How I Flavor Water Kefir (Secondary Fermentation)

This is a continuation of my post about water kefir primary fermentation. Let's move on to flavoring the water kefir and how to do the second fermentation.

Actually there is no need to do a second fermentation because you can already consume the liquid after the 48 hour primary fermentation. But why do we do this?

It's basically to make it taste more exciting and to carbonate the liquid. So when you open the bottle and pour the drink, it fizzes just like Sprite hah..hah...

So. Let me show you my favorite flavor.

Passion Fruit! I use two fruits to flavor about 800ml of liquid.

These are lovely eaten scooped with a spoon. But no. I am using the pulp for flavoring the water kefir. So I scoop them into a cup.

Then using a funnel, I transfer the passion fruit pulp into a clean bottle.

I used a wooden chopstick to push the passion fruit pulp through. I tried pouring it direct from the measuring cup but it was messy.

Now to strain the fermented liquid.

Just use a strainer to strain the liquid into a measuring jug. 

Then I pour the liquid into the clean bottle containing the fruit pulp.

Secure the bottle cap and just let the bottle stand at room temperature for 24 hours.

I find that 24 hours is about right because with fresh fruits, the fermentation happens much sooner compared with using organic store bought juice.

Why? Because the bottled juice is pasteurized and therefore there is no (or very little) microorganisms present, hence the fermentation is all done by the residual water kefir grains. 

However, fresh fruit juice/pulp contains microorganisms, which helps to speed up the fermentation. If left for more than 24 hours, the water kefir becomes extra sour which may not be so palatable. We want the drink to have a little bit of sweetness, yes?

After 24 hours (or you can even shorten to 12 hours which will leave your liquid much sweeter) you can then pop the bottle into the fridge to chill overnight or you could drink it immediately (with some ice cubes if you prefer a cold drink).

Ah! So refreshing!

I simply love it!

Later on I will introduce you to another fermented drink. This one does not require any water kefir grains. Just simply fruit, water and sugar.

But the alcohol content is much higher than water kefir. I actually felt light headed after drinking it.