Water Kefir: How To Make It At Home

Water kefir is an increasingly popular probiotic drink that you can make fairly easily and inexpensively at home. It is a simple combination of "water kefir grains," sugar, and water. In the instructions below, note how you add flavor with dried fruit and fruit juice.

The biggest trick with water kefir is to find "water kefir grains." They are a symbiotic mass of bacteria and they reproduce. Vendors on the Internet sell them. Perhaps you have a friend locally who can share some with you. The key is not to mistake the grains for milk kefir with those for water kefir. The milk kefir grains are white; water kefir grains are more translucent. When you have acquired the grains, follow these simple instructions for making your probiotic water kefir frink.

Dried Fruit

Water kefir instructions: Innoculate the Water

Dissolve 1/3 cup sugar with warm water in a clean glass jar. Add one quart of water. (See instructions below on adding juice or fruit as well.) Add grains. Place in cupboard or other spot out of direct sunlight. Cover jar with a clean dish towel. Let sit for 24 hours Strain grains from liquid Add juice, reuse grains. Go back to step 1 with grains.

In the steps above, if you add no fruit or juice, you will have sugar water with beneficial bacteria. It's not too tasty. To get some flavor, you have a couple of options:

One-step kefir soda (uses dry fruit)

1/3 cup of sugar dissolved in 1 quart water Add grains when water has cooled Add 1-3 pieces of dried fruit (e.g., pineapple, apricot, papaya, mango) Ferment for 24 hours or until it reaches desired sweetness. (A longer fermentation process will reduce the sugar content and raise the alcohol content, though this recipe will not turn into "hooch." There is not enough sugar.) Strain grains, start new batch, drink soda.

Two-step kefir soda (uses fruit juice)

1/3 cup of sugar dissolved in 1 quart water Add grains when water has cooled Ferment for 24 hours or until it reaches desired sweetness. (A longer fermentation process will reduce the sugar content and raise the alcohol content, though this recipe will not turn into "hooch." There is not enough sugar.) Strain grains, start new batch. Add 1-2 cups of fruit juice to kefir water. Ferment for another 24 hours or until desired sweetness.

Note: Juice can be added initially to the grains to make it a "one-step" process, but grains will take on the color of the juice. It may also be difficult to remove all of the fruit pulp when straining the grains.

There are really no "rights" and "wrongs" with water kefir. Experiment until you find a flavor to suit you.

Water Kefir: How To Make It At Home

Alexander V. Martin is a whole foods lover and helps promote water kefir and he loves other fermented treasures such as a sauerkraut crock.

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