Today we’re taking you through the easy process of how to make water kefir!
Water kefir is a lightly fermented drink that’s slightly sweet and bubbly. It’s also one of the easiest fermented drinks to make since it takes as little as 24 to 48 hours to make. You only need a starter culture called water kefir grains and we’re going to show you how to grow an endless supply!
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What is Water Kefir?
We’ve made a lot of different fermented drinks like ginger ale from a ginger bug, Mexican Pineapple tepache, hard apple cider, sweet potato fly, and many other delicious fermented drinks.
How water kefir differs from all others is that it’s a very lightly fermented drink that doesn’t hit you with a bold flavor. It’s a more refreshing ferment that’s similar to flavored water which you can leave as is or infuse fruit or citrus flavors into.
The flavor combinations and creativity in making water kefir are virtually endless.
What is Water Kefir Grains or Tibicos?
You can ferment a drink in two ways – using wild fermentation or using a starter culture.
When you’re making water kefir, you need a starter culture called water kefir grains that you can buy here. Who knows why these ended up being called “grains” because they’re not grains at all and actually look more like gelatin crystals.
Water kefir grains are a culture of bacteria and yeast held together by a carbohydrate called a polysaccharide. When placed in a sugar water solution, the bacteria and yeast in the culture eat the sugar and produce lactic acid, methanol, and carbon dioxide. So basically an acid, alcohol, and gas.
No one really knows the exact origin of water kefir grains but most people have accepted the theory that they originated in Mexico in hard nodules on the prickly pear cactus. These nodules would be collected and then made into a sugary fermented drink.
Water kefir grains go by many different names from tibicos, japanese water crystals, California bees, aqua gems, and so many others. It doesn’t matter what they’re called, they make a delicous drink!
Feeding Water Kefir Grains
Once you buy water kefir grains, you should never have to buy them again! Water kefir grains grow by feeding them. It couldn’t be easier as the basic process is to prepare a sugar water solution, add your water kefir grains, and wait 24 to 48 hours for a lightly fermented water kefir.
Since your water kefir grains are a living culture, they need more than just sugar to stay healthy and happy. To make sure your water kefir grains are healthy, simply add a mineral source every few batches from one of the following:
- 1 tablespoon of molasses
- 2 raisins
- pinch of sea salt
- pinch of baking soda
- cleaned egg shell
If you add molasses, keep in mind it will make the color very orange but with a great flavor!
Making Water Kefir
After making water kefir once you’ll be so surprised at how easy it is! It’s literally only a handful of steps but there are a few important things to know to make the process problem free.
Buy some water kefir grains. You can buy water kefir grains from several places but we chose one on Amazon with great reviews.
Prepare your sugar water solution. Fill a one quart jar 3/4 with non-chlorinated water and 1/4 cup sugar. Stir vigorously to dissolve sugar. Every few batches rotate in a mineral supply to keep your water kefir healthy and happy.
Add citrus peels at this stage of primary fermentation if you prefer to add a flavor but it’s not necessary. Make sure not add fruit during primary fermentation! It can hurt your water kefir grains and is hard to separate from the fruit later.
Add 1/4 cup of water kefir grains and give a simple stir. This is added after preparing your sugar water solution since you don’t want to harm your delicate water kefir grains with vigorous stirring.
Cover your jar with either a cloth or an air lock. Use a cloth for an open air oxygen rich aerobic fermentation which gives a tiny bit of sourness. Or cover with an airlock to keep all of the oxygen out for a non-aerobic fermentation which gives less sourness. Traditionally most people cover with a cloth so that’s what we do.
Ferment for 24 to 48 hours of primary fermentation.
Strain off your water kefir grains with a sieve and set aside to make another batch or store in fresh sugar water in the fridge. It’s okay to strain with a metal strainer. Like noted before it’s also important to remove your water kefir grains before adding fruit! It makes it much easier to remove the grains now rather than sifting through water kefir grains and fruit later.
If you only want a lightly fermented drink, you’re done and can enjoy!
Secondary fermentation adds more flavor and uses up more of the sugar so we like fermenting it for another 3 days in the mason jar. You can add any fruit you like at this stage to incorporate more flavor. Start with a handful of dried fruits or chop up a handful of fresh fruit to add. If you don’t want the chunks, use a muslin tea bag to keep the pulp out. You can also start with 1/4 cup of fruit juice and change the percent to your taste, but make sure there aren’t preservatives that might kill off the culture.
During secondary fermentation instead of using the mason jar, you can also pour your water kefir into flip-top glass beer bottles to add carbonation. Remember to either use a plastic tester bottle to know how much pressure is building up or release the pressure once or twice a day by “burping” the jars.
What to Expect During Fermentation – Water Kefir
Water kefir ferments a little calmer than other fermented drinks that we’ve made. After 24 to 48 hours you might see little bubbles forming and you might not. One hint we’ve noticed is that after an open air primary fermentation, the aroma smells a tiny bit vinegary. The flavor has only a hint of sourness to it and it’s still pretty sweet to taste.
After secondary fermentation or five total days of fermentation, it still has a bit of sugar but not as sweet as after two days. The flavor has mellowed and we’ve also noticed only a bit of bubbles when you disturb the jar.
Alcohol Content in Water Kefir
Since it’s is a lighter ferment we were expecting the alcohol content in water kefir to be a bit less so let’s test it! What’s the results for our water kefir alcohol content? We’re always curious how much alcohol is in our homemade sodas and cider so we picked up a hydrometer to measure the alcohol content.
We measured the gravity of our water kefir before and after the fermentation process and plugged it into the generally accepted formula:
Alcohol By Volume (ABV) Formula
ABV = (og – fg) * 131.25
Original Gravity (og): 1.024
Final Gravity (fg) (2 days): 1.022
Final Gravity (fg) (5 days): 1.022
(2 days) ABV = (1.024 – 1.022) * 131.25 = 0.263% ABV
(5 days) ABV = (1.024 – 1.022) * 131.25 = 0.263% ABV
After five total days of fermentation, we have a water kefir with only about a quarter percent of alcohol. Whoah! That’s not very much. And as you can see after two days it looks like this batch was done. So either our ferment wasn’t very active or it’s possible that maybe water kefir doesn’t produce much alcohol. We’ll keep testing future batches and report the results.
Water Kefir – So Refreshing!
If you love fermented drinks and have never tried water kefir, it might quickly become your favorite! Full of probiotics and endlessly available for creative flavors, it’s worth experimenting with making a few batches.
It’s one of the easiest ferments to make and once you find some water kefir grains, they’ll grow like crazy for you! We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode. Let us know how it goes! Leave us a comment below and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel!
