Fermentation Masterclass: Touch, Taste & Transform



3.5 hours

Class size 1 to 15 (public classes), 12 to 40
  $150 (PayPal Pay in 4 available)

Fermentation is a living, sensory process, and the best way to understand it is to experience it with your hands, nose, and palate. In this immersive fermentation masterclass, you’ll explore the textures, aromas, flavours, and visual cues that signal healthy, successful ferments, all while deepening your understanding of gut health and the living processes behind fermented foods.

This class is designed to help you feel confident fermenting at home by learning how good fermentation looks, smells, sounds, and tastes at every stage.

What you’ll experience:

  • Hands-on, tactile fermenting: slicing, salting, massaging, and packing vegetables
  • A guided touch and feel session, comparing fresh, fermenting, and finished textures
  • Smell and taste cues that help you recognise healthy vs problematic ferments
  • Side-by-side tastings of ferments at different stages of maturity
  • How flavour, acidity, fizz, and mouthfeel develop over time

Ferments we’ll explore:

  • A seasonal vegetable ferment (such as sauerkraut or kimchi-style vegetables)
  • A brine-based ferment and simple fermented condiment
  • Kombucha: understanding the SCOBY, handling it safely, and tasting kombucha at different stages (sweet, balanced, and fully fermented), including discussion of first and second fermentation

What you’ll learn:

  • How to trust your senses when fermenting
  • The role of salt, sugar, temperature, and time in shaping flavour and texture
  • How to identify readiness, balance, and over-fermentation
  • Common fermentation issues and how sensory clues help prevent them

Who this class is for:

  • Beginners wanting a grounded, experiential introduction
  • Home fermenters ready to deepen their practice
  • Anyone curious about gut health, flavour, and the magic of living foods

No prior experience required. All materials and ingredients are provided.

Please note: This class requires at least 5 students to run. In the unlikely event that we don't get this number of students, we'll cancel the class and fully refund you and inform you via email, so please watch your email a few days prior to the class.

What you'll get

- Your own jar of seasonal ferment (e.g. sauerkraut or kimchi-style ferment)

- A digital sensory fermentation guide with ratios, timelines, and tasting notes

- Practical confidence to experiment safely and intuitively

What to bring

A jar or container to take your new ferment home in.

Location

Work-Shop Melbourne - 136A Cromwell St, Collingwood, VIC

Fermentation Masterclass: Touch, Taste & Transform location
Your teacher
The Fermented Mother

The Fermented Mother


Jess, The Fermented Mother, is here to share her passion for ferments and letting food heal the body. With over 8 years of knowledge and experience in fermenting, she is here to say “you can do it too”. These workshops are designed to help people reconnect with their food and health using traditional methods of fermenting.

 




Your host

Work-Shop
Work-Shop

4.9 (4,961)

Work-Shop is a creative concept that will broaden your horizons and help you unleash your inner awesome. We provide affordable short courses in life skills and alternative art. We’ve teamed up with Australia’s brightest creative minds to share their knowledge and help teach you a new skill. From 3D printing and stencil art through to music and gardening – life skills and personal development through to cooking doughnuts and mushroom foraging, we offer a broad range of fun and creative short courses to suit our time poor lives. We will inspire you to pick up that pen, paintbrush, hammer or sewing machine and flick the switch that will kickstart a whole new way of life.
Community values lie at the heart of our project. We collaborate with local artists and industry experts to teach classes and utilise local suppliers for any materials needed. We also provide a creative environment for emerging artists to produce and sell work, and meet like minded individuals. Work-Shop will be a space for everyone, with a rotating schedule of art shows, information nights on local issues and a whole range of events and community initiatives.
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