Water Kefir - What's Keeping Our Grains Happy

I was a little worried when I first contemplated making water kefir. A lot of the sites I'd read made it sound like the grains were temperamental... they needed just the right kind of water, the right kind of minerals in the right kind of form, the perfect temperature, certain kinds of sugars, no contact with any metal whatsoever, and if they didn't get these things they'd wither and die, or at the very least they'd not multiply and they'd sit there making little sad faces at me (okay, so maybe the last part was just my imagination).

As it turns out, they're hardy little things and seem to be very tolerant. Maybe I just bought happy, healthy grains to start with. Maybe it's just something in our water. Either way, they're making wonderful kefir and are growing at an amazing rate. So I thought I'd share the basic recipe that I've settled on (cobbled together from recipes found on various websites) to keep our grains happy...

Basic Water Kefir Recipe*

6-7 cp water
Scant 1/4 cp white sugar
Scant 1/4 cp jaggery
1/8 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses
2 tsp maple syrup
3/4-1 cp water kefir grains
2 slices unpeeled lemon

Now, specifically... The water - I use the water we regularly use, our filtered bore water. The mineral content of our water is quite high (and on the acidic side) and if we didn't filter it then maybe I wouldn't add the bicarb/molasses/maple syrup but we choose to filter so I add those things. I put the sugars into a heatproof jug and then add cup or 2 of hot water to dissolve. I try not to have it too hot as I'm not sure if the heat negatively affects the minerals in the jaggery (as that's the whole point of using jaggery, the mineral content). The rest of the water I add is cool/cold so that it brings everything to a barely lukewarm temp (do not add kefir grains to hot water!). I pour it into the Fido jar after I've added the cold water so as not to end up with cracked jars.

The sugars/molasses - If I've already got enough kefir brewed and I just need to store the grains in the fridge for a few days so that the grains aren't multiplying like crazy, then I'll use a little more jaggery and a little less of the white sugar. If I'm brewing specifically to make a drink then I'll use a little more white sugar than jaggery and I omit the molasses (just for a milder tasting drink).

The lemon - I didn't initially use lemon for the first few brews but I kept coming across sites that mentioned how important it was for the pH balance of the water. We've always got lemons here so no biggy, I throw in a slice or two at the end. I don't add any other fruit to the first ferment, preferring to leave the flavourings until the second ferment... I don't want to risk damaging the grains.

I make it all in a Fido jar (I just throw in the ingredients now that I've got a feel for it, definitely don't need to bother with super-accurate measurements!). I was never really comfortable with the idea of making it in an 'open' (cloth-covered) jar so, as I mentioned here, I was glad to come across others who make it in a Fido jar as well. It turns out that, like lacto-fermented vegetables and unlike kombucha, kefir is an anaerobic ferment, so making it in proper pickling or Fido jars is best. So far I've had no issues with exploding jars, they seem to be able to release a certain amount of pressure and, just in case, I sometimes gently lift the jar by the lid which shifts the lid enough to allow a little more gas to escape. Of course, you may have to be more careful depending on how active your kefir grains are and if you live in a warmer climate. The only thing we've ever had explode was a swing top bottle and that didn't even have kefir in it, just soapy water.

A first ferment of 18-24 hours is working for us at the moment (the liquid has changed to a lighter colour and the grains have eaten up a lot of the sugar). It is summer here now and, even with our cooler climate, our kitchen gets quite warm so the grains get active quickly. I keep the jar on our kitchen table but if it's getting close to that 18-24 hour point and I'm busy then I'll pop the jar into the fridge to slow the grains down until I get a chance to strain and bottle. I expect it will take a bit longer to ferment in winter though.

I strain the grains out and funnel directly into 1L swing top bottles using a nifty 2-in-1 stainless steel funnel. I add in whatever flavourings we're using and then put the bottles straight into the fridge. If I wanted to increase the B-vitamins and carbonation (and if I wasn't so concerned with raising the alcohol content) then I'd leave the bottles out at room temp for a second ferment of another 12-24 hours but the main thing for us is the probiotics and it has enough fizz for us after the first ferment (and my kids can be unruly enough as it is without adding alcohol to the mix ;) ). It does keep fermenting in the fridge anyway, just at a slower rate. Because of this, you can also top up the bottle with a small amount of plain water if you need to and after a day or two, even in the fridge, it will be nice and fizzy. If you're concerned about exploding bottles, just open the bottle briefly every couple of days.

The strained out grains then get a quick rinse (I just pour a bit a clean water over when they're in the strainer and sometimes use the rinse water to top up the swing top bottles) and added to a fresh jar of sugar water. It's then stored in the fridge until I need to make more water kefir (I had some grains in the fridge for 3 weeks when Baby Bear had surgery and they were fine even after all that time; however when we had to leave them for 4 weeks I came close to losing them and it took a couple of batches for them to perk up again). Extra grains are either composted or fed to the cats; or mixed in to small portions of jelly for a special treat for the kids that extra probiotic boost. :) Beanie likes them as is and will happily sit down and eat a cupful of them. Must get around to experimenting with freezing the grains. Always good to have a back-up supply, just in case!

Flavourings - our favourites have been the fresh fruit juices. I've never really liked the taste of dried fruits but lots of people seem to like using them to add flavour. The kids generally prefer a fairly strong fruity flavour so I add about 3/4-1 cup of fresh juice (strained through a reasonably fine strainer) to about 1L of kefir. I also tend to add a little extra sugar mixed in with the juice, maybe only a couple of teaspoons up to a tablespoon, depending on the natural sweetness of the fruit used. Cutting the sugar back gradually as the kids get used to it (The OH and I prefer it much less sweet than the kids do). If you prefer a milder flavour you could just add chopped fresh, dried or frozen fruit to the second ferment. Be careful though as sometimes having actual fruit bits in there makes it fizz a bit more and may increase the risks of explosions if you use airtight bottles/jars.

Strawberry Lemonade - our absolute fave so far. Delish! Lemon juice mixed with pureed strawberries (don't forget to strain before adding it to the kefir though!). Seriously yummy.

Strawberry - just pureed strawberries. The kids really liked this.

Orange Juice - another one the kids quite liked.

Ruby/Pink Grapefruit - one of my faves. Refreshing and not too sweet.

Ruby Orange - Ruby grapefruit and orange juice combo.

Lychee - just using the syrup from tinned lychees.

Passionfruit - Fresh passionfruit is a bit exxy at the moment so I just used tinned. Yum! Refreshing and summery.

Raspberry - nice, quick flavouring, just using a splash of concentrate (I use about 60-70 ml for a 1L bottle of kefir). Also recently threw in a few frozen raspberries which was a nice addition. Strained raspberry puree is nice too.

Lemon - again just from a concentrate.

Apple - Kids loved this one; have tried organic apple juice as well as a concentrate.

Apple/Lemon/Rasberry - various combos of these three flavours using the apple juice and concentrates.

Apple & Ruby Grapefruit

Sarsaparilla - Very, very nice (well, The OH and I think so, the kids aren't so keen). I use a little splash of the Cascade Sarsaparilla concentrate.

Cranberry - concentrate.

Fruit Cup - concentrate. An everyday favourite.

Lime - concentrate.

Apple and Blackcurrent - another concentrate and a fave of the kids.

Peach & Nectarine - Loo requested this one. I blended up a peach and a couple of nectarines with a spoonful of sugar and a splash of apple juice (to thin it down a little). A nice, subtle flavour, refreshing and light.

We also have a bottle of raspberry concentrate here so I'm curious the see what a splash of that tastes like when mixed with the kefir. I'll try it after we finish the next batch of Strawberry Lemonade (which won't take long with the 5 of us drinking it!). If we get a good crop of raspberries on our canes this year I'll have to try making Raspberry Lemonade with them. I'm also keen to try flavouring with lime, passionfruit and lychee. For the concentrates that we use I try and get natural ones, no artificial colours/flavours/preservatives and all that stuff. Actually, I'm just going to continue adding the flavours that we like to the list above as we try them all.

Anyway, we've all turned into big water kefir fans. The kids keep begging for more and The OH and I agree that it tastes so much better than commercial soft drinks.

Read about my experiments with Coconut Water Kefir and Milk Kefir. I also had a go at using some spare water kefir grains in milk to see if it would make milk kefir. It totally did not work. I think you definitely need to use proper milk kefir grains.

*I now use 2 x 3L Fido jars to make enough water kefir to last us a week (5 of us sharing 1L a day). I've found the recipe to be quite flexible. I tend to throw in about 9-10 scant tablespoons of white sugar; 2-3 tablespoons of jaggery; 3 teaspoons of maple syrup; and 1 tsp bicarb soda. Dissolve it in a little hot water, add cold water until the mix is cool. I then divide it between the 2 jars, add 6 heaps tablespoons of kefir grains and 2 lemon slices to each jar, and top up with cold water. It really is very easy once you get into a routine with it. When it comes to bottling it up, I usually pour a cup or so of apple juice as well as a splash (40-50ml) of concentrate/cordial into 1L swing top bottles; pour strained water kefir in; top up with water if necessary; refrigerate.