POST A
April 23, 2021
0
“booch.” Profits are used to pay staff
and to fund workshops and other events
that help people struggling with addic-
tion tell their stories and receive sup-
port. Ruby named the new business
Carlington Booch, after the neighbour-
hood where he first opened shop.
Large barrels line the back wall of
the workshop, full of organic kombu-
cha, in flavours like spicy ginger and
sweet root beer. “We chose kombucha
as our product because it’s all natural,
it’s handcrafted, and it’s a product that
goes through a transformation process,”
says Ruby, “which is something like
the process of recovery.”
He describes Carlington Booch as a
shop of second chances. In addition to
funding recovery programs, the brew-
ery provides job and volunteer oppor-
tunities to people in drug and alcohol
recovery. Since its launch, about 35
people have worked for or volun-
teered with the enterprise. They include
operations manager Josh Beattie, a
former electrician. “This is a workplace
that understands the struggles we go
through,” says Beattie, who has been