Water Kefir is something I’ve been wanting to make for a couple of years now, I just needed to get a little more comfortable with “culturing” first. I feel like I’ve about mastered buttermilk, yogurt and milk kefir now…so I decided to try my hand at water kefir.
Here’s why I’ve been excited to try Water Kefir:
- It’s super good for your digestion.
- You can make different flavors and varieties.
- It can take the place of soda (pop) as a healthy alternative!
Yeah, that’s probably the real reason I wanted to try Water Kefir. I gave up all forms of soda six years ago and I would love to drink something fizzy like this that’s GOOD for me. I’ve also been excited to make this as a fun and healthy drink for my family.
I received water kefir grains from Cultures for Health a couple of weeks ago and got started on the process. It’s not one bit difficult to make water kefir, you just have to baby your kefir grains for a little while until you get used to the process. I’m brand new at this, so I’m still getting used to it!
Here are my re-hydrated kefir grains all ready to go!
This is my experiment with making “grape soda”. It’s so-so. I’ve gotta keep playing and improving!
Mine’s not as bubbly as I would like it to be yet. But I’ll get there, because I’m all about the fizz. :)
I’ll try to keep you posted on how my Water Kefir experimenting goes. In the meantime, would you like to win some Water Kefir Grains so you can play along with me? Cultures for Health, my go-to source for all of my buttermilk, kefir, sour cream and yogurt cultures, is offering to give away a Water Kefir Starter Kit to one reader here.
To enter this giveaway, you must follow this link to Cultures for Health!
We’ll draw a random winner on Monday, May 23.
What if I’m already a subscriber to their newsletter?
Ooh, good question. Will this form let you sign up at all, or what is the page showing you?
Yes it asks for your name and email, then submit to subscribe. I guess I could fill it in and hope I don’t get double the newsletters in my email.
Yes, I’d say go ahead and do that, especially using the same email address you already had used for this. It really should just be a way to enter you in the giveaway, so I don’t *think* you have anything to worry about.
Thanks for getting back to me!
Try prunes and use sucanat for more of a Dr. Pepper taste.
I like Big K (Fred Meyer’s store brand) and juice concentrate to make what my family calls “Mommy juice.” It gets me the bubbly I desire without the ingredients of pop.
I just placed an order from them this week and am waiting for it to come in the mail. I was debating ordering the water kefir grains but skipped it. I’ve been thinking about it all week that maybe I should have just ordered them along with everything else. This post doesn’t help! ACK! lol I would love to win the starter kit! I can’t wait for my order to come with my Kefir, Yogurt and sourdough starters and my rennet. I love your blog!
I saw this website about Water Kefir Soda made homemade. Thought you would enjoy it.
http://www.rebuild-from-depression.com/blog/2007/05/homemade_sodas_water_kefir_dri.html
YAY! Just signed up for their newsletter, downloading the kefir ebook, now…I loooove my milk kefir daily, looking forward to learning more!
beck
I entered! I’d love to win. :)
I just found your blog a few days ago and really like it!
What an interesting idea. Do you know if kefir is ok for pregnant mommies to drink? (Sorry if it’s a dumb question, but I’m completely new to the idea of kefir)
I’ve not researched this, but I don’t know why it would be bad for a pregnant mommy. It’s simply a healthy drink, good for digestion.
Oh, however, this water kefir…if you make it with sweet fruit juice and let it “culture” too long it can ferment a little bit and have a small alcohol content. That part you’d want to be careful about! I’d maybe stick with dairy kefir and other dairy cultured products during pregnancy.
You’ve gotta love it when I think out loud. :)
Laura, I’m somewhat new to your blog and very new to knowing anything about Kefir. I’m very interesting in trying it out and I actually called Cultures for Health a couple days ago to ask them more questions about kefir b/c I’m not sure if I can use it as a replacement for my baby’s formula – she’s almost 10 months old. I’m feeling like I want to try it and so overwhelmed! Talking to the lady the other day on the phone, she said she was really overwhelmed at first too but she said she loves the kefir. It just sounds like you have to make it constantly so the grains stay alive. I don’t know if I would use it that often. maybe? Do you use it often? how often do you make kefir?
thanks
I make it every other day or so, but if I want a break, I can store them in the fridge in some sugar water (for water kefir) or in some milk (for milk kefir). You can even freeze them if you really want a big break!
I subscribed to Cultures for Health. I am looking forward to this givaway as I have been wanting to make water kefir for a while.
We all love water kefir at our house! Mine is super fizzy, I’ve got a video here:
http://lesstoxiclife.blogspot.com/2011/05/water-kefir-soda-success.html
Good luck!
I already get thier newsletter, but I would love to try water kefir.
I LOVE water kefir! I miss it too, since I killed my grains during a time of stress in my life. Now that summer is finally coming, I’ve been planning to order more. I use Ann Marie’s method ( http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/06/05/how-to-make-homemade-soda-pop-with-kefir-grains/ ) only I use 1/4 cup of organic juice for the second ferment. I think if you use half an eggshell, and cap and continue culturing for 2 days after the second ferment before moving to the fridge, you will be happy with the fizz factor. :)
Ok, Laura, this has got to stop, girl! You have been reading my mind more than once in the last few days. I was looking for an ice cream recipe the other day. I go to your website, and that is the exact day you post about ice cream! Lately, I’ve been thinking about buying the water kefir grains from Cultures for Health, and what do you post about today? That you did it! This is tooooo funny! :-) I guess they say “great minds think alike!”
Love your blog! It’s the first thing I look at every day, after reading my email. Thanks so much for all of your help and encouragement. I feel like a “mini-Laura” these days. :) Last year buy hubby bought me a Nutrimill. Now I buy my grains in bulk — 50 lbs. at a time! I started my vanilla last October, and am now using it. (The first time in my life that I every bought alcohol. You know why, too! ‘Cause Laura told me I should! Everybody’s doing it . . .) :) I just started culturing buttermilk and creme fraiche about two weeks ago. Last night I soaked my grains for the very first time — to make whole wheat buttermilk biscuits. My son said they were better than my other (white flour) biscuits — which were really good! :) Thanks so much for the positive influence!
Laura, I have been pondering getting kefir grains for several months now. I would absolutely love to win this giveaway! Even if I don’t win, I think I will go ahead and order the grains. My problem has been that I couldn’t decide between water kefir and milk kefir. Do you have any insight as to the value of one over the other or which would be the best one for a beginner? Thanks for your input.
I would love to win!
My son said to me last week “Mom, can we maker our own soda?” Sounds like this would work.
I’d love to win!! I tried milk kefir for the first time and couldn’t get past the smell in order to drink it straight so I put some in a smoothie and it tasted great. Is the strong sour smell normal. I mean I really just about gagged when I smelled it.
this sounds realy interesting
Thanks, Laura! I’m all about the fizz, too. I’ve been mixing juice with club soda for an occasional treat, but I would love to get some good bacteria at work in there, too!
Very neat. I’ve been wanting to try this because of wanting the cultures in my diet, yet avoiding dairy. A friend gave me a few milk kefir starter grains, and I just made my first batch. Unfortunately, I forgot about it for 12 hours longer than I was supposed to, so I am not sure what I have! I think I will be making a smoothie tomorrow!
Just recently too someone gave me a kombucha starter. That was a neat project, and I got quite a bit of fizz out of it by doing a second fermentation with a cap on the bottle. I added a few raisins and a slice of ginger root too. It reminds me of the taste of apple cider, just not as sweet. I might try it with juice.
From what I have been reading, just about every one of these projects will say “Not for pregnant or breastfeeding women.” I think that if you are one or the other you should take it very slowly (if you’ve never done it before), like drink a couple of ounces a day and observe yourself. Then be aware that adding good cultures and kombucha can have a kind of detoxing effect that could either affect the baby (through the milk/umbilical cord) to have it’s own detox type reaction OR the release of toxins in your own system could affect the baby. Personally, I plan to breastfeed for a good long time, so I hope to gently add some of these wonderful things to my diet without causing stress to my system or the baby’s.