Intro to Water Kefir (& How Easy It Is to Make & Drink)

Who drinks water kefir?

Water wha-fir?

You heard me.  It's a probiotic drink.

??

It's a laughably easy drink to make that gives your digestive system good bacteria which enables your gut to be healthy and support good immunity, nutrition absorption,  and overall health.

... ???

It's a fizzy drink that's really good for you.

Oh.  Okay.  You are curious in the head.

That's the conversation I just had with an imaginary health skeptic.  

Movingrightalong.

Making water kefir was something on my list of things to try for quite a while now.  I've been making milk kefir for years and love it.  It's so simple to make, and all the equipment I need is a glass jar with a lid.  We make kefir smoothies daily, but if we miss a day, my body feels the loss of it.  Back to water kefir...

A couple weeks ago, I  finally pulled the trigger and ordered a water kefir kit.  I was so pleased to find such clear, easy instructions, along with some great recipes.  The strainers that came with the kit are perfect!  All plastic (normally I stay away from plastic but all kefir grains react to metal, so plastic it is) and the holes were nice and tiny so I wouldn't lose any of the precious grains.

Did you know you have to keep your ferments away from each other while they do their thing or else the different (beneficial) bacteria found in each one can weaken the other?  I did not know that, but I do now, thanks to the instructions I got with my new experiment.  Otherwise, I totally would have had a cute little "ferments" corner on my kitchen counter.  Veggie (like sauerkraut) and dairy (milk kefir and creme fraiche) ferments along with their new water kefir friend would have been closely lined up along my kitchen counter so I could admire them all the live-long day, and they'd be quietly hurting each other without be knowing it.  Yikes.  They all need to be several feet apart, but I'm playing it safe and keeping the water kefir in my room while it ferments 24-48 hours. 

It was time.  Time to try water kefir.  Time to strain those grains out of the final product, dump the grains into a new rapadura-water mixture, and give this stuff a try.  Did I mention how wonderfully stress-free the strainers are that came with the kit?

Here goes... I poured myself a glass.  There were some definite reservations.  What if it tasted putrid?  What if I couldn't handle this amazingly probiotic-rich beverage?  What if I just wasted money on something that might be too healthy to taste good?  What if....? Oh.  I'm drinking it now.  Ooh, it is a bit effervescent.  My, it's not bad.  But if I stop drinking, will the aftertaste evoke a dry heave?  Hm.  No bad aftertaste.  It was actually.... a pleasant experience.  I think I might have another glass, thank you very much.  Victory!

The imaginary health critic just came back to grill me.

Why are the grains and the drink brown?

Because the grains were fed on, and continue to feed on rapadura (a much better choice than refined white sugar).  If you fed them with white sugar, they would turn white.

Wait.  There's sugar in this drink?  Isn't that bad?

Kefir grains, both dairy and water, feed on sugar.  Just as milk kefir feeds on lactose (milk sugar), the grains in water kefir eat up and break down the rapadura, leaving a probiotic-rich drink without ugly sugar side effects.

So, if the grains eat up sugar, why not just use cheaper white sugar instead of rapadura?

Water kefir needs minerals to survive.  Unlike depleted white sugar, rapadura is loaded with minerals, and that makes the grains happy.  Everybody loves a happy grain.

If you're already using milk kefir, why water kefir too?

We use milk kefir in smoothies, but it's important to have something with probiotics in every meal to aid digestion and heal the gut if there are any issues or to keep it healthy.  Water kefir is a quick, easy solution to drink throughout the day and with meals.  Kefir is on the GAPS diet list, and anything found there is known for it's strong healing properties and gentleness on the digestive system.

Why do you let the water kefir ferment with a cloth tied down with a rubber band instead of just screwing the lid on?

Water kefir grains need to breathe while it changes the water solution into kefir.

Okay, so you like it.  What about your kids?

Our two youngest gobble it up.  Their pallets were formed on probiotic-rich foods.  No big deal.  They love it!  The older two?  Well, because our food wasn't super healthy until after their pallets were formed (by age 3), everything is an uphill battle.  I'm just being honest here.  It doesn't mean I stop offering it to them, it means introducing new healthy things to kids (and adults) who weren't raised on the stuff is no cake walk.  But it can happen, they get used to it (and even begin to like it), and they feel a difference when they haven't had a real food meal, especially my son who struggles with acid reflux (the reason we are inching toward the GAPS diet).

Any other things you like about this drink?

Yes!  It is yummy all by itself, but there are lots of recipes out there to flavor water kefir.  If you sign up for the Cultures for Health's newsletter, you can receive a free, 30-page ebook with only kefir recipes, like cream soda, ginger, lemon, vanilla...  Also, this stuff doesn't need to be refrigerated!  I can pour some in a mason jar, screw a lid on it, take it with me on errands or outside as I work the land, and not have to worry about it going bad, even if it's sits out all day.  It can sit out for several days, and it just gets fizzier.  One less thing to squish into my fridge is a very good thing.

My imaginary health critic is finally silent.  Are you satisfied now, imaginary health critic?  I sure hope so.  Now go drink some water kefir.  I'm going to bed before I write myself out of readers.

Note:  Although I did buy the kefir water kit with my own money and planned to blog about my experience and share all about my new-found love with Cultures for Health, I am now an affiliate with them and get a small percentage anytime someone buys something form them if they click a link from this blog.  All the opinions above are 100% mine and none of it was scripted by Cultures for Health, nor are they responsible for any of my statements.  The end.  Am I legal now?

I'm sharing this at Monday Mania, Farm Girl Friday, Barn Hop, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter,  Fresh Bites Friday, Fight Back Friday, & Preparedness Challenge.