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Many people are familiar with homemade dairy milk kefir or coconut milk kefir. Be aware that a slightly different type of culture is used to make water kefir.
Water kefir grains look different and grow much faster than milk kefir grains. This video shows the different types of kefir grains visually. The probiotic and nutritional properties also vary quite a bit as well. For more information about the differences between water vs milk kefir, check out the linked article.
You should be able to procure some water kefir grains within your local community by asking around from your health conscious friends or at the healthfood store and farmers markets. If you still cannot find any locally, you can order some from the vetted sources listed in my shopping guide.
One thing to be aware of. You cannot ferment milk with water kefir grains and you cannot ferment water and sugar with milk kefir grains. Be sure you get the right type of kefir grains for what you are trying to accomplish!
Homemade Water Kefir Soda
Water kefir grains produce a bubbly probiotic beverage that contains many beneficial strains of bacteria and yeasts. These microbes help to recolonize the gut by destroying pathogenic strains like candida that may have gained dominance over the years through the use of antibiotics, other drugs, and a diet high in sugar and processed foods.
Homemade Water Kefir Recipe
Bubbly, homemade water kefir soda recipe that the whole family will enjoy to help kick the unhealthy soda habit once and for all!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup water kefir grains
- 1 quart filtered water
- 1/4 cup sucanat
Instructions
Mix all the ingredients together in a mason jar leaving 1 inch at the top.
Screw on the lid and leave on the counter for 48 hours. Taste after 48 hours, and if it is too sweet, leave for another 24 hours. Taste again, if too sweet, leave another 24 hours. Repeat for up to 5 days until the a fermented, apple cider type flavor with minimal sweetness has been achieved.
Strain out the water kefir grains and refrigerate the liquid (no metal please), clean the mason jar, and repeat the process for a new batch of water kefir. You will have approximately double the kefir grains as they grow rapidly with each batch. You can give them away, eat them as a live probiotic, or make a larger batch of water kefir.
To add variety, you may also reduce the sugar to 1/8 cup, reduce the water to 3 cups, and add 1 cup of fresh fruit juice. Juice from the store is almost always pasteurized and as such, is not recommended as it significantly increases the risk of fermentation mold. Fresh juice has minimal mold issues when fermented and is much more nutritious, and is therefore best to use. If using fresh lemon or lime juice, keep the sugar at 1/4 cup and only use 1/2 cup fresh juice.
After fermenting, you may bottle the liquid to achieve extra fizz. This is an optional step. The picture with this step shows the types of bottles I use. Only fill the bottles to the bottom of the neck and leave on the counter for and additional 24-48 hours.
Chill well and open the bottles slowly over the sink as the level of carbonation is quite surprising!
To store your water kefir culture, place up to 1/2 cup water kefir grains in 1 quart of filtered water mixed with 1/4 cup sucanat, coconut sugar, or maple sugar and refrigerate until you are ready to use again.
Recipe Notes
Maple sugar or coconut sugar may be substituted for the sucanat. Raw honey does not work as well in my experience.
Homemade Water Kefir Video Demonstration
The video below shows you how simple it is to make your own water kefir soda. Once fermentation is complete, feel free to flavor with the fruits or fresh fruit juices of your choice. You can also bottle it for a secondary fermentation to achieve extra fizz.
Please comment with any unique recipes for water kefir soda that you have developed yourself using this basic recipe as a starting point.
Sarah, The Healthy Home Economist
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Hi Sarah!
Thanks for this video. Finally! I always wondered what water kefir was all about! I have three questions. Have you even made it in larger amounts? One little jar won't go far in my house : ) Can you bottle it in regular canning jars with screw tops when you extend the brew time? What happens to the sugar? Is it used up?
Hi Holly, yes – I usually make water kefir by the half gallon so just increase the amounts accordingly to match the size batch you desire to make. I am not sure if canning jars would work for carbonating the fermented water kefir. Give it a try and post back if it works. The sugar is fermented and used up by the culture just like with kombucha and other fermented beverages.
Holly, I make enough for 9 people everyday and what I do is I make 3 batches each consisting of 1/2 cup water kefir grains, 1/2 cup organic sugar, 1 tsp unsulfered black strap molasses and 1/8 tsp of Bobs Red Mill baking soda. My grains grow so fast that I have a whole nursery of them in the fridge. My kids and I love water kefir, really cold especially on a hot day after a long day of work in the garden.
Tricia, How much water do you use to make enough for the nine family members?
Hey Sarah,
I tripled your recipe and after about 19 hours, there is no sweetness at all and the kefir is very brown and cloudy, almost no fizz and bland in flavor. The grain reproduced A LOT.
I used rapadura for the sugar.
Any advice?
Thanks
Rick
Hi Rick, I have a couple ideas for you. First of all, where did you get the grains? Perhaps they were a bit weak to start with if they hadn't been used in awhile. The water kefir does not produce much effervescence which is why I show you how to bottle it if you like more. The color doesn't change much as you can see on the video, so brown and cloudy is not a problem unless the color did not change at all which can indicate weak grains. You may wish to try it with some fruit juice, vanilla or some of the other variations to produce more flavor.
What is the temperature of the water when you add the sugar and kefir grains?
Bonnie
The grains and water can be right out of the refrigerator or room temperature. If you start the batch with cold water, it will take a few hours or even a day longer for the fermentation to take place.
do you strain it as you bottle or do the grains and all go into the bottle.
Strain out the kefir grains with a non metal slotted spoon or small sieve.
I love your video. Thanks for sharing. I really want to try this. Wondering if any one has tried to make rootbeer?
I was so excited to finally use my kefir grains dormant in the fridge since I bought them on ebay and had one failed attempt…well I had high hopes this time….BUT I messed up again. I tasted after 2 days. It tasted a little like beer. So I let it go longer….it kept tasting like beer…and now I am at day 7 and dumped the beer…more sour smelling now. Did I miss the window of opportunity?
–
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer, 7 days is too long. 2 or 3 days is usually sufficient. If you don't like the taste of the kefir water on its own, try some of the variations I mention in the blog. You might like the one with fruit juice. Try also bottling it to add fizziness.
Hi Sarah,
Will using a small amount of pasteurized juice work, adding it after bottling to flavor while sitting it out room temp. for the carbonation process?
Hi Joyce, a bit of pasteurized juice may be ok, just know that your risk of mold goes up when you do not use fresh juice.
Sarah, I have a question. I made the water kefir and it came out just as you said. I added vanilla powder to it so it would be like cream soda and bottled it. I left it on the counter for two days and tested it but it was not more bubbly. I left it another day and although delicious to the taste, does not have the effervescence that you described. How can I get it to get more bubbly? I keep my house at 77 degrees during the day and 75 at night. I leave my bottled Kombucha soda on the counter for a week. Do you think I need to leave the water kefir soda that long too?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Dorsey, what kind of bottle did you use? If you don't use a bottle like I showed on the video, it probably won't work.
I used the brown beer bottles with the caps like you did after you showed the one with the hinge top.
As to Rick's problem higher up on the comments…….I recently read somewhere that Rapadura is not the best choice. The person recommended sucanat. It was something in the rapadura that can possibly hinder the proper fermentation, I think. I can't remember exactly as I usually use Sucanat so didn't let it sink in I guess. Have you heard this before? Maybe that was his problem?
My friend gave me a bottle of her keifer water and I didn't like the taste ( I am used to bottled kombucha from our co-op that is fruit flavored) so I added some organic pomegranate juice to it. Is there a reason not to flavor it after its been made and bottled?
Hi Stephanie, sure, you can flavor the kefir water after it has fermented.
Sarah, we were making lots of wter kefir – my husband was thrilled with the healthy alternative to soda! However, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (weight-related) which is now pretty well under control (he's finally "on board" with what I've been doing, lots of healthy fats and proteins, lower carbs) – however, everything I find online indicates that water kefir is not okay for diabetics. What say you?