Alcohol Tree

The alcohol tree is a product of Zero-One MonoCorporation that produces various types of alcoholic beverages ready to drink from the gourd. Specifically genetically engineered by S.H.O.D.A.N. v3.0 to streamline the brewing process, each different subspecies of tree is capable of making one specific type of alcoholic drink; subspecies are designated for various subsets. White wines and red wines are produced by Bacchanalis candidus and Bacchanalis sanguineus respectively.

Scientific Classification

• Family: Pseudocucurbitaceae
• Genus: Bacchanalis
• Species: Dependent upon product (have to be individually engineered for each different kind of alcoholic product, such as "vino" for wine)

Physical Description

A sturdily built tree with a wider trunk and thicker branches than is common in fruit plants. Large, broad leaves (very similar to those on watermelon vines) to collect sunlight erupting from the top of the branches; large heavy fruit the size of cantaloupes below hanging from thick branch-like stalks--hard and actually covered by bark. The tree itself is designed to only be structural support and shade for its produce; it does not grow larger than three to four meters tall and four meters across and it does not branch off more than twice. This gives it a 'haloed' appearance because leaves only come off of fruit-producing branches, not smaller subsidiary branches.

How It Works

The actual tree works just like any tropical wet forest tree. It needs large amounts of sunlight and water both to grow and to produce fruit. However, it generally needs a cooler than equatorial climate, which means it thrives optimally in a temperate rainforest.

The thick stalk between plant and fruit is actually the tree's fermentation point. There, a spongy tissue fed with sugar and nutrients via the tracheids that run resources up from the extensive root system. Here, a yeast culture works symbiotically with the plant, producing ethanol from the sugar and returning a portion of the energy it produces (in the form of heat) back to the plant. The ethanol, along with water from the plant drips down into the gourd-like fruit, which consists of a thick rind surrounding a thin fleshy portion all around a void like the center of a coconut. The thin fleshy portion is a biologically active tissue that produces the complex compounds required to give the alcohol flavor from the chemicals that drip down from the stalk. The flavors of all alcohols are the result of complex organic processes that are streamlined by the custom-tailored enzymes in the cells of the fleshy portion.

The plant therefore has two key genetic code locations which can be modified in order to change the properties of whatever it outputs: first is the yeast habitability of the spongy matter in the stalk, which can be increased for higher-proof products and decreased for lower-proof; second is the nature of the cells inhabiting the fleshy portion, which define the flavors.

Fermentation is an exothermic process; the energy released is partially returned to the plant but generally can lead the plant to overheat. The large leaves also act as radiators, with a large surface area from which to 'sweat' excess water drawn from the roots, just like any other plant. This means that an alcohol tree requires a prodigious amount of water, especially in hotter climates.