,” says Jogailė Čojūtė, export specialist for Gubernija Brewery. “For example, our white wheat bread gira is aimed at younger consumers who like trendy soft drinks. The taste is much milder. Another popular item we have is the dark rye bread gira with hemp and hints of lime; it is a unique and refreshing twist to our traditional recipe and proves that gira really can stand the test of time.”

“In 2024, we observed an 18% increase in the sales volume of owned gira brands compared to the previous year,” she continues, “while export sales volume grew by 47%.”

Globally, interest in non-alcoholic beverages and low-ABV drinks is soaring, and kvass is catching on. In the US, breweries, bakeries and even restaurants have released their own versions of kvass with great success. Dan Woods of Beaver Brewing Company in Pennsylvania produces kvass in his nanobrewery; while at Honey’s in East Williamsburg in New York, kvass made an appearance on tap. Made with chunks of toasted dark sourdough rye bread which were left to ferment, the slightly tart drink was sweetened with a touch of honey and also served as a cocktail.

In Australia, a string of bakeries have collaborated with local craft breweries to make stronger alcoholic versions, such as Three Mills Bakery in the nation’s capital, Canberra; while in Leeds in the UK, Northern Monk releases a seasonal kvass each year.

While some international versions exceed 4% ABV, for Lithuanians, it remains a drink with cultural significance that should only be fermented to 1.2% ABV at most. “It should not be considered a direct substitute for beer,” says Čojūtė.

Instead, Eidukevičius says, the beauty of the unassuming drink lends itself to a nice refresher anytime of the day with its sweet, acidic, tangy and even funky taste.

“Gira, for all its refreshing qualities, can be a bit of a mischievous drink,” Eidukevičius adds. “There’s a running joke in Lithuanian households about ‘gira explosions’ because it ferments in closed containers where enormous pressure can build up like a bottle of Champagne. There’s nothing quite like walking into a cellar and finding gira sprayed across the walls and ceiling like some kind of fizzy, rye-bread-scented geyser. It’s a testament to how alive this drink is. It’s a reminder that we’re working with natural processes, and sometimes, those processes have a mind of their own.”

So, if you find yourself in Lithuania looking for a low-alcohol beverage, consider a glass of gira. “Drinking gira is a connection to our land and to the traditions that have shaped Lithuania’s culture,” says Eidukevičius.”It has a long tradition in my beautiful country as more than just a beverage; it’s a part of our cultural heritage and a link to our ancestors’ traditions.”

Taken From BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250313-lithuanias-fermented-drink-to-ward-off-a-cold

Netflix’s latest big-budget film The Electric State, starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, is one of the most expensive movies ever made, and had some of the most scathing reviews in recent memory. But that doesn’t mean it will flop.

Film critics haven’t minced their words when delivering their verdicts on The Electric State.

It is “a turgid eyesore” and “top-dollar tedium”, according to the Times. It’s “slick but dismally soulless”, declared the Hollywood Reporter, while the New York Times called it “obvious, garish and just plain dumb”.

Paste pointed out its eye-watering budget, billing it as “the most banal way you can spend $320m”. Warming to the theme, the magazine summed it up as “one hell of an artistically neutered, sanitized boondoggle”.

There have been some kinder reviews. Empire said it was “breezily watchable” and worth three stars, while the Telegraph awarded four stars to the “Spielbergian treat”.

But overall, its 15% Rotten Tomatoes score is a meagre return for any major film, especially one costing such a lot. The $320m (£247m) figure has been widely reported but neither confirmed nor denied by Netflix. It would make The Electric State the most expensive streaming film ever.

Critics’ opinions, however, have become more irrelevant in the streaming age. The bad reviews didn’t stop The Electric State from going straight to number one on Netflix’s chart after its release on Friday.

It fits into Netflix making star-packed, entertaining and escapist movies that often get panned by reviewers – but are watched by hundreds of millions of subscribers.

“I would love to say that what I’ve written and what other critics have written will matter, but I just don’t think it will,” says Digital Spy movies editor Ian Sandwell.

Sandwell awarded the film two stars out of five, noting that the action and visual effects are “decent”, the robots are “impressive” and the finale is “epic”.

“My main problem was they’d created this really impressive, visually spectacular world and then just told quite a generic seen-it-all-before story inside it,” he says.

Bad reviews might have put people off paying to see the film if it had been released in cinemas, he says. “But on Netflix, I think it will still be absolutely massive. I don’t think bad reviews will matter at all.”

While a critic’s job is to a analyse a movie, “audiences probably do just want a big, spectacular blockbuster to watch at home, with two massive stars”, he adds.

The Electric State follows Brown, Pratt and a succession of zany robots in an alternative version of 1990s America, where there has been a war between humans and intelligent bots.

It also stars Ke Huy Quan, Stanley Tucci and the voices of Woody Harrelson and Brian Cox, and is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo – who have made four Marvel movies, including the wildly successful Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.

The Electric State is based on the graphic novel by Simon Stålenhag, although some critics pointed out that Netflix had missed the book’s point about the perils of a consumerist society addicted to technology.

The film is “absolutely not” value for money in terms of quality, says City AM’s film editor Victoria Luxford.

And it remains to be seen whether the film makes financial sense for Netflix, she says.

The streaming giant’s most popular ever film, 2021’s Red Notice, has had 231 million views, according to Netflix’s measurements.

“The Electric State will be hoping for that kind of performance, just as a $320m theatrically released movie would be aiming to break box office records,” Luxford says.

“The higher the price, the higher the target for success, even with a business model as opaque as Netflix’s.”

Red Notice, an action-packed art crime caper starring Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds, has a lukewarm 39% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes – but a 92% audience rating.

Other recent Netflix hits have been lapped up by viewers more than reviewers.

Brooke Shields’ lightweight multi-generational rom-com Mother of the Bride has a 13% critics’ score, Jennifer Lopez’s AI action thriller Atlas is on 19%, Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx’s family spy escapade Back In Action has 29%, and Kevin Hart’s heist comedy Lift is on 30%.

They are enjoyable but forgettable – and easy to watch in the midst of potential distractions at home. The Hollywood Reporter described Atlas as “another Netflix movie made to half-watch while doing laundry” – summing up this new genre.

In December, N+1 magazine quoted several screenwriters as saying a common request from Netflix executives is for characters to announce what they’re doing “so that viewers who have this programme on in the background can follow along”.

“Electric State does feel like that,” Sandwell continues, “where there are just random big dumps of the characters explaining exactly what’s happened, sometimes something we’ve seen recently, just in case you’re not following along.

“But it does depend on the movie.”

Netflix does have serious and critically-acclaimed movies, too, of course, but they are often not such crowd-pleasers. Emilia Perez, which led this year’s Oscar nominations, has not troubled the Netflix global top 10 charts.

Another critic, Gav Squires, says many of Netflix’s films are “very average”, but don’t usually have such astronomical budgets as The Electric State.

“Netflix know what they’re doing,” he says. “They know that people are probably watching on a second screen, they’re not paying full attention. So when they’re putting stuff out that costs $30m that people aren’t really watching and is kind of average, I’m not too fussed about it.

“But when they’re spending $320m on a movie, I start getting really angry. $320m would have paid the budgets for the last, I think, 10 best picture Oscar winners.

“And it just feels like really, really bad value for money at that point.”

Taken From BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdelxr18pzlo

The live-action version of the classic fairy-tale animation sounded like a surefire hit. But even before it’s reached cinemas, the response to it has been loud and often hostile.

You wouldn’t think that the war in Gaza would have much impact on a Disney remake. But the live-action Snow White, a revamped version of the 1937 animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, has become a flashpoint for social and political divisions, even before its global release next week.  

There was some backlash to the casting of Rachel Zegler, of Colombian descent, as the heroine. More recently, there has been blowback both about Zegler’s pro-Palestinian comments and about pro-Israel comments by Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who plays Snow White’s stepmother, the Evil Queen. And there is an ongoing debate about whether there should have been dwarfs at all, live or CGI. The film’s director, Marc Webb, said in Disney’s official production notes, “I think all good stories evolve over time. They become reflections of the world that we live in”. He has likely got more than he bargained for, as reactions to Snow White inadvertently reflect the most polarised aspects of the world today. Like political rhetoric in countries around the world, responses to the film’s production have been loud, irate and sometimes ugly.

Snow White has been in the works since 2019, and began in earnest with Zegler’s casting in 2021. Since then attacks on its so-called “wokeness” have proliferated, making the film a lightning rod for opinions that have little to do with the fairy tale it is based on. A recent Hollywood Reporter article asked, “Have some PR missteps combined with anti-woke outrage turned marketing the film into a poisoned apple?” And alongside such measured reporting there have been heated responses in the media. The editorial board of the New York Post – owned by Rupert Murdoch, the conservative mogul whose company also owns Fox News – weighed in this week, declaring the film a financial disaster before it has opened, writing: “Disney ‘Snow White’ controversy proves it again: Go woke, go broke!”

The debate over updating

The original film needed an update if it was going to be remade at all. In its day it set a high bar for Disney’s future animated films, but it also introduced the song Someday My Prince Will Come, blighting the expectations of generations of girls by setting them up to wait for a Prince Charming to make their lives complete. Meanwhile, Snow White happily sweeps the floor for the dwarfs until he shows up to rescue her with a kiss after she bites the Queen’s poisoned apple. Soon after her casting announcement, Zegler told the television show Extra that in the old Snow White “there was a big focus on her love story with a guy who literally stalks her”. In fact, the original film states that he “searched far and wide” to find her after falling in love at first sight, and he disappears for most of the film, so no need to take that comment too seriously. Zegler was excited and laughing when she said it. But in an early sign of the blinkered reactions to come, social media posts complained that she was anti-love.

Trying to avoid more political and social discord isn’t Disney’s only Snow White problem – there is much online speculation that the film might just be bad

Some people also rejected the idea that a Latina actress could play a character called Snow White; alongside criticisms of such non-traditional casting, she was subject to racist trolling. This was a similar reaction to that experienced by the black actress Halle Bailey when she was cast as Ariel in 2023’s The Little Mermaid.

The film stumbled into more trouble simply because its lead actresses expressed political opinions. On X in August 2024, Zegler thanked fans for the response to the Snow White trailer, adding, “and always remember, free Palestine”.

Gadot has posted her support for Israel on social media, and especially since the 7 October attacks by Hamas has been outspoken in defence of her country and against anti-semitism. That led to some short-lived calls by pro-Palestinian social media users to boycott the film simply because she is in it.

The fallout on the film intensified after the 2024 US presidential election. Zegler posted on Instagram that she was “heartbroken” and fearful, and that she hoped “Trump voters and Trump himself never know peace”. In response Megyn Kelly, the former Fox news personality, attacked Zegler, saying on her radio show, “This woman is a pig,” and that Disney was going to have to recast the role. Zegler apologised to Trump voters, saying “I let my emotions get the best of me”.

The issue of the dwarfs

Even when people reacting to the film have agreed on a basic principle, like more opportunities for actors who have dwarfism, they have disagreed on how to get there. Peter Dinklage, perhaps the world’s most well-known actor with dwarfism, questioned the entire project before many details were known, calling the 1937 film “a backwards story of seven dwarfs living in a cave together”. Disney announced the next day, “To avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film, we are taking a different approach with these seven characters.”

As it turned out, the seven characters are CGI, and Disney has reclassifed them as “magical creatures”, not dwarfs. What do they look like? Even a glimpse at the trailer reveals that they look exactly like CGI dwarfs. They are still named Happy, Grumpy, Sleepy, Sneezy, Doc, Bashful and Dopey.

The changes have caused a backlash from some people with dwarfism, who have rebutted Dinklage and accused Disney of depriving them of acting roles. As recently as this week, one told the Daily Mail, “I think Disney is trying too hard to be politically correct, but in doing so it’s damaging our careers and opportunities.”

Amidst this swirl of controversies, Disney altered the traditional red-carpet treatment it would usually give such a major film. The premiere took place in Spain on 12 March, and the Los Angeles premiere is due to take place today at an unusual, afternoon hour. The regular red-carpet journalists have not been invited, even though as a group they are not known to ask hard-hitting questions.

Trying to avoid more political and social discord isn’t Disney’s only Snow White problem, though. There is much online speculation that the film might just be bad. The first full trailer was greeted with a rush of complaints about the underwhelming CGI, with The Guardian calling the trailer “the ugliest thing ever committed to screen”. The film has new songs by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the team behind La La Land, but the one released as a video, Waiting On a Wish, has a bland, generic Disney style. Box-office tracking predicts an opening weekend of around $50m (£39m), solid but at the low end for a would-be blockbuster that reportedly cost over $200m (£155m) to make.

Of course, given the Disney juggernaut – the recent Moana 2 has made more than $1bn (£773m) and Mufasa: The Lion King, which had a slow start, more than $712m (£550m) – the debacle leading up to Snow White’s opening may not hurt it at the box office at all.

Or the film may become the victim of its moment, a fairy-tale princess covered in mud. 

Snow White is released internationally on March 21

Taken From BBC News

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250314-how-the-disney-remake-became-2025s-most-divisive-film-snow-white