Wild Drinks: The new old world of small-batch brews, ferments and infusions

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Wild Drinksis the definitive book on infusing, brewing and fermenting delicious and often nutritious things to drink, from mead to kombucha to cider to kvass. With the entertaining and assuring voice of fermentation expert Sharon Flynn, it is a perfect jumping off point for anyone who is curious to learn more about this magical and witchy world.

I thought of bakeries, butchers, green grocers.. fish and cheese mongers... where were the Fermentaries? I wanted to be that. I think the best thing about home fermenting is that it is something we’ve been doing at home since we had kitchens. Maybe even before. So you don’t need anything in particular to begin. Across six chapters, ‘Wild Drinks’ features more than 60 recipes. Learn the basics of wild fermentation and read about the equipment you need to start your fermentation journey.Wild Drinks is the definitive book on infusing, brewing and fermenting delicious and often nutritious things to drink, from mead to kombucha to cider to kvass. With the entertaining and assuring voice of fermentation expert Sharon Flynn, itis a perfectjumping offpoint foranyone who is curious to learn more about this magical and witchy world. Wild Drinks is the definitive book on infusing, brewing and fermenting delicious and often nutritious things to drink, from mead to kombucha to cider to kvass. With the entertaining and assuring voice of fermentation expert Sharon Flynn, it is a perfect jumping off point for anyone who is curious to learn more about this magical and witchy world.

My mum is Dutch - so happily I do have some blood connection to sauerkrauts although we were much more into salted liquorice, croquets and fries with mayo than kraut, to be honest. I did end up with a pretty cool handed down kraut recipe though. Wild Drinks’ is the definitive book on infusing, brewing and fermenting delicious and often nutritious things to drink, from mead to kombucha to cider to kvass. Delivery with Standard Australia Post usually happens within 2-10 business days from time of dispatch. Please be aware that the delivery time frame may vary according to the area of delivery and due to various reasons, the delivery may take longer than the original estimated timeframe.Ferment for Good’ bursts with Sharon’s warmth, charisma and wisdom, a thread that carries through into her second book, ‘Wild Drinks’. In both books, Sharon draws on a body of knowledge established over more than two decades living in Malaysia, Japan, the US and Europe as an ex-pat. Many fermented foods are readily available at speciality markets. Why, in your opinion, should people start fermenting their own drinks and foods at home?

In your second book, Wild Drinks, you focus on infusions, brews and ferments. What are some of your favourite drink recipes in the book? Sharon Flynn: We don’t have many ways to get living food, full of bacteria – the good stuff that our bodies need – into our bodies anymore. Many of us don’t have lifestyles that would introduce bacteria any other way either. In fact, we use a lot of products to kill bacteria – not just since COVID-19 – things like Listerine or bench sprays, for example. Sharon Flynn is one of Australia’s leading authorities on fermentation, and her little blue book, ‘Ferment for Good’ (Hardie Grant, 2017), is beloved by aspiring and accomplished fermenters alike. One of Australia’s leading authorities on fermentation, Sharon Flynn is the owner of The Fermentary, supplying top restaurants and independent grocers across Australia with high-quality fermented food and drinks – a business she started after having experienced the benefits of these foods first-hand when her youngest daughter was ill. Out of this venture came two books on fermenting at home, geared towards curious beginners and more experienced fermenters alike. Here, we chat with Sharon about why everyone should incorporate living food into our everyday diets, and how to start fermenting in our very own kitchens.Many fermented foods are pasteurised so the life that you might be hoping for is often no longer there. When we heat living foods like this, the bacteria are killed. The kombucha industry has been hit by the alcohol content, as well as the batch variance. Commercially made kombucha couldn’t possibly be as wild and good as the one you’d make at home: instead, they have to use the smallest amount of ‘kombucha product’, force-carbonate it, and then also add non-fermentable sugars so that the alcohol and fizz don’t grow in the bottle.