Making Water Kefir

 

Just follow the easy steps below and enjoy the experience of making your own tasty and unique water kefir.

This Water Kefir Kit Includes:

Approximately 3 Teaspoons of “live” water kefir grains. This will get you started making up to 1 pint kefir. With proper TLC (tender loving care) your grains will continue to multiply with each brew indefinitely. This is truly the gift that keeps on giving.

Supplies that you will need:

• clean 1 quart glass jar (wide mouth canning jars work well)
• 1/8 cup sugar of your choice
• pinch of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt (for minerals)
• clean muslin cloth or coffee filter & rubber-band or jar band
• non-metal spatula or spoon
• non-metal strainer
• approximately 2 cups filtered water (for the first 3-4 brews)

Instructions for First Fermentation Process:

1. Dissolve sugar and sea salt in hot water and let cool to room temperature. Place grains into jar of cooled water. Adding the sea salt is one way of adding minerals to the water.

2. Cover jar with butter muslin or a coffee filter and secure with a rubber-band. Place in a cupboard, away from direct sunlight for 24-48 hours.

3. Strain the grains from the finished kefir and place the gains into the jar with a new batch of sugar water, following steps one and two. I like to leave an ⅛ of a cup of leftover water kefir from the previous batch. This will make a new batch of kefir.

4. The water kefir is ready and can be refrigerated at this time, enjoyed, or for a flavored and carbonated kefir continue to follow the steps for the second fermentation.

Instructions for Second Fermentation Process:

1. For flavor add 1-2 ounces of fresh or frozen fruit to bottle, fill with finished water kefir, leaving about 1” at the top and tightly seal.

2. Place the bottle back in the cupboard for an additional 12-24 hours, then refrigerate and enjoy your deliciously carbonated flavored water kefir.

More Helpful Information

• Keep your grains refrigerated until ready to use or when taking a break from making water kefir.

• It may take a couple of brews (fermentation) before you achieve the right balance, for the tiny bubbles to develop and be seen. This will happen each time you make any changes, such as the type of sugar you use or when you bring the water kefir out of the refrigerator after a break.

.5% alcohol may be present due to the fermentation process.

What kind of sugar is best for my Water Kefir?

Refined White Sugar

Pure white, free of minerals

Makes a sweet water kefir

 

Organic Cane Juice Crystals

Less refined than white sugar

very low mineral content

Makes a sweet water kefir

 

Turbinado or Raw Sugar

Sugar that is spun to have most of the molasses removed

Slightly less refined than OCJC

medium mineral content

Makes a less sweet water kefir than white sugar or OCJC

 

Rapadura or Sucanat

Sugar cane juice that has been pressed and dried

high mineral content

Makes a stronger-flavored water kefir

 

Brown Sugar

White sugar with molasses added back

high mineral content

Makes a stronger-flavored water kefir

 

Coconut Palm Sugar

Sugar extracted and dried from coconut palm trees

very high mineral content

Too rich for water kefir and can damage water kefir grains

Use small amounts only in combination with cane sugar

 

Maple Sugar or Syrup

Made from the sap of the sugar maple tree

Too rich for water kefir and can damage water kefir grains

Use small amounts only in combination with cane sugar

 

Honey

Natural sugar from bees

high in mineral content

Raw honey has its own bacteria that can compete with water kefir grains

Some honey is contaminated with high fructose corn syrup

We DO NOT recommend using this for making water kefir

 

Molasses

Very high mineral content

Used on its own, molasses can be damaging to water kefir grains

We recommend using only ½ tsp. as mineral supplementation per batch, as needed

 

 

Agave, Stevia, Monk Fruit, Splenda

Unfortunately, these substitutes do not provide the food necessary for water kefir grains

We DO NOT recommend using these for making water kefir