CookWell For Life

JANUARY ARTICLE

Praise To Water Kefir - How To Make The Easiest And Best Probiotic Drink Ever!

I can’t imagine what I would do without my favorite, new, cultured drink. I surely wouldn’t feel as well as I do right now! My new love is called water kefir, and it’s an amazing probiotic drink that has 30 different strains of beneficials. I’ve been culturing and drinking it regularly for about 3 months now, since my awesome friend Lauren Bell gave me a some kefir “grains” so I could start my own batch.

Water kefir is the easiest to make, and the most potent homemade probiotic drink I’ve experienced yet, and I highly recommend it to everyone, young and old. Kefir is traditionally made using raw milk, but a slightly different strain of kefir grains (called water kefir) can be cultured using water as a medium with organic sugar and molasses (or raisins) to feed the grains. Kefir has beneficial bacteria AND beneficial yeasts, while kombucha has just beneficial bacteria. I feel so good from having water kefir as a regular part of my diet, that as my kefir “grains” multiply, I’ve been giving them away to friends to start their own batches. Water kefir has kept my inner ecosystem in better balance than any probiotic I’ve tried so far. Also, it’s way less expensive to culture than buying pricey probiotic supplements. Hallelujah!!!

Water kefir grains usually look like tiny, jell-like, cauliflower heads, but sometimes they take the shape of cubes. I know. It’s weird, but water kefir has recently saved me from experiencing candida yeast overgrowth symptoms, even throughout the holidays!

Kefir grains need clean, filtered water (not tap water), as they are very sensitive to chemicals like chlorine. And, they don’t like metal, so always use a wooden spoon when working with them. They need fairly refined, organic sugar to multiply. Don’t worry about the sugar; the grains metabolize the sugar, and when the drink is ready after 1-2 days, there’s little to no sugar left in it (details below).

The ratio of kefir grains to sugar & molasses to water is:
1 cup of water kefir grains
1/3 cup organic cane sugar (sugar that’s almost white - not brown like rapidura sugar or sucanat)
4/5 quart of filtered water (or, as much water as will fill the jar with the grains in it)
1tsp unsulphured molasses to supply the grains with minerals (instead of molasses, you can use 1/3 cup organic unsulphured raisins, but it’s a bit tedious to fish them out & throw them away each time you drink the liquid and feed the grains again).

To dissolve the sugar and molasses into the 4/5 quart of water, either shake it up in a separate quart jar, or slightly warm the water in a saucepan and stir the sugar in until dissolved (be sure water is not hot to the touch when adding it to the kefir grains). Once you’ve provided the kefir grains with sugar water and molasses or raisins, it’ll take 1-2 days to culture. In warm temperatures (70-85 degrees), 1 day of culturing is sufficient for the sweet taste of the sugar to diminish significantly. If it’s colder, (55-70 degrees), it takes up to 2 days for the sugar to fully metabolize. I like it when it’s way less sweet (don’t get me started about eating low glycemic as preventative medicine!). Generally, after 24 hrs of culturing, water kefir has about 20% of the sugar you initially fed the grains, and after 48 hrs, it has only 5% of the sugar left. After the sugars are metabolized, it will develop about 1% alcohol content, and it’ll become higher in alcohol the longer you let it ferment (much like kombucha). I don’t let it go for too long into alcohol-land because the beneficial probiotic bacteria can’t survive for long in an alcoholic environment. But, like Lauren says about a slightly alcoholic kefir brew, it’s like having a beer that yields vitality instead of depletion!

To culture water kefir, place the jar on the kitchen counter or in a cupboard out of direct light (indirect light helps the grains multiply) with a loose-fitting lid so the fizzy gasses it produces can escape. When you estimate that it’s ready based on the temperature of your home, pour a bit of the liquid into a cup to taste. If it’s fizzy and no longer super sweet tasting, just discard the raisins if you used them (most of them will have floated to the top), and strain the liquid into a glass for drinking. Drink the liquid within a few hours or store it in the fridge for up to 3 days. An easy way to strain the liquid is by holding your clean hand against the lip of the jar to hold back the grains as you pour the liquid into a glass for drinking. Or, you can strain the liquid using a hand-held strainer basket - just hold the basket over another jar or drinking glass and pour.

About every 2 weeks, you’ll want to transfer your kefir grains into a clean jar because there will be a film that has accumulated at the waterline at the top of the original jar. If you go away from home, just feed your grains fresh sugar water, and store them in the fridge for up to a week. The grains will even bounce back to life after being frozen, which is amazing to me!

Kefir grains often multiply quickly, so after about a month or so, you can give excess grains away to friends (one cup at a time) as Lauren did for me, along with the instructions. Lauren also taught me that excess kefir grains can also be given to pets as probiotic support, or tossed into your compost to add beneficial bacteria and yeasts to your future soil! Lauren Bell is an amazing woman, by the way, and I absolutely must share with you her local consultation & support business for helping make your home (or any building) energy efficient, water efficient, and toxin-free: www.globellgreen.com

I like to get 2 quarts of water kefir culturing 24 hrs apart, so that I can enjoy an entire quart of my amazing, fizzy kefir drink daily. Lauren has a family of four, so she has 4-5 quarts culturing at a time, each batch with its own post-it noting the estimated drinking time. Lately, I’ve been most enjoying the flavor and fizziness of a 48 hour brew because our kitchen has been cooler than usual in this wintery weather. Have fun finding your favorite water kefir culturing time throughout the various seasons. And big cheers to your abounding health this new year, and on forevermore into our budding golden age!