How to make bubbly, fermented water kefir which is a traditional cultured beverage loaded with probiotics and enzymes. A healthy alternative to soda.
Many people are surprised to learn that soda is actually a traditional food! Of course, ancestral cultures did not sweeten fermented beverages artificially or add unhealthy chemicals and GMO sugar like today.
Water kefir is a very popular example of a healthy traditional beverage that is tasty, fizzy, satisfying and thirst-quenching without any of these additives.
Many people are familiar with homemade dairy milk kefir or coconut milk kefir. Be aware that a slightly different type of culture is used to make water kefir.
Water kefir grains look different than milk kefir grains. They also grow much faster, which is great because there is more to share with your friends!
The probiotic properties of water vs milk kefir grains vary quite a bit as well.
You should be able to procure some water kefir grains within your local community by asking your health-conscious friends or at farmers’ markets.
If you still cannot find some locally, you can order them from the vetted sources in my shopping guide.
If you wish additional flavor and fizz, be sure to bottle your homemade water kefir after it is finished culturing.
Homemade Water Kefir Recipe
Bubbly, homemade water kefir recipe that the whole family will enjoy to help kick the unhealthy soda habit once and for all!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup water kefir grains
- 1 quart filtered water
- 1/4 cup sucanat
Instructions
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Mix all the ingredients together in a mason jar leaving 1 inch at the top.
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Screw on the lid and leave on the counter for 48 hours. Taste after 48 hours, and if it is too sweet, leave for another 24 hours. Taste again, if too sweet, leave another 24 hours. Repeat for up to 5 days until the a fermented, apple cider type flavor with minimal sweetness has been achieved.
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Strain out the water kefir grains and refrigerate the liquid (no metal please), clean the mason jar, and repeat the process for a new batch of water kefir. You will have approximately double the kefir grains as they grow rapidly with each batch. You can give them away, eat them as a live probiotic, or make a larger batch of water kefir.
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To add variety, you may also reduce the sugar to 1/8 cup, reduce the water to 3 cups, and add 1 cup of fresh fruit juice. Juice from the store is almost always pasteurized and as such, is not recommended as it significantly increases the risk of fermentation mold. Fresh juice has minimal mold issues when fermented and is much more nutritious, and is therefore best to use. If using fresh lemon or lime juice, keep the sugar at 1/4 cup and only use 1/2 cup fresh juice.
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After fermenting, you may bottle the liquid to achieve extra fizz. This is an optional step. The picture with this step shows the types of bottles I use. Only fill the bottles to the bottom of the neck and leave on the counter for and additional 24-48 hours.
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Chill well and open the bottles slowly over the sink as the level of carbonation is quite surprising!
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To store your water kefir culture, place up to 1/2 cup water kefir grains in 1 quart of filtered water mixed with 1/4 cup sucanat, coconut sugar, or maple sugar and refrigerate until you are ready to use again.
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Maple sugar or coconut sugar may be substituted for the sucanat. Raw honey does not work as well in my experience.
Sarah, we were making lots of wter kefir – my husband was thrilled with the healthy alternative to soda! However, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (weight-related) which is now pretty well under control (he's finally "on board" with what I've been doing, lots of healthy fats and proteins, lower carbs) – however, everything I find online indicates that water kefir is not okay for diabetics. What say you?
Hi Stephanie, sure, you can flavor the kefir water after it has fermented.
My friend gave me a bottle of her keifer water and I didn't like the taste ( I am used to bottled kombucha from our co-op that is fruit flavored) so I added some organic pomegranate juice to it. Is there a reason not to flavor it after its been made and bottled?
I used the brown beer bottles with the caps like you did after you showed the one with the hinge top.
As to Rick's problem higher up on the comments…….I recently read somewhere that Rapadura is not the best choice. The person recommended sucanat. It was something in the rapadura that can possibly hinder the proper fermentation, I think. I can't remember exactly as I usually use Sucanat so didn't let it sink in I guess. Have you heard this before? Maybe that was his problem?
Dorsey, what kind of bottle did you use? If you don't use a bottle like I showed on the video, it probably won't work.
Sarah, I have a question. I made the water kefir and it came out just as you said. I added vanilla powder to it so it would be like cream soda and bottled it. I left it on the counter for two days and tested it but it was not more bubbly. I left it another day and although delicious to the taste, does not have the effervescence that you described. How can I get it to get more bubbly? I keep my house at 77 degrees during the day and 75 at night. I leave my bottled Kombucha soda on the counter for a week. Do you think I need to leave the water kefir soda that long too?
Thanks in advance for your help.
Hi Joyce, a bit of pasteurized juice may be ok, just know that your risk of mold goes up when you do not use fresh juice.
Hi Sarah,
Will using a small amount of pasteurized juice work, adding it after bottling to flavor while sitting it out room temp. for the carbonation process?
Hi Jennifer, 7 days is too long. 2 or 3 days is usually sufficient. If you don't like the taste of the kefir water on its own, try some of the variations I mention in the blog. You might like the one with fruit juice. Try also bottling it to add fizziness.
I was so excited to finally use my kefir grains dormant in the fridge since I bought them on ebay and had one failed attempt…well I had high hopes this time….BUT I messed up again. I tasted after 2 days. It tasted a little like beer. So I let it go longer….it kept tasting like beer…and now I am at day 7 and dumped the beer…more sour smelling now. Did I miss the window of opportunity?
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Jennifer