A New Hobby: Something Different & Healthy
In the past, when we were still living in Ireland, I dabbled in brewing Kombucha for a while.
Some of it turned out really well, and some not so great. The issue there was the humidity and cold, while here, the heat and humidity could be an issue. I've always enjoyed the drink though, and started thinking what I could do here that doesn't require me to monitor a brew for 5 to 7 days (or more in some cases), and with less risk of spoiling the result.
There were two different kinds of drinks I wanted to try my hands on, and one of those, I'll discuss now: Water Kefir.
Water Kefir: What is it?
Most people will have heard of Milk Kefir, a probiotic yoghurt-like substance that's made with kefir grains and milk. Water kefir is made in a similar way, but this time with (sugar) water.
It's probiotic, contains quite some minerals, and it can be made as is (which is not the best way, in my opinion) or with different flavors.
I bought some water kefir on Amazon, and as soon as I received them in the mail, they were ready to be used.
For one batch of water kefir, I used about 800ml of water.
I took a little bit of that water, heated it, and mixed in 1 cup of sugar (250 grams).
Not all sugars are suitable for this, and I believe it's best to use cane sugar or plain white sugar. The water should be mineral water, but since that's hard to come by here, I add a few drops of trace minerals, which does the trick.
After melting all the sugar, I mix the sugar water with the rest of the water, so it's not too hot.
Now I added the kefir grains.
Et voila! There's a first batch, almost done. The sugar water and kefir mix goes in a large glass jar, not completely filled (due to fermentation the glass could break) and I put it away on the kitchen counter.
Here's what my kefir looked like in the first batch. It's hard to see, but they're there at the bottom.
Step Two: Flavoring
I love ginger, and to me it's the best to add to a drink like water kefir.
So after leaving the kefir sit for two days (some do it shorter, but I like it better this way), I remove the grains, and then add some fresh ginger to the mix, and leave it to ferment further for another 24 hours.
The result is a nice, slightly sweet, and very gingery drink that's slightly carbonated.
I remove the ginger, but you could also leave it in there to make it stronger.
Well, this batch didn't last long, so I kept on going with the next one.
Let's see how that one goes!
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I wonder if I could use honey instead of sugar
Hi @creativemary :)
No, you can't use honey in this, as water kefir needs glucose and honey contains fructose. It eventually breaks down the kefir grains. If you're worried about sugar content, there is far less sugar in kefir than in soda or juice, for instance. Plus the drink is very beneficial, and even lowers blood sugar, from what I've heard. Of course, I'm by no means an expert (yet) but this is what I have learned so far. And in our case, I ferment it a second time, using ginger, while some people use fruit juices. I'd say the sugar content is even lower in my case. But I'd have to figure that out by measuring sugar content. I'd need tools for that, and I'm not quite there yet haha.
Let me know if you're going to try to make some, and how it turns out.
I find it much easier to work with than kombucha.
Thank you for the info, you are full of knowledge! 🤗
Hi @misslasvegas
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My apologies. I'll remove it now.