What is Water Kefir and How to Make It

If you collect and plan good food for your fridge and cubboards,

you will eat good food.  If you can grow some of your food you can eat better food

I’m speaking in Bahrain here.  I believe having a healthy gut lining gives me consistent energy. Energy that I do not take for granted.

Small healthy habits can bring some BIG changes in your life. The way you set up your house hold for eating will determine how you eat.

There are particular healthy habits that affect our ideas and the way we develop our ideas.  Food, being the essential source that nourishes our thoughts, can both help and hinder our values of living a healthy lifestyle. I completely agree with the argument that the food we eat can either be the safest form of medicine or possibly the most dangerous form of slow poison. Now this is the way food works… eat good to stay well, drink healthy to live a long virtuous life and pick a healthy habits to attain the ultimate peace of mind. Food will help you if you are going to pick the healthy delight, and I have an idea for you this week. Yes, it is probiotics!

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Life is all about the goodness we imbibe…we see…we create! 

Consuming probiotics is probably the best way to help your ideas and energy as it makes you more productive, active and creative. For instance, if a person is suffering from mood swings (as in bouts of temporary sluggishness or fatigue) or stress, then it is definitely a matter to be addressed.

“In the digestive tract of our human body, there lives a community of trillions of bacteria named microbiome. These bacteria are responsible for helping a couple of issues in our body like food digestion, boosting immunity, reducing skin inflammation, keeping the nervous system active, and so on. The good news is that you can improve microbiome to boost your overall energy with the help of psychobiotics i.e. certain probiotics that have a winsome impact on your mood and mental condition”.

i-spoke-in-dubai-here-i-am-being-silly-what-helps-to-be-silly-is-feeling-great

 

A homemade probiotic drink is my little secret of consistent energy- wherever I go…whatever I do!!!

 Water Kefir- your little dose of homemade healthiness!

A few days back, when my friend Inge Hart from Bali was here with us, I decided to prepare some fresh water kefir to demonstrate how easy it is to make at home.. Water kefir is a fantastic probiotic to have, especially for people like Inge who have been recommended by doctors to consume probiotics regularly. So what is a water kefir? I am going to tell you some fabulous things about this homemade delight.

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Water Kefir has the same concept as milk kefir, though it is less popular than the later one. The idea with water kefir is to ferment symbiotic grains of bacteria and yeast with a specific liquid (for instance, a mixture of sugar, water, and fruit liquid). It produces a mild, refreshing, slightly fizzy and carbonated beverage.

 #Factsheet:

  • It is a probiotic… a carbonated beverage.
  • Water kefir is a fermented beverage that has beneficial bacteria in it.
  • Water Kefir is slightly fizzy, having the taste of the fruit that you use during the second ferment.
  • Water kefir is enriched with the goodness of Vitamin B and food enzymes.
  • Often regarded as ‘grains’, the water kefir looks like small jelly-shape grains.
  • Just like other fermented food, Water Kefir produced a small 0.05% amount of alcohol during the fermentation process.
  • While kombucha takes 6-14 days to ferment, water kefir is almost ready within 2-3 days.

How to make a healthy probiotic-rich drink quickly and easily at home?

What is Kefir and how to make it
 

Water Kefir Specifications:

 

 

Recipe Type: Drinks

 

Cuisine: Fermented

 

Serves: 6+

 

 

Ingredients for 1st fermentation:

 

 

·        ¼ cup of water kefir grains

·        ¼ cup of organic sugar

·        1 organic unsulphured apricot or fig

·        1 quarter of a organic lemon

·        Rain water or spring water

·        Sieve

·        Funnel

·        Light cloth

 

Things to remember: if the grains are a bit small or cold, then it is better to add 1 clean empty egg shell in the first ferment. This will give some calcium to the ‘grains’.

 

 

Ingredients for 2nd fermentation:

 

 

·        Fresh fruit or organic fruit juice

·        Organic coconut water

·        Funnel

·        Screw top bottles

·        Vitamizer

 

 

How to make the 1st fermentation:

 

Steps:

 

1.     Take a 3-Litre Jar and put some water kefir grains to it. Search your local area for Water Kefir Grainson google.  Or look in your local Health Food shop.

2.     Add sugar, fig or apricot and lemon to the mixture.

3.     Take cheesecloth to loosely cover the jar.

4.     Cover it loosely to allow air to pass intothe bacterial mix.

5.     Give 2-3 days for the mixture to ferment.

 

#Points to remember:. 2-3 days are ideal for fermenting water kefir but if you want to prolong the duration, you can easily do that, preferably no longer than a week without food.  If you are going away for a small trip while the fermentation is taking place, keep the mixture in the fridge to slow down the process. For instance, when I’m super busy and don’t get to making it on a weekend I add another ¼ cup of sugar and the lemon and the apricot to keep the “grains” fed.

 

 

How to make the 2nd fermentation:

 

Steps:

 

1.     Fill the bottles to 3/4th with the 1st fermented liquid using a sieve and funnel.

2.     Vitamize the fruit and add some of the 1st fermented liquid or rain water or coconut water to make the fruit into a liquid.

3.     Leave out of the fridge for 2-3 days to ferment.

4.     Burb the bottles twice a day. It means unscrew the tops of the bottle to let the air out.

5.     Place the mixture in the fridge to drink any time.

 

#Points to Remember: Never use stainless steel with your grains. Preferablyuse wood!

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Experiment as much as you want to experiment with the fruits used during the second ferment. The more you experiment the more you will gain an understanding of the “grains” and how you like it to taste and the more you will enjoy the probiotic drink.

I will give you an idea about my quantities I use for 6X2 litre bottles.

  • 1 Banana
  • 2 Pears
  • A Chunk of Ginger
  • And half a litre of 1st ferment kefir

Probiotic drinks are my little secret of healthiness. Catch me for more such inspiration on Facebook through my official page and you can even become a part of my Facebook group Join the Dots “Aussie Style now.

Have an AWESOME Day!

Di

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8 thoughts on “What is Water Kefir and How to Make It”

  1. Hi Di,
    Thank you so much for doing this post and the video. I had a friend get me started on milf Kefir but it did not agree with me. I cannot drink cows milk normally although I am okay with yogurt so thought it may be okay but not so.
    I had decided I would have a shot at making some water kefir so thank you for this post. It is very timely for me.
    Sue

    1. Hi Sue,

      Awesome that’s it is perfect timing for you.

      I hope we did a good job explaining it to you.

      It is a great drink and as it’s a cold drink I tend to drink a lot in the summer.

      I’d recommend starting with small amounts to begin with for you.

      Have fun

      Di

  2. Di,

    Glad we Talked the other night and this is a wonderful post. SO helpful and love the recipes for health and reducing inflammation. I love to to drink healthy shakes as well as green smoothies. Thanks and keep in touch this is so helpful and your site is wonderful.

    Lori English

  3. Di,

    I loved the article and the conversation we had the other night. This is what I love to eat healthy and live healthy. Thanks for your comment and I love the recipes you share.

    Lori English

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What is Water Kefir and How to Make It - Di Downie