Water Kefir is a fermented, bubbly probiotic rich drink. It taste like a Poppi or an Olipop. It’s made by adding water kefir grains to sugar water. Now don’t be deterred by the sugar water part because the grains feed on the sugar and the final product has very little sugar in it. Maintaining it is similar to maintaining a sourdough starter or kombucha.
* As an amazon affiliate I earn from qualifying purchases. Some links are affiliate links that I earn from at no extra cost to you. For more information please see full disclosure here.
I make water kefir everyday or every other day. We don’t drink pop or anything else besides water so we love having this as some other kind of drink.
What are water kefir grains? Their translucent, gummy like clusters with beneficial bacteria and yeast. It’s a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). You may have heard of a SCOBY before in relation to kombucha.
What probiotic strains does water kefir contain? They contain Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus hilgardii, Lactobacillus nagelii, Lactobacillus plantarum, Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Pediococcus pentosaceus. All of these help with gut health! They also contain many other beneficial yeasts. The exact microbial profile varies due to what kind of sugar you are using, the mineral content of the water, your grain source, and the temperature of the room.
Gut health & water kefir
Since water kefir is a fermented drink with a SCOBY it helps with microbial diversity, improves digestion, reduce bloating in some people and help you to be more regular. It also can strengthen the gut barrier by supporting the intestinal lining. Lots of people have leaky gut AKA gut permeability because of the toxic world we live in. Chronic stress, inflammation caused by too much sugar, alcohol intake, seed oils, etc. can cause it. Probiotics can help with this. *This is not medical advice. See a healthcare professional for your medical questions and needs*.
Ingredients
Water kefir grains– a good place to buy them is Cultures for Health or Azure Standard sells them.
Filtered water- Not tap water the chlorine and other chemicals are not good for the grains and can kill them.
Sugar- Brown sugar and cane sugar both work.
Fruit Juice – To flavor the kefir. I love the 100% fruit juice from aldi. See below for more ideas.
Molasses- Optional. I add this to my water kefir whenever I want them to have a little boost.
Unrefined sea salt – Optional but I always add a pinch of Redmonds real salt to my water for minerals. I have reverse osmosis water which is stripped of any minerals.
Tools you need
A quart sized glass mason jar and lid
Measuring cups
Saucepan– to warm up your water
Strainer – To strain off the grains. Fine mesh so grains don’t fall through
Funnel – For pouring it into your swing top bottles
How to make water kefir
The first thing you need to do is acquire water kefir grains. I got mine from Cultures for Health. If you buy them through here they will have detailed instructions on how to rehydrate them. A better option would be to find someone local that makes water kefir who can give them to you.
In order to keep your water kefir grains alive and happy you have to continuously feed them with sugar water. I do 1 quart of filtered water, 1/4 cup of sugar (I use raw organic cane sugar), and your grains which for this amount of sugar water you’ll want 3-4 tbsp of grains.
Step 1: Add 1/4 cup of sugar to a quart sized jar, boil 2 cups of water in a saucepan, once hot pour it in your jar to dissolve the sugar, fill up jar the rest of the way with water and place in the fridge to cool down. You must cool the water down before adding the grains or the hot water will kill the live cultures. You can also cool it down with some ice if you don’t wanna wait for it to cool in the fridge.
Step 2: Once it’s cooled down add your grains to the jar with the sugar water. Place a coffee filter over the top with a ring or a fermentation lid. Allow to ferment for a minimum of 24 hours, sometimes I do 48 hours, the longer you let it ferment the more sour tasting it will taste. The fermentation time will also really depend on the temperature of the room. It will ferment much slower in a 68° room than a 76° room. Don’t let it go longer than 48 hours though because then you will be under feeding your grains.
Step 3: The second ferment– This step is technically optional but for me, it’s not. I always do the second ferment because this is the step that will create the bubbles or carbonation in the kefir which is what I love kefir for. To do this step you need an air tight swing top bottle. I’ve bought one from Lehmans in Kidron, Ohio and I’ve also saved one bottle from some lemonade I bought at Aldi. Add the fermented kefir AND 1/2 cup of fruit juice or other things (see below for ideas) to flavor the water kefir to the swing top bottle and close and allow to sit for 12-24 hours. I use a funnel to pour the kefir water into the bottles. At this point you will also be removing the grains and adding them to fresh sugar water.
You will start to see bubbles form at the top of the liquid after fermenting for some time. Be careful at this step because you can have an explosion due to too much gas. I have had a bottle explode before and glass and kefir go everywhere. Be extra careful in the warmer months. You way want to “burp” your bottle once or twice, which is basically just opening the top and closing it back again to let gas out.
Step 4: Your water kefir is ready to drink! Pour over ice and enjoy your probiotic soda.
Flavor additions for water kefir
On your second ferment you’ll add some kind of fruit juice to the bottles to give it flavor. It taste fine without flavoring, but rather plain.
- 100% fruit juice – I like the ones from aldi in the glass bottles.
- Elderberry syrup
- Fresh squeezed lemon juice
- Fresh berries- strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries
- Peaches
- Pineapple
- Apple juice
- Apple cider
- Orange Juice
- Coconut water
- Ginger root for a ginger ale kefir
Tips
- To give your kefir grains a boost if they aren’t making very bubbly kefir is to add a teaspoon of unsulfured backstrap molasses to your sugar water.
- Add in unrefined sea salt to your water for added minerals. Such as Redmonds Real Salt or Celtic salt.
- Do not add your grains to your water when it is still hot. You will kill the grains.
- To maintain your water kefir grains you have to feed them fresh sugar water regularly (every 1-3 days). If you need a break from making it you can stick them in fresh sugar water in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. The first time you take them out they will probably need a couple of feedings to revive them back to normal fizzy-ness.
- When you start making water kefir regularly the grains will start to multiply, you can up your ratio of water and sugar to keep the new grains fed properly or throw them in the compost, give them to your chickens, give them away, or throw them away. Remember the proper ratio is 4 cups of water (or 1 quart) to 1/4 cup of sugar to 4 tbsp of grains. The more grains you have the more water and sugar they will need.
Pin for later
Water Kefir
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Heat up 2 cups of filtered water in a small saucepan
- add 1/4 cup of sugar to a quart sized mason jar and pinch of sea salt if using
- once the water is heated add it to the jar with the sugar and stir until dissolved
- fill up jar rest of the way with filtered water and place in the refrigerator until cooled or add ice cubes to cool it down if you don't want to wait
- Once cooled add in your grains. Place a coffee filter with the ring as the lid. Allow to ferment to 1-2 days. The longer it sits the less sweet tasting it will be.
- After the first ferment do the second one- Add 1/2 cup of fruit juice to the swing top bottles using a funnel. Add in the fermented water kefir and close lids and ferment for another 12-24 hours.
- After second ferment pour over ice and enjoy