Disclosure
Jade Peak writes about places, experiences, and the people behind them, so hotels, operators, and companies come up often. We have no financial relationship with any entity named in this article. If that ever changes, we'll say so plainly, right here at the top.
Mexico City has become one of the world's great food capitals, packed with Michelin-starred kitchens where chefs increasingly build their menus around fermentation. Taller Vivo offers a different way into that same culinary world. In the quiet neighbourhood of Anzures, a molecular biologist named Lucía runs a small workshop where you taste and learn about Mexico's traditional fermented drinks, guided not by a chef but by a scientist who can tell you exactly what's happening inside the glass. It's a fresh, hands-on angle on the food scene: equal parts culture, history, and science.
Fermentation as Mexican heritage
Long before "gut health" became a wellness buzzword, fermentation was woven into everyday Mexican life. Pulque, made from the sap of the maguey, goes back to pre-Hispanic times and once held sacred status; tejuino is a corn-based brew with deep roots in the west of the country; and tepache is the refreshing, lightly fizzy pineapple ferment sold on street corners across Mexico. Taller Vivo treats these not as novelties but as living heritage, the flavours of a culture that has always understood how to let simple ingredients transform.
What the experience is like
The workshop is small and hands-on, capped at eight guests, and runs around two hours. You settle in with a glass of Lucía's homemade kombucha, then move through the science and history of fermentation: how the microbes work, why these drinks matter, and how humble ingredients turn into complex flavours. You taste pulque and tejuino, learn to make tepache yourself, and leave with your own batch plus the care instructions to keep it alive at home. It's led in Spanish and English, and rated beginner-friendly, no experience needed.
Why we love it at Jade Peak
This one is personal for me. As a Jade Peak co-founder, my family back in France went through their own phase of brewing homemade kombucha, so the world of ferments already fascinated me before I ever walked in. What makes this special is the person behind it: Lucía founded Taller Vivo to help people ferment at home and make more conscious food choices, and that mix of genuine expertise and warmth is exactly why guests rate it so highly. For us it captures a kind of travel we love: small, personal, and deeply rooted in local culture, where you come away not just having tasted something, but having understood it. If you want to experience Mexico beyond the taco stands, this is it.
Good to know
Where: Anzures, Mexico City (exact address shared on booking)
Price: from around US$75 per guest
Group size: up to 8, ages 18+
Duration: about 2 hours, offered in Spanish and English
Take home: your own tepache and care instructions
Booking: via Airbnb Experiences; free cancellation up to 3 days before
Originally published at jadepeak.com.
