I’ve written before about water kefir, and it is definitely my husband’s favorite way to get probiotics naturally. It doesn’t have the strong taste of kombucha and is faster to make.
Where to Get Water Kefir Grains?
If you’ve never made water kefir, it is really simple to make. I get live water kefir culture (called grains) from here and use them to make endless batches of water kefir. One small batch of water kefir grains can make hundreds of batches of water kefir and multiply itself if properly cared for.
From a previous post, here are the instructions:
Water Kefir Variations
Ingredients
- Water Kefir Grains
- 1/4 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!
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My Favorite Water Kefir Variations
For flavors, I recommend using a secondary ferment. After making the water kefir with the instructions above, I remove the kefir grains and use them to create a new batch as described above. I then transfer the newly made water kefir to a quart size jar and add in any of the ingredients below. Then, I cap the new jar tightly and leave to ferment for 2-3 days on the counter. This allows it to develop a natural carbonation.
Here are our favorites:
- 1/2 cup grape or apple juice
- 1/4 cup raisins or a few prunes (makes a Dr. Pepper like taste)
- 1/2 cup fresh fruit like mango, berries, etc (just not citrus or pineapple)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 3-4 prunes or dates (makes a cream soda flavor)
- a small piece of fresh ginger and 1/4 cup apple juice
- strawberries and then a splash of lime juice right before serving
Do you make water kefir? What is your favorite variation?
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