Soy Sauce vs Maple Syrup

Summary

Podcast Summary: Smash Boom Best – Soy Sauce vs Maple Syrup

Host: Molly Bloom
Debaters:

• Jed Kim (Team Maple Syrup)
• Jun Sakia (Team Soy Sauce)
  Judge: Nava, Wakefield, Rhode Island
  Date: March 12, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Smash Boom Best pits two iconic table liquids against each other: savory, umami-laden soy sauce, and sticky-sweet maple syrup. Host Molly Bloom moderates as Jed Kim (reporter and host) advocates for maple syrup’s tree-based charm, while filmmaker and writer Jun Sakia backs the deep, ancient roots and versatility of soy sauce. Judge Nava, a musical-loving, snack-enthusiast teen, listens as both sides serve up their best arguments. The episode delivers fun facts, lively debates, a crash course in food history—and even a few tasty experiments.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Introduction & Judge Meet-and-Greet

[01:54–04:43]

• Host Molly Bloom introduces the face-off and judge Nava, highlighting Nava’s eclectic interests and snack love.
  • Memorable Moment – Nava reveals her favorite musical (Beetlejuice), violin techniques, and favorite snack: chocolate-covered pretzels with sprinkles.

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2. Declaration of Greatness

Team Soy Sauce: Jun Sakia

[05:36–09:40]

• Soy Sauce as Essential & Ubiquitous:
  • Jun compares love for soy sauce to walking and breathing:

    “Trying to explain why I love it is like trying to explain why I love walking, breathing, and being alive.” (06:00)

  • Vivid depiction of conveyor belt sushi in Japan and the delight of sampling different soy sauces.
• Versatility and Umami:
  • Defines “umami” and its unmatched richness.
  • Culinary flexibility: “It adds salt to stir fry, base to broth. It marinates meat and adds vroom to veggies.” (07:09, 'Chef' voiced by B)
  • Viral food hack: vanilla ice cream plus soy sauce = butterscotch flavor.
• Artisan Craft & Heritage:
  • Japanese soy sauce aged in giant wooden barrels, each batch with unique regional flavor.
  • Historical roots (origin in China), global adaptations (Korea, Indonesia, Peru, etc.).
  • Soy sauce sommeliers exist to pair sauces with food.
• Emotional & Sensory Appeal:
  • “It’s comforting. Grounding. Like taking a warm bath for your taste buds.” (09:13)
  • “Soy is boss!”

Judge Nava’s Take:

“I liked the little like vanilla ice cream and soy sauce can make the butterscotch flavor. I did not know that and I think that's really interesting and I'm definitely gonna try that at some point.” (09:48)

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Team Maple Syrup: Jed Kim

[11:36–16:23]

• Unique, Sweet Versus Salty Angle:
  • Humorous setup—Jed imagines being a vegan vampire and maple syrup as “tree blood.”
  • Detailed explanation of how maple sap is harvested, requiring only boiling to transform into syrup.
• Cultural Heritage & Legends:
  • Shares a Native American legend about syrup once flowing directly from trees and being diluted to prevent laziness (13:59–14:25).
  • Emphasis on maple syrup as a key trade good and food for indigenous people, passed on to settlers.
• Health and Culinary Merits:
  • “Some think it’s healthier because it’s full of stuff like vitamins and antioxidants and other things I can't pronounce.” (15:00)
  • Lighthearted “pro tip”: maple syrup makes wounds taste delicious (jokingly).
• Irreplaceable Flavor:
  • Champions maple syrup’s sweet, singular “mapley” taste.
  • Points out maple’s dominance in sweets, asks, “Have you ever heard of soy sauce flavored candy? ...That would be disgusting.”

Judge Nava’s Take:

“Definitely the vampires. But also our little lesson on how to make maple syrup.” (16:31)

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3. Rebuttals

• Maple Syrup’s Jed challenges soy-ice-cream as questionable and claims soy sauce overpowers flavors (10:12).
• Soy Sauce’s Jun says the “tree blood” analogy actually made maple syrup unappealing—“I feel, like, queasy...” (16:49)

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4. Micro Round – “Cool Facts Throwdown”

[21:50–25:36] Each debater shares three cool facts:

Maple Syrup (Jed):

1. 1700s Quakers pushed maple sugar to fight slave-labor cane sugar—one of the first “socially conscious food movements.” (22:06)
2. Maple syrup from the same tree changes color throughout the season (golden, amber, dark, very dark). (22:56)
3. Fastest maple syrup chug (10.84 seconds; Guinness World Record) by Kevin Straley. (23:44)

Soy Sauce (Jun):

1. Dark soy sauce has “10 times more antioxidants than red wine.” (22:28)
2. Ketchup’s roots: originally a thin soy sauce, adapted by English folks who couldn’t get soybeans. (23:19)
3. Korean family’s 360-year-old soy sauce, served to President Trump in 2017; considered incredibly precious. (24:25)

Judge Nava’s Take:

“I did not know that ketchup was kind of like an alternative to soy sauce...I also did not know there were four different colors of maple syrup. So you learn something every day.” (25:43)

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5. Sneak Attack – “Superfan Sports Chant”

[26:47–29:24]

Soy Sauce (Jun):

• Cheer:
  “Soy boys, soy boys, let's go destroy.
  Soy boys, soy boys, we got deploys.
  Soy boys, soy boys, we will deploy. ...Soy will destroy.” (27:21)

Maple Syrup (Jed):

• Cheer (Canada style):
  “Go go syrup, eh?
  It's the stuff that makes my day.
  Pancakes, waffles came to play
  Because maple syrup is the best, eh?” (27:52)

• Bonus: Anti-sauce cheers include “Viscous maple syrup can quit, it tastes like spit,” (28:23) and Jed's riff:
  “It's so dark, tastes like bark…” (28:36)

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6. Final Six – Last Words

[29:25–30:15]

• Maple Syrup (Jed):
  “Oh, trees, you’re so tasty inside.” (29:40)
• Soy Sauce (Jun):
  “Explosions in my mouth cave.” (29:52)

Judge Nava says:

“It was the final six.” (30:38)—indicating the ultimate decision hinged on these last word choices.

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Most Notable Quotes & Moments

• Jun Sakia, on soy sauce:

  “It’s comforting. Grounding. Like taking a warm bath for your taste buds…” (09:13)

• Jed Kim’s vampiric metaphor:

  “You can basically be a vegan vampire. Plus, it's just really cool how the whole maple syrup process happens.” (12:20)

• Maple Syrup Chug Record:

  “The Guinness world record for fastest someone’s ever chugged a bottle of Maple syrup is 10.84 seconds…” (23:44)

• Ketchup Origin:

  “Ketchup originally started as a thin soy sauce condiment in Asia.” (23:19, Jun)

• Judge Nava’s Decision:

  “It was the final six.” (30:38)
  And declares soy sauce the winner (30:26).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Judge introduction & musical talk: 02:33–04:43
• Soy Sauce Declaration of Greatness: 05:36–09:40
• Maple Syrup Declaration of Greatness: 11:36–16:23
• Micro Round (facts): 21:50–25:36
• Sneak Attack (sports chants): 26:47–29:24
• Final Six (six-word summaries): 29:25–30:15
• Winner announced: 30:26

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Tone, Humor, and Memorable Dynamics

• Playful, family-friendly, and full of puns (“Team soy is going to destroy!”).
• Frequent riffing and improvisational banter – e.g., debates about drinking syrup, “vegan vampires,” and sports team cheers.
• Lively engagement from Judge Nava, who reflects curiosity and classic kid humor.
• The debaters show friendly rivalry but also a lot of mutual respect (“Jed: Like, more like an apology to my ancestors… for trying to argue against soy sauce.” 32:10).

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Conclusion

In a close contest where creativity, fun facts, and culinary imagination ran wild, soy sauce ultimately edged out maple syrup. The debate wove together history, science, geography, and food culture—delivered with energy and laughs fit for listeners of all ages. The “Final Six” words sealed the victory for Team Soy, though both debaters and the episode’s judge appreciated the unique flavors and stories behind each condiment.

Winner: Soy Sauce
Judge’s Reasoning: “It was the final six.” (30:38)

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(For more debates or to vote on your pick, visit smashboom.org. Next episode: Rabbits vs. Turtles!)

Transcript

[A]

Friends, we are so super duper excited to tell you that we just added a bunch more Cities to our 2026 live show tour.

[B]

Get ready for singing, dancing, magic tricks, game shows, mystery sounds, and scientists falling from the sky in a totally safe way.

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attend special meet and greet parties in every city. So come on.

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Paul, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Chattanooga, Durham, San Francisco, San Francisco, Portland, Buffalo, Toronto, and Ann Arbor.

[A]

We're basically gonna be everywhere. Look behind you. Are we there? No. Well, we probably will be soon.

[C]

Head over to brainson.org events for tickets

[B]

and make sure you grab passes to our meet and greet party. You get to ask us questions, take pictures with us, and I'll even do some close up magic.

[A]

That's brainson.org events. Can't wait to see you.

[D]

Brains on Universe.

[A]

Have you heard the news? Smash Boom Best is now independent. We're so excited to be back with an epic new season. And it's all thanks to our Smartypass members. They're the big hearted helpers who power us by [e-mail] you can be one of them. Your support helps pay our debaters and sound designers so we can keep making the fun and fact filled shows your family loves. Plus, you get ad free versions of all of our shows. Bonus stuff and access to virtual hangs with me, Molly Again, that's smartypass.org thank you, thank you, thank you. Now, on with the show from the brains behind Brains On. It's Smash Boom Best, the show for

[D]

people with big opinions.

[A]

Hi, I'm Molly Bloom and this is Smash Boom Best, the show where we take two things, smash them together, and ask you to decide which one is best. Today we've got two liquids perfect for dipping, drizzling and devouring. One savory, one sweet. Both beloved by eaters everywhere. It's soy sauce and maple syrup. Here to pour it on for the sticky sweet stuff we call maple syrup is host and reporter Jed Kim.

[B]

The sweet treat is impossible to beat.

[A]

And sharing his joy for soy, we've got filmmaker, writer and vocalist Jun Sakia.

[C]

Team soy is going to destroy.

[A]

Ooh. Here to pick a winning side for this saucy showdown is our judge, Nava from Wakefield, Rhode Island. She likes to act in musicals, read graphic novels, play the violin, and wants to be a biomedical engineer when she grows up. Oh, and important for this debate, she loves both savory and sweet snacks. Hello, Nava. Hello. So, Nava, how long have you played the violin?

[D]

Since fourth grade, and I played it a little bit in first too.

[A]

Oh, wow. So what is your favorite thing about playing the violin?

[D]

I love the music. I love playing the music. And the orchestra setting is really great. I love having like that little orchestra community that you get to be like, hey, just like see them every time and you know, talk about the music and what you could do during the concert. And it's. It's really fun.

[A]

It is really fun. What's your favorite style of playing like, or technique you get to use?

[D]

Um, I like playing music that, you know, like songs from the radio. And I also like fiddle tunes.

[A]

Nice.

[D]

Cause you can play them faster and faster and faster and it's like, really fun.

[A]

That must be super fun. So what has been your favorite musical to be in?

[D]

I was in Beetlejuice recently and that was really fun. We had a ton of really cool set pieces and I did a crazy number of lifts. I was like lifting people up all the time. Time. So that was really fun.

[A]

What was your part?

[D]

I was ensemble and I had like a small speaking line about how I died.

[A]

Oh, nice. Perfect. So, okay, you like salty snacks and sweet snacks, which is great. What is your some of your favorite salty snacks and favorite sweet snacks?

[D]

I like those chocolate covered pretzels, especially if they have sprinkles on them.

[A]

Yes, good choice. That's a little salty sweet combo. Well, we're gonna find out which condiment will be crowned the winner. But first, here are the rules of the game. Every debate consists of four. The declaration of greatness, the micro round, the sneak attack, and the final six. After each round, our judge Nava will award points to the team that impresses them the most. But they'll keep their decisions top secret until the end of the debate. Listeners, we want you to judge too. Mark down your points as you listen. At the end of the show, head to our website, smashboom.com and vote for whichever team you think won. Okay. Jed, Nava, and June, are you ready?

[C]

Let's do this.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, I just gotta take a big swig of my maple syrup bottle.

[A]

Then it's time for the declaration of greatness. In this round, our debaters will present a well crafted immersive argument in favor of their side. Then they'll each have 30 seconds to rebut their opponent's statements. We flipped a coin and June, you're up first. Tell us why soy sauce is a dip. You can't skip

[C]

soy sauce. Oh, boy. Trying to explain why I love it is like trying to explain why I love walking, breathing, and being alive. All of which are things I do to get more soy sauce. To start, let me tell you about my happy place. It's here in Japan at one of those conveyor belt sushi restaurants. If you're not familiar, picture a small conveyor belt that passes by all the tables in the restaurant. On that belt, there are little plates of sushi, from tuna and salmon to eel and egg. I take a seat, wait for my favorite sushi to come around, then grab it off the belt and dig in. But here's the part I live for. They often have a small army of different soy sauces to try. Darker ones, lighter ones, some sweet, others sharp. And I try every single one.

[A]

Mmm.

[C]

Total bliss. Alone in my booth with nobody to judge the vast amounts of sauce I consume. Why do I have a culinary crush on soy sauce? Well, it's dense with flavor, so rich and decadent. It's packed with umami, which is a Japanese word for savory, but also super fun to say. Umami.

[D]

Umami. Hey, it is fun to say, right?

[C]

Despite being objectively the best, it's also humble. You find it everywhere. In kitchen cabinets or in bottles or little packets at restaurants. It's an affordable treat, but also a rock star in the kitchen. Just ask any chef.

[B]

Soy sauce. It adds salt to stir fry, base to broth. It marinates meat and adds vroom to veggies. I'd be lost without it.

[C]

Plus, you can get creative. Add a smidge to cake or muffin batter. The salt brings out the sweetness. And if you put some in softened vanilla ice cream, then refreeze it, it'll make a butterscotch flavor. It's one of those viral food hacks.

[A]

So I just tried the soy sauce challenge, and I gotta say, it took my vanilla ice cream from mid to blowing my lid. Yum. Soy sauce is your best friend. It can do anything, even get me more views, hopefully. Is anyone watching this?

[C]

And it isn't just cuisine. It's craft. Traditional Japanese soy sauce takes months to make. It's made from soybeans and aged in giant wooden barrels called kiyoke. These barrels help give each brew its own special flavor. Plus, it's a team effort. Because tiny microorganisms are added to the brew. They ferment the stuff and bring out extra taste. Some brands have been making sauce this way for hundreds of years. Today, larger brands use steel barrels, which still pump out amazing flavor. But put trying traditional soy sauce on your life goals list, trust me, it's worth it. Japan is only one of many countries that make this super sauce. It's originally from ancient China, but in Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, even across the ocean in the South American country of Peru, you can find regional takes on the sauce. No wonder there are soy sauce sommeliers experts who help pair the perfect sauce to any meal. But let's be real. The main reason to love it is the way it makes you feel. It's comforting. Grounding. Like taking a warm bath before your taste buds, Maple syrup is great at making tasty foods a little tastier. But waffles with just whipped cream or jam are still pretty good. But try sushi without soy sauce or strip it from your stir fry. No, thanks. And soy sauce can save a bland meal and make you want seconds. It's comforting, it's craft, it's creative and crave worthy. That's why when it comes to sauce, soy is boss.

[A]

A saucy and delightful argument there for our favorite soy sauce. Nava, tell us what stood out to you about Jun's opening arguments.

[D]

I liked the little like vanilla ice cream and soy sauce can make the butterscotch flavor. I did not know that and I think that's really interesting and I'm definitely gonna try that at some point.

[A]

Yeah, me too. I'm hungry. This debate really should have eaten something before we recorded. Okay, Jed, it is time for your rebuttal. You have 30 seconds to dunk on June's arguments, and your time starts now.

[B]

All right, all you listeners, let's take a moment and think about that soy sauce and vanilla ice cream thing. You cannot just believe what you hear. Who actually thinks putting soy sauce on vanilla ice cream makes butterscotch? This is just something that was claimed. You must try it yourself. And then if it's wrong, you have to get in a time machine, go back in time and say, no, this is a false claim. Also gonna say that if you put soy sauce on anything, it tastes good, but it overpowers. No ice cream for soy sauce.

[C]

Well, I feel like it's that sort of, you know, close mindedness to experimentation that holds back some of the greatest breakthroughs that we could be having in a culinary science.

[B]

So did you try the soy sauce ice cream thing?

[C]

You know, it's on my list. I. Oh.

[A]

Coming soon to a spoon near you. Okay, this debate is far from over, but we need to take a quick break, so stick around. Best Smash. Smash. We're back with soy sauce versus maple syrup. Soy had its say. Now it's your turn. Jed, please tell us why maple is a staple at your table. Table.

[B]

You guys, this is gonna sound a little cuckoo, but hear me out. I've been thinking of trying out vampirism. There's something that seems really pure and natural about feeding on the very essence of a living thing. Here's the problem though. I am not about drinking blood. First of all, people don't like it when you do it.

[A]

What are you doing? Get away from me. Cut it out.

[B]

But mostly blood is so salty. Gross. These fangs, major sweet tooth teeth. So sadly, it looked like my vampire aspirations were a non starter. But then I learned about maple syrup, the sweet nectar that flows through trees veins. Oh wait, trees don't have veins. There's xylem and trees. They're like the most natural thing on the planet and they don't scream and fight you off. You can basically be a vegan vampire. Plus, it's just like really cool how the whole maple syrup process happens. When winter starts getting towards spring, sugar maples turn into SAP factories. The starch that the trees have stored begins dissolving and getting all liquidy. Then cold nights followed by warmer days makes a freeze thaw cycle that builds up pressure within the tree. By tapping the hole into the maple, you can collect the SAP that flows out. And then do you have to add a bunch of ingredients and do a whole complicated recipe?

[A]

No.

[B]

All you have to do is boil off most of the water and you're left with sweet, rich, magical tree blood, AKA maple syrup. It was the indigenous people of North America who figured out how to do this. There are several legends about how that came about. One says maple trees used to be filled with pure, ready to drink syrup. And there were people in this one village that just lay around all day with their mouths open, drinking from what was essentially a maple syrup faucet.

[C]

Oh man, this is the best I know.

[A]

So good.

[B]

But then the powerful figure Glooscap came and saw their untended fires and fields. He watered down the SAP inside the trees so that his people wouldn't be so lazy and would like be better farmers and hunters.

[C]

Aw, man.

[A]

Listen, this is for your own good. Boo.

[B]

To native people, maple sugar was a super important food source. They'd set up sugar camps to collect and boil the SAP. They'd use the maple sugar to flavor food, cure meats. And as a valuable trade item, they passed on their knowledge to European settlers who helped refine the process. And the rest is history. Now recently, there's been a lot of interest in maple syrup as A sugar alternative. Some think it's healthier because it's full of stuff like vitamins and antioxidants and other things I can't pronounce. While I'd love to tout maple syrup as a miracle tonic that'll cure what ails you, there's still a lot of research that needs to be done. One health related benefit I can tell you with absolute certainty, is if you have a wound and you put maple syrup on it, it'll taste delicious.

[C]

Jed. What?

[B]

It's true. Okay, okay. Look, I've given you a lot of reasons why maple syrup is great, but you never really needed me to convince you, did you? You know, it's all about the flavor. That delicate mapley. There's no other word for it. It's mapley. What will you want when you're wolfing waffles? What liquid tree snack makes your flapjack stack smack? Maple syrup. Let me ask you, have you ever heard of soy sauce flavored candy? A soy bar donut? No, that would be disgusting. It's so salty. It'd be like eating blood. Like some kind of unholy abomination. Ew. Be a responsible vampire. Join Team Maple Syrup.

[A]

For all the vampire vegans out there, we have sticky, delicious maple syrup. Nava, what stood out to you about Jed's argument?

[D]

Definitely the vampires. But also our little lesson on how to make maple syrup.

[A]

Yeah, it's sticky, tasty, wonderful. Okay, June, you get 30 seconds to make us sour on syrup, and your rebuttal time begins right now.

[C]

Okay, so we go into this very graphic description of, like, the veins of a tree. And I know it's supposed to make us feel better about having maple syrup, but really, it made me think of maple syrup in ways I never have before. Like, it made me think of the tree actually, like, being in pain and, like, the veins pumping and, like this, like, viscous blood just dripping out. So if anything, I think after listening to the declaration of greatness, I feel, like, queasy and, like, it wouldn't be something that makes me want to have maple syrup at all.

[B]

I mean, he's not wrong. Like, when I watch the Lord of the Rings movies, I see those ents. I'm like, oh, yeah, I would bite that thing's neck.

[A]

So this is Jed's debate technique today. Make his opponent feel sick to his stomach. We'll see if it pays off. All right, Nava, it is time to award some points. Please give one point to the declaration of greatness that you liked best, and one point to the rebuttal that won you over. You get to decide what makes a winning argument. Did one team make you hungry? Did another team have tastier facts? Award your points, but don't tell us who they're going to. Have you made your decision? Yes. Excellent. June and Jett, how are you feeling so far?

[B]

Thirsty for tree blood.

[C]

Yeah, contemplating. You know, if trees can feel pain.

[A]

Wow, this debate took a direction I was not anticipating. All right, we're gonna take a quick break, but don't dip out on us

[D]

because we'll be right back with more smash. Boom. Best.

[A]

You're listening to State of Debate. Home to raging rhetoric and awe inspiring argumentation. Hey ho. Let's go, debate heads. Taylor Lincoln here and Boom shakalaka.

[C]

Boom Boom. It's me, Todd Douglas.

[A]

We've got a stadium sized fallacy to share with y'. All. It's so big, you'll need to zoom way out just to see it.

[C]

That's right. A logical fallacy is a weak argument. And today we saw two epic mythical monsters make a colossal one called the Personal Incredulity Fallacy.

[A]

That's when you personally can't believe something, so you say it can't be right.

[C]

Big time bummer Here. Let's listen.

[A]

Look at this city crumble under the mighty foot of Megalizard, the most powerful giant radioactive reptile in the land.

[C]

Stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

Nice stomping, Mega Lizard. Wanna grab a snack after you're done flattening downtown?

[A]

Oh, hey, Mighty Ape. Actually, I was gonna just head home after this.

[B]

Aw, come on. I have a snack I know you'll love.

[A]

Is it a banana?

[B]

It's a banana. You'll love it.

[A]

I'm into eating buildings and tanks. Mighty Ape, Bananas are more your thing, bro.

[B]

But get this, bananas are your thing too, because you are both radioactive.

[D]

What?

[A]

That's nonsense.

[C]

Nah, nah, nah.

[B]

Bananas contain naturally occurring radioactive potassium.

[A]

40.

[B]

They're radioactive like you, bruh.

[C]

Do they breathe plasma beams? Do they glow at night?

[A]

Do they have the power to crush city hall with their tail? I don't think so. If they were radioactive, humans would be scared of them. So obviously you are wrong.

[C]

Whoa there, Megalizard. You're making a monster mistake.

[A]

Yeah, just because you can't believe bananas are radioactive doesn't mean they aren't. They totally are. They just have such a low amount of radiation, it's not a problem for humans or giant apes to eat them.

[C]

Wow, Looks like we stomped out another fallacy. And once again, the real monster was

[B]

bad logic all along.

[A]

We'll see you next time on State of Debate.

[C]

Smash.

[A]

Boom.

[B]

Best.

[A]

You're listening to smashboom. Best. I'm your host, Molly Bloom.

[D]

And I'm your judge, Nava.

[A]

And we love getting debate suggestions from our listeners like this one.

[D]

My name is Paul.

[A]

I'm from Herndon, Virginia.

[D]

My idea is online versus offline. Great debate. I like online and offline. Offline, but just not waiting in line.

[A]

Me too. We'll find out which side Paul thinks should win at the end of the show. Stay with us.

[D]

And now back to soy sauce versus maple syrup.

[A]

It's time for round two, the micro round. Jed and June, you will each get three chances to make a micro argument backed by a cool fact. June started things off last round, so, Jed, you're gonna go first. Let's hear your first maple syrup fact.

[B]

This is a history lesson. During the late 1700s, a lot of cane sugar was produced using slave labor. Quakers, who were opposed to that, began making maple sugar and promoting it as an alternative. So let's hear it for what was possibly the first socially conscious food movement in US History.

[C]

Okay, so like anything, too much soy sauce can be unhealthy. It does have sodium, obviously, but soy sauce also has some hidden health benefits. Scientists have found that the dark soy sauce is loaded with stuff called antioxidants, which play a role in preventing heart disease and cancer. And soy sauce has 10 times more antioxidants than something like red wine. So next time you're at the doctor, you might want to ask for some prescription strength soy sauce.

[B]

I was just basking in the antioxidant fest that both soy sauce and maple syrup provide. Okay, here we go. Maple syrup that you get from a tree darkens over the course of a season, leading to four different color types of syrup. Golden, amber, dark, and very dark.

[C]

Okay, well, do you love ketchup? Because you can thank soy sauce for ketchup. Ketchup originally started as a thin soy sauce condiment in Asia. People from England got a taste, then fell in love and tried to bring it back to Europe. But they didn't grow soybeans in Europe, so they had to use other ingredients, and eventually tomatoes became the go to ingredient. So ketchup and soy sauce, you know, long lost cousins.

[B]

Do you like freedom? Because you can thank maple syrup for freedom. I'm just kidding. Okay, here's the fact, okay? The Guinness world record for fastest someone's ever chugged a bottle of Maple syrup is 10.8, 4 seconds by Kevin Straley of the USA, which is impressive and also kind of gross. Don't try this at home. Wow.

[C]

Yeah, I'm trying to get that image out of my head. Just the viscous fluid, but, like, I would suppose you really need, like, strong throat muscles for that to, like, push it down.

[B]

That's a lot of work. That man trained day and night to be able to do this.

[C]

Yeah. So, you know, maple syrup might win on the viscousness front, but soy sauce definitely would win on the longevity front. In Korea, there's a family of soy sauce brewers who actually has a soy sauce that's older than the United States of America. So when President Trump visited Korea in 2017, he was served some of this 360-year-old sauce. And it's a huge deal because the family only has about, like, two thirds left in the pot, so every drop is precious.

[A]

Very nice. Wow. Again, Jed going with the disgust, his opponent. Root. What? The guy drinking my maple syrup. June was a little.

[C]

It'd be like drinking spit, you know?

[B]

Wait, you're talking about drinking soy sauce?

[C]

No, no.

[A]

Drinking the maple syrup.

[B]

No, I think you're talking about drinking soda. Who would drink soy sauce? If you chugged a bottle of soy sauce, you'd, like, you'd just pickle your insides.

[C]

You'd get. The taste would be bad, like, maybe a lot, but the actual consistency would go down much smoother. Much smoother.

[B]

Yeah. It was, like five seconds and immediate death.

[A]

All right, Nava, what stood out to you in this micro round?

[B]

The anger.

[D]

I did not know that ketchup was kind of like an alternative to soy sauce or, like, was made because of soy sauce. I also did not know there were four different colors of maple syrup. So you learn something every day.

[A]

Very, very true. Well, they were both really good facts, but only one team can get a point for this round. So please award a point, but don't tell us who it's going to. Have you made your decision? Yes. Fantastic. Hold tight. We'll be right back with more debate after. Want smashboom best without the ad breaks. Join Smarty Pass and get an ad free feed of this and all the other brains on universe shows. Plus, you'll get to do virtual hangs with me and the crew and discounts on merch. Sign [e-mail] thanks.

[B]

Boom boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

[A]

Smash. We are back, and it's time for our third round, the super stealthy sneak attack. This is our improvised round where debaters have to respond to A challenge on the spot. Today's challenge is superfan. Your side has a sports team, and you're their number one superfan. You paint your face, don your jersey, go to every game, and know all the cheers. Your challenge, make up a team chant that's four lines long about why your side is the best. Jed went first last time. So June, you're up. Let's hear your cheer for soy sauce.

[C]

Soy boys. Soy boys. Let's go destroy. Soy boys. Soy boys. We got deploys. Soy boys. Soy boys. We will deploy. That's more than four lines. But soy will destroy. Thank you. I don't know how many lines.

[A]

That was great. Okay, Jett, it is your turn. Can we please hear your four lines for maple syrup?

[B]

Well, this is Canada themed because most maple syrup comes from Canada. Go Go syrup, eh? It's the stuff that makes my day. Pancakes, waffles. Came to play because maple syrup is the best, eh?

[A]

Very, very nice. Okay, we're doing another round here. Can we have. June, we're going to have you now do an anti maple syrup cheer. Let's hear it.

[C]

Viscous. Viscous maple syrup can quit. Viscous maple syrup. It tastes like spit. Thank you.

[A]

All right, Jed, now let's hear your auntie soy sauce cheer.

[B]

It's so dark. Tastes like bark. Go to a park and smark. I don't know. I think I ran out of words that rhyme, but I liked it.

[A]

You, Smark.

[C]

I thought you're gonna say fart like a slant rhyme. Yeah.

[A]

Oh, my gosh. Incredible. Incredible. Cheers. I would really see myself getting pumped up at a game. Can't you, Nava? Yes, absolutely. All right, so now it's time to award a point for this sneak attack. Only one team can get a point. The criteria are totally subjective and totally up to you. Have you made your decision?

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Excellent. Then it's time for our final round. The final six. In this round, each team will have just six words to sum up the glory of their side. Jed, last chance to make us drool for maple syrup.

[B]

Oh, trees, you're so tasty inside.

[A]

All right, June, your turn to say one more thing for Soy umami.

[C]

Explosions in my mouth cave.

[A]

Wow, you guys have a way with words. And I'm really enjoying it. Okay, Nava, think it over. Absorb those last final six. Please award a final point for our final round. Have you made your decision?

[D]

I have.

[A]

Wonderful. Are you ready to declare one team the smashboom best? Yes. All right, drum roll, please. And the winner is.

[D]

Soy sauce

[B]

Smark.

[C]

Yes. Thank you. Nava.

[A]

Naba, what pushed it over the edge for soy sauce?

[D]

Um, it was the final six.

[A]

Came down to the final six. As close as close can be.

[B]

I should have leaned away from the vampire thing, huh?

[A]

Oh, my gosh. Incredible work, both of you.

[C]

I loved the metaphor of a vegan vampire. And as unappetizing as it did make maple syrup seem to me, it was literarily a very, like, impressive and also well delivered declaration of greatness. I. Yeah, hats off.

[A]

Absolutely.

[B]

Thank you. And June, I grew up with soy sauce just everywhere and I always taken it for granted. And you made me think a lot about the what is clearly a very delicious substance that I do chug a bottle of every day.

[A]

Well, that is it for today's debate battle. Nava crowned soy sauce the Smashboom best. But what about you?

[D]

Head to smashboom.org and vote to tell us who you think won.

[A]

This episode was produced by me, Molly Bloom, Sandy Tottenham, and Mark Sanchez. We had sound design by Rachel Brees and Mark Sanchez. And we had engineering help from Ryan Walsh. Our announcer is Marley Foyer, Worker Auto. And we want to give a special thanks to Austin Cross and Taylor Kaufman. June, is there anyone you'd like to give a shout out to today?

[C]

Yes, shout outs to my dad who is visiting America from Japan for a month.

[A]

Oh, great. Oh, my gosh. Welcome. And how about you, Jed? Any special shout outs?

[B]

Like, more like an apology to my ancestors and all of my heritage for trying to argue against so many sauce.

[A]

Excellent. Nava, any special thanks or shout outs?

[D]

I want to thank my little brother for convincing me to do this and my mom for driving me up here and my dad, you know.

[A]

Awesome. Before we go, let's check in and see who Paul thinks should win the online versus offline debate.

[D]

I think offline will win because there are way more things to do offline.

[A]

If you're between the ages of 13 and 18 and you'd like to be a judge, or if you're any age and you have an idea for a knockdown drag out debate, head to smashboom.org contact and drop us a line. And if you're a fan of the show and want to keep it going, head to smartypass.org to subscribe. We'll be back next next week with a new smashboom best episode, Rabbits versus Turtles.

[D]

Bye, Tadios.

[C]

Thank you.

[B]

Arrivederc.

[A]

In the smashable west. Better than the rest. It's smash. The West. It's smash. My dog has decided to come to the taping. Hi, honeybee.