13 November 2024 | Fermented drinks: Kombucha, Jun, Natural sodas & Water Kefir

Date: Wednesday 13 November 2024

Time:6:30pm-8:30pm

Location: Savour Headquarters and Garden (aka Chef Wendy's home), 94 Oban St., Wadestown, Wellington

* PLEASE BRING TWO 1 litre JARS WITH A HINGED LID FOR YOUR SCOBIES AND BREWS

Class includes two organic SCOBIES: a kombucha SCOBY and a jun scoby (a $50 value)

Have you ever thought of making fermented drinks from scratch but have no idea where to start? Are you keen to explore alcohol-free or low alcohol drinks? Fermentation is one of the oldest methods of creating healthy, effervescent beverages; it’s surprisingly simple and easy to get started. And eating fermented foods and drinks is great for overall health and well-being!

Join us for a delicious workshop learning the basics of fermenting beverages. You will be given samples of a variety of our fermented drinks to try on arrival. After a brief introduction, we’ll make a simple fermented soda followed by your own kombucha infused with your flavour of preference. You’ll also taste and learn how to make water kefir and Jun, two other delicious fermented beverages. We will touch on why ferments are important for gut health and learn how the gut plays a role in everything from regulating our immune system and weight, to influencing our moods. 

We'll also wander out into our organic flower, herb and vegetable garden to collect leaves and flowers suitable for kombucha.

In this workshop you will learn how to make:

        * Kombucha  (including caffeine-free floral and fruit kombuchas such as the rose/hibiscus kombucha that we serve complimentary in some of our cooking classes that makes an excellent--and very pretty--red beverage for the holidays)

       * Jun (with a green tea and honey base)

       *  Water Kefir 

      * a Persian-style shrub (apple cider vinegar based refreshing drink made with syrup base)

       * a natural soda

You'll learn how to follow safe hygiene practices, recognize a healthy brew, know when things have gone wrong and how to fix problems.

You'll learn how to adapt your recipe to variables like room temperature, and what to do when you want to put your ferments on hold for a while to go away (or because you just need a break!).

You will leave this workshop with:

* your own Kombucha starter culture and first brew (SCOBY VALUE $25)

* your own Jun starter culture and first brew (SCOBY VALUE $25)

* recipes and instructions so you are ready and confident to do your second brew at home

* a new appreciation for the role that fermented drinks can play in maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

Your tutor, Dr. Wendy Nolan Joyce, is a passionate fermenter. She started making kombucha ten years ago when a friend gave her a pet SCOBY and she discovered how delicious, easy and inexpensive it is to make at home. Now she loves her fermented drinks so much that she takes her scobies on road trips when she has to go out of town! Wendy makes water kefir, kombucha and jun to serve at her cooking workshops as a non-alcoholic/low alcohol beverage option, and also makes kimchi from vegetables harvested from her Wellington-home organic vegee patch. She has run fermentation workshops with Jo Kempton of Happy Belly Ferments, free kimchi workshops for the charity Seeds to Feeds, and many workshops for SAVOUR.