How I Make Water Kefir (Primary Fermentation)

I have been enjoying water kefir for many weeks now and I am not tired of making this refreshing probiotic drink. It is fun to experiment with all sort of flavorings.

I started my first batch of water kefir on 15-09-2021. I remember that date very clearly because the kefir grains I ordered arrived a day before Malaysia Day. It was perfect timing.

I did not snap a photo of the water kefir grains as I was in a kacau-bilau (frazzled) state of mind. It has been about a month now and I noticed that my grains have multiplied.

These are the things I use to make the initial water kefir ferment - a 1.5 liter jar, a measuring cup, a strainer (the grains were strained from a previous batch) and plastic spoon (note : not advisable to use metal, only glass or plastic).

I was curious how much water kefir grains that I have, so I measured using a plastic tablespoon.

One .....

.... two. When I first received the grains, there was much less.

I put the water kefir grains into the jar and then I prepare the sugar water solution.

I use organic brown sugar or sometimes organic cane sugar. The recipe instruction that came with my order says 1/3 cup sugar to 700-800ml water. Don't be afraid of the sugar. It's not for your consumption but for the bacteria and yeast to eat hah...hah...hah...

At the end of the second fermentation (depending  on how long you leave it to ferment) the solution is barely sweet and becomes a little tangy. I will get into that later in another post. We focus on the primary fermentation first.

I use mineral water because the water kefir grains need minerals to survive. The water that I drink at home is distilled water which is devoid of minerals. 

Add water and stir to dissolve the sugar. I have watched countless Youtube videos to learn and I see some of the Youtubers using hot water to dissolve the sugar but I find that this is unnecessary. 

Then simply pour the sugar water into the jar.

Then cover the jar with a clean cloth and secure with a rubber band.

Like this.

There you go. Easy isn't it? This jar will stand at room temperature for 48 hours. Sometimes I ferment it for 24 hours only IF the fruit juice that I am using for the secondary fermentation is low in sugar eg. organic cranberry juice (which is unsweetened). 

I will do another post on how I flavor the water kefir. If you are interested, you can learn more about the benefits of kefir here.

Meanwhile these are the flavors that I made so far.

Blueberry.

Apple.

And my favorite flavor so far is passion fruit.

It is the only one I have done using fresh fruits. The rest (with exception of frozen blueberries) are store bought organic fruit juices.

The flavor is outstanding.

Especially with a squeeze of lime.

Can't wait to buy more passion fruit!