How to Make Water Kefir Soda

Its a probiotic… its a carbonated drink… its Water Kefir!

How to make healthy probiotic water kefir natural soda How to Make Water Kefir Soda

I started making this as part of my mission to get more probiotics in our diet and it has worked like a charm! The kids love it and ask for it each morning.

It’s also been fun to experiment with the different flavors and variations you can make!

Equipment:

Glass Jar (1 quart or half gallon)
Wooden spoon for stirring (avoid metal)
Towel, cheesecloth or coffee filter to cover jar
Rubber band

How to make healthy probiotic water kefir natural soda How to Make Water Kefir Soda

Ingredients

3 TBSP (or more) of hydrated Water Kefir Grains (If you buy them dehydrated, they come with instructions for re hydrating)
¼ cup sugar per quart of water (I like organic unprocessed Rapadura sugar) Do not use honey!!
Non-chlorinated filtered water (If you use reverse osmosis, consider adding a few drops of trace minerals back in or sticking a rinsed pastured egg shell in for minerals) If you just have tap water, boil it to remove chlorine and cool before using

Instructions

Dissolve the sugar in small amount of hot water.
When sugar is dissolved, fill the rest of the jar with cool filtered water and make sure the water is not warm- it must be at room temp!
Add the hydrated water kefir grains
Cover with towel, cheesecloth, or coffee filter and rubber band to keep out insects or small children.
Leave on the counter (preferably at 70-75 degrees) for 24-48 hours. The longer you leave it, the more sugar ferments out, so if you ware limiting carbs, I recommend 48 hours. Don’t leave longer than this! It can starve the grains!
After 48 hours, strain the water kefir grains through a bamboo or mesh strainer (don’t use metal if you can help it!) pouring the liquid into another container. I use a half gallon jar for the first process and strain into two quart size jars.
Restart the process by dissolving more sugar in water, adding cool water and adding Water Kefir Grains.
To make the Water Kefir carbonated, pour a couple ounces of fruit juice into the strained water kefir you just strained. I’ve found Grape, Pomegranate, Apple and Cherry to work the best. I don’t recommend citrus for this part, as it makes stringy yeast like things that are not tasty!
Once you’ve added the juice, cover the jars tightly with an air tight lid and leave on the counter an additional 1-3 days before drinking or refrigerating.
Repeat the process!

My Favorite Variations:

After the first fermentation, cap the water kefir without adding any juice. After two days, put in fridge and add vanilla extract before drinking- tastes like cream soda!
Adding lemon juice and drinking right after the first fermentation- tastes like lemonade!
Doing the second fermentation with grape, apple, cherry or pomegranate for a fizzy fruit flavored soda.
Adding raisins or prune juice for the second fermentation- tastes like Dr. Pepper.
Making a grape or berry flavored second fermentation and mixing with iced herbal tea for a carbonated fruity iced tea drink.
Add pineapple juice after the first fermentation, but drink right away- don’t allow to ferment or it gets slimy!

How to Video

Cultures for Health has an awesome video that explains this in more detail and gives step by step instructions. You can also check out Cultures for Health to find the supplies to make Water Kefir Soda and other great fermented probiotic-rich foods and drinks! Enjoy the video (courtesy of Cultures for Health):

Have you ever made water kefir?

PDF

Filed Under: Drinks, Recipes Tagged With: Breakfast, Green Living, Healthy Living, herbal remedies, homemade, Low-carb, organic, vitamin d, weight-loss

About Wellness Mama

Wellness Mama is a full-time housewife with a background in nutrition, journalism and communications. Her passion is helping others achieve optimal health through a “Wellness Lifestyle.” She has helped hundreds of clients lose weight, increase athletic performance, improve fertility, and overcome numerous health problems and diseases. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, & Pinterest.

Disclaimer: Many of the links on my site, especially those from Amazon, Mountain Rose Herbs, Tropical Traditions and OraWellness are affiliate links. Should you click on these links and decide to purchase anything, I will receive a small commission and you will have my sincere thanks for supporting Wellness Mama!

DISCLAIMER: The statements made here have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. These statements are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure or prevent any disease. This notice is required by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

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http://www.happyindolevalley.blogspot.com Lisa@HappyinDoleValley

Can’t wait to try this! I’ve made water kefir before, but never using the method you describe. Thanks for sharing (found you at FBF). Blessings, ~Lisa
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Wildapple7

Signed up for the newsletter, please enter me in the water kefir give away. This is great info on making it, thanks.
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http://profiles.google.com/skydisco3 Sarah Smith

We’ve been enjoying water kefir soda for a few months now, but I’ve never tried adding juice and doing a second ferment. We usually drink it with fresh lemon juice squeezed in, but a second ferment would certainly be more convenient. Thanks for the tips on what juices work best! Have you ever tried using strawberries/strawberry juice for the second ferment? Just curious as we’re swimming in strawberries from our garden right now.
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

I haven’t tried it because our strawberries aren’t producing yet, but
I’ve had friends who added in sliced strawberries or strawberry juice
and they said it was great!
http://profiles.google.com/skydisco3 Sarah Smith

Thanks! I’ll try it with the batch that is fermenting right now!
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http://www.facebook.com/mrsglass Kelly Dolan Glass

I’ve tried several batches of water kefir, but my kids don’t like it (and to be honest, neither do I). Mine tastes very alcoholic, like bad wine. Not at all like the fizzy fruit soda that I tried from the woman who gave me the grains. Any idea what I’m doing wrong?
DeborahKWilson

Just an FYI… I started drinking kefir water about two weeks ago and now have my first yeast infection in 5 years. Saw my chiro/nutritionist and kefir is the culprit. He said there are 700 types of probiotics and not all of us respond favorably to them. Even “good” probiotics can mess up your flora. I just say this in case other woman experience the dame thing and don’t consider it might be the kefir cause it’s a probiotic.
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Urmsbunny

where can I get the kefir grain at? What kind od store do I got to?
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

This is the only place I’ve ordered them http://wellnessmama.com/go/cultures-for-health/ I’ve never seen them locally…
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Heather

Can I use black strap molasses in place of sugar?
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

You can add it but it doesn’t have quite the same chemical composition to completely replace the sugar…
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

You can add it but it doesn’t have quite the same chemical composition to completely replace the sugar…
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Jenademarco

I have been doing water kefir for about 6 months now and I have noticed some things and wondered if you had any thoughts on them. I really like it with lemon, but with the price of lemons and not wanting to go to the store so often with my 3 youngsters I bought some organic lemon juice. I feel good about the source and feel its an ok substitute, but I noticed my kefir doesn’t get bubbly with it. Is that bad? Do you think it’s killing the good stuff? I would really love to get your opion.
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

It is probably fine to use, especially if its organic. There is probably more available sugar in fresh juice, so that is why it gets bubblier. As long as you aren’t adding the juice to the ferment with the kefir grains, it should still be high in good bacteria…
O. Yental

Hi, Kefir soda is an absolute godsend. I have a very imbalanced digestive system and the use of probiotics is life changing, I can’t stress that enough. Thank you very much for helping spread this knowledge to others! However, I’ve been making my own kefir soda and I have a problem… my latest batches (using the finest ingredients) aren’t carbonating! First I was using a simple Apricot nectar from a can plus some lemon juice. no preservatives but not organic and had added sugar. still, i got some carbonation. next i used an all natural, no preservative fruit punch of apple cherry pear and grape…a little fizzier but not as great. then i got an all organic, no added sugar, no preservative pomegranate cherry lime juice and…NO carbonation. wha? I always leave my 1st and 2nd ferments for 24-30 hours. should I try leaving them longer? are my grains dead? I’m confused! Thanks!!!
Incognitovicki

Should you add lemon and other dried fruit for the first fermentation?
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

It can actually mess up the grains if used with them, but is fine after for the second ferment.
Chris

Does the acidity in kefir harm our teeth? How much kefir might be too much in a day? I have been making and drinking kefir made with milk and seem to be getting good results with my GERD issues. My sons won’t drink it because of the tartness. I think they may like this if I use the word “soda”!
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

From everything I’ve seen as long as you have good oral health this won’t harm your teeth at all… It actually isn’t very acidic either
http://www.facebook.com/milliann.johnson Milliann Johnson

Can U tell me if the process eats up all the sugar? (after 1st ferment not after additions)
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

The great majority of it, but not 100%
Kristy Kelley

May sound like a silly question but when getting filtered water for these recipes, how to you know the filtered water doesn’t have chlorine or fluoride Does just buying the jugs of filtered water at the grocery store work, I don’t think they say on the labels? We have a water filter on our fridge but it doesn’t filter out these things. I don’t want reverse osmosis water because of lack of minerals. We are eventually going to get a full house filtration system to eliminate chlorine and fluoride but that might not be for a few months.
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

You could actually use distilled. We use reverse osmosis for the water kefir, etc since we have it, but any should work. The spring and drinking waters in the stores do have chlorine and fluoride though.
http://www.facebook.com/shelley.phillips.568 Shelley Phillips

Do you reuse the same kefir grains or new each time?
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

As long as you take care of them, you can reuse them for years…
Margo Shackelford

Thanks!! Someone shared Kefir grains with me. It was raw milk based, now coconut milk based. Can I removea section & make it a water based Kefir?
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

Unfortunately they don’t switch from milk to water well at all…
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=545355926 Catherine Peisher Knight

A couple of questions: the sucrose is converted to fructose. While this doesn’t impact blood sugar, isn’t fructose worse for you overall? Second, do you have an idea how much sugar might be left after a full fermentation time period? I am still in a weight-loss phase but I do want more ways of getting probiotics in my diet. (I also want more to drink than water) will drinking this hold back my efforts?
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

I think that both of those are addressed on the site with the cultures (link above)
http://www.facebook.com/andshegoesdown Ivana Jiménez Juárez

If it tastes too alcoholic, you’re probably leaving them for too long (or it’s warmer there, as temperature accelerates the process). Try leaving the grains+sugar water for 24 hours at room temperature, then filtering the kefir grains out, adding fruit juice and putting it in the fridge (instead of outside) for a day.
http://twitter.com/DontMessWithMom Tracey Black

I’m so glad you posted this. My son has digestive issues and kefir was recommended to us but he hates kefir milk. I never thought about kefir water soda. I’m definitely giving this a try. Thanks!
Erica

I want to start incorporating water kefir in our home, but I’m not sure how to start. How much water kefir do you start drinking each day and how much for the kids? I have an 8 and a 5 year old, and will have a newborn in February. I can’t find any info on quantities and would love your help. Love your website!!
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

We started with about half a cup each, including the kids, and now I just let everyone drink as much as they want…
kefir drinker

i switched some to water and they work just fine. only thing is that they don’t grow. i think it’s the same with the coconut milk though also. i switched mine more than 6 months ago and they are still working just as well as at first. in fact, about 3 months ago i added more so i could make larger quantities of water kefir.
Hazel Moon

I am writing a post for Ann Koeker’s Food on Friday http://annkroeker.com/ about Kefir Water and will mention your site as a reference. I like the fact that you “brew” your water without the added figs or raisins, but they can be added later. Recently I purchased some grains so I can make this water for my daughter who has a damaged liver due to prescribed medicines over many years, which took their toll on her liver. She cannot tolerate dairy and she refuses to drink my Kombucha tea which has helped me keep the swelling out of my legs and ankles. The water seems like something she can be comfortable with.
Thank you for your interesting site.
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Sarah

Could that possibly be a ‘healing crisis’ or some kind of detox reaction/flare up? I have read that if you already have an imbalance you’re likely to feel worse before u feel better, it’s like the ‘bad’ bacteria is protesting =)
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Sarah

I’m a little confused, you say to cover with a breathable cover (towel, coffee filter) but the package of kefir grains (powder) I have says put in a jar with a lid. Which is better?
Tressie

I got my kefir grains and have been making the water kefir for a few weeks now. At first they worked great then they didn’t work so well for a few batches and I figured it was due to the tiny bit of real salt I added (for minerals). I switched back to the egg shell method and it was producing some great kefir soda, but this last batch I made smelled like feet. I have been cleaning the glass jar with water thinking the soap might leave a residue that would harm the kefir, but now I am wondering if I caused some kind of pathogen by not cleaning properly between batches?
Sarah G.

Just curious, why should I avoid a metal strainer?
Thanks!
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

It can be harmful to the kefir grains…
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

For the first ferment, a light cover like a towel, for the secondary to make it bubbly, a lid…
Sarah

Thanks!
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http://www.facebook.com/julia.marine Julia Marine

Hello! I just began brewing water kefir. My first batch came out great! I kept it simple – first brew was just organic raw sugar and unfiltered tap water. Then, I strained and bottled it with slices of orange for the second fermentation. It came out perfectly. Second batch, I got fancy. I bought a Britta filter thinking that would help. I brewed with raw sugar and filtered water. Second fermentation was left for two days with lemon and ginger in a sealed jar and more orange slices in my two sealed bottled. For the record, my ratios of sugar to water at roughly the same as yours.

The orange kefir in the bottles ended up completely flat and sour, while the jar was perfectly carbonated and sweet.

Third attempt, and I’m using just jars, along with the filtered water. I have raspberries and ginger in the second fermentation. So far they’re not bubbly after two days. They still taste ok, but I’m afraid they’ll be sour tomorrow.

What gives? Is it the filtered water? Why was my jar the only successful batch in the second brew? Could it be how much I’m filling each bottle/jar up? My successful jar was half full, while the bottles had about and inch and a half of unfilled space. I’m stumped!
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

Are space can make a difference, and so can water quality. Even the temp of the water when the grains are added can make a difference. I’d stick with what worked the first time and then change only one thing at a time until you figure out what is causing the change…
http://www.facebook.com/katja.moos Katja Moos

Two questions: How long does the finished water kefir keep in the fridge? If I can’t or don’t want to start brewing a new batch right after I’ve fermented a batch, how long do the grains keep in the fridge and how often do I best feed them (with more sugar?) during their hibernation ? Thank you!!
http://wellnessmama.com Wellness Mama

Brewed kefir will keep weeks on the counter or the fridge and the grains will survive for a few weeks in the fridge if properly stored…
http://www.facebook.com/katja.moos Katja Moos

And how do I properly store the grains in the fridge?
erica

Hello, to water kefir drinkers out there, what share my experience back in Mexico,my mother gave use what she called: Tepache de Arroz this was back in the 90′s we drank it plain and we loved it, I’ve had my batch of grains for ten years in Florida, I brought them in 2002, I use piloncillo always have and they still multiply like crazy , and when i moved to the Chicago area i got lazy and did not change the water or gave them any more piloncillo for almost a year, i have done this in the past i don’t even put it in the fridge or any thing, just in the cabinet, back in Florida I even left it over night in a metal strainer totally forgot about it but here we are still making my Tepache de arroz! and when i was googling bulgaros i saw kefir, water kefir thats how i came to know the correct word and in my experience and most of the people that have this “grains” back in my home town of Mexico, no special sugar needed just piloncillo and drinking water and at end of the first fermentation when we stain it in to our glass we add a pinch of baking soda and stir and enjoy =D
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Kristy_Winelogic

How does you kefir water look so clear? I use unrefined, unprocessed whole can sugar (Rapuzel brand) and it’s really dark! Also, what kind of air tight lids to you use? I have been using the plastic lids that fit onto canning jars and I don’t think my water is getting very fizzy. Do I need to buy different lids/jars/bottles? Thanks!
http://www.facebook.com/crystal.burnham.3 Crystal Burnham

Anyone try this with dandelion “juice”? (Pick as many dandelion heads (must be from good organic soil) as you can and then cover with boiling water.)
qorya

hi i’m qorya from indonesia, everyday i making water kefir from Japanese species of algae white crystals. I am happy if the benefits of water kefir greatly assist the process of healing the disease, every day I always gave away our old lady neighbors who have a particular disease can be cured by the Japanese crystal algae. and of course to our earnings back here to sell online japan crystal algae that we have
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How to Make Water Kefir Soda

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How to Make Water Kefir Soda

Equipment:

My Favorite Variations:

How to Video

Related Posts

Like What You Read?

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