Ingredients
- 90-100 g organic brown or cane sugar adjust based on taste
- 8 cups or 2 L of water
- 1/2 cup or 185 g water kefir grains
- 1/2 dried fig cut up in pieces or 2-3 raisins optional
- 1 lemon slice
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- pieces of ginger or fresh fruit apple, berries, pear
- ¼ cup fruit juice, optional. Used to make water kefir soda grape, apple, cranberry, pomegranate
Instructions
- Mix water and sugar in a 1 litre jar until the sugar has dissolved.
- Place water kefir grains in the jar. Add a slice of lemon, half a dried fig in pieces and 2-3 raisins.
- Cover the filled jar with a coffee filter or clean cloth and secure with a rubber band.
After 24-48 hours (first fermentation)
- Taste the water kefir using a clean spoon. If it is to your liking, drain off the grains and use them to make a second batch of water kefir. If you would like the water kefir to be less sweet, let it ferment for another 24 hours for a total of 48 hours.
Second fermentation
- Sieve the grains and wash them under non-chlorinated water. Or skip the rinsing step. They can now be used to start another batch of kefir.Transfer the strained liquid to flip-top bottles or to a fresh jar and add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and fruit of choice, e.g. blueberries, apple, strawberries, grapes, pear etc. Alternatively, can mix in 1/4 cup of fruit juice – apple, grape, cranberry etc.Let the strained water ferment at room temperature for another 1-3 days and then refrigerate.If using flip-top bottles, don't forget to "burp" them twice a day to avoid them exploding.
- To hibernate the grains, store in a little sugar water in the refrigerator for up to a couple weeks
Leave a Reply