Hello all,
Its been a while since i have been active in these forums, been busy lately however i wanted to share with you guys my new project ive been doing for about 3 weeks now. I have brewed dairy kefir in the past but found it too tangy. Plus i didnt want to consume that much dairy. I had heard of water kefir but for some reason didnt look into it until about 4-5 months ago. Water kefir grains can be used to ferment a sugar solution (water and sugar) or coconut water (to make coconut water kefir). THe initial fermentation takes 2-3 days (depending on how you like it). The solution can then be fermented a 2nd time for 24 hours to add flavour and carbonation. The flavour combinations are really lovely. So far ive had success with: pure mango juice, pure grape juice, lemon and ginger, orange and vanilla soda (pure vanilla extract with slices of organic orange with rind).
I started with organic white sugar but now have switched to demerara sugar as i heard it has better carbonation properties.. I have avoided tap water, and used fluoride free spring water to avoid contamination with chlorine and such. I really liked the taste of the white sugar kefir , today is my first time to try the demerara batch we shall see how it goes!
The grains grow very very fast, and you will soon have so many you wont know what to do with them. Im personally going to dry some and keep some in a sugar solution in the fridge (backup live grains). Also you can eat the grains for a SUPER dose of probiotics!
This is an incredibly fun project as im basically making home made probiotics that cant be matched by anything on the market.. IMO also the flavour of the kefir water after 2nd carbonation (depending on how you flavaour it) is SO good and addictive, its hard to control myself almost... below is a youtube link i paused at the exact time to give you an idea how carbonated this can get, like a soda with a head of a beer !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-eJ022J3xpk#t=374s
Take note of the fizz and head.. This is something anyone can easily get into especially kids.. I truly think if more people knew about this, how easy it is to make and how delicious and good for you it is, it would be alot more popular.. Way tastier and better for you than the High fructose corn syrup junk poisoning us and our children.
One thing to take note of, is that you should use no metal utensils to handle the grains as they are sensitive to it. So basically use a wooden or plastic spoon to stir solutions and a nylon mesh strainer to strain the kefir between batches.
I hope to make some coconut water kefir sometime but its too expensive i find..
The best guide i found (also the source of my grains ) is here
Kefir recipes can be found here
The benefits of consuming dairy kefir (same health benefits from water kefir):
"Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there. But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.
Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt, Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species.
It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside, forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.
Kefir’s active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly excellent, nutritious food for babies, the elderly and people experiencing chronic fatigue and digestive disorders."
Ill be updating this thread every now and then with my progress, and such. Ill let you guys know how the demerara batch tastes , and ill get some more shots uploaded later of the product in a glass
Some pictures:
My latest batch, 2 bottles of mango kefir, and 1 of concord grape. First time trying demerara. Loooks alot fizzer already, im excited I stopped drinking colas and sodas over 7 years ago so it was great to feel the fizz again!
the juices used in this current batch
the kefir food
latest batch fermenting, take note of the happy grains at the bottom!!
aerial shot of it, as you can see its "alive" and bubbling .
A friends batch, Ginger lemon kefir, so fizzy!
More updates to come soon..
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions im happy to help.
Talal
Its been a while since i have been active in these forums, been busy lately however i wanted to share with you guys my new project ive been doing for about 3 weeks now. I have brewed dairy kefir in the past but found it too tangy. Plus i didnt want to consume that much dairy. I had heard of water kefir but for some reason didnt look into it until about 4-5 months ago. Water kefir grains can be used to ferment a sugar solution (water and sugar) or coconut water (to make coconut water kefir). THe initial fermentation takes 2-3 days (depending on how you like it). The solution can then be fermented a 2nd time for 24 hours to add flavour and carbonation. The flavour combinations are really lovely. So far ive had success with: pure mango juice, pure grape juice, lemon and ginger, orange and vanilla soda (pure vanilla extract with slices of organic orange with rind).
I started with organic white sugar but now have switched to demerara sugar as i heard it has better carbonation properties.. I have avoided tap water, and used fluoride free spring water to avoid contamination with chlorine and such. I really liked the taste of the white sugar kefir , today is my first time to try the demerara batch we shall see how it goes!
The grains grow very very fast, and you will soon have so many you wont know what to do with them. Im personally going to dry some and keep some in a sugar solution in the fridge (backup live grains). Also you can eat the grains for a SUPER dose of probiotics!
This is an incredibly fun project as im basically making home made probiotics that cant be matched by anything on the market.. IMO also the flavour of the kefir water after 2nd carbonation (depending on how you flavaour it) is SO good and addictive, its hard to control myself almost... below is a youtube link i paused at the exact time to give you an idea how carbonated this can get, like a soda with a head of a beer !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-eJ022J3xpk#t=374s
Take note of the fizz and head.. This is something anyone can easily get into especially kids.. I truly think if more people knew about this, how easy it is to make and how delicious and good for you it is, it would be alot more popular.. Way tastier and better for you than the High fructose corn syrup junk poisoning us and our children.
One thing to take note of, is that you should use no metal utensils to handle the grains as they are sensitive to it. So basically use a wooden or plastic spoon to stir solutions and a nylon mesh strainer to strain the kefir between batches.
I hope to make some coconut water kefir sometime but its too expensive i find..
The best guide i found (also the source of my grains ) is here
Kefir recipes can be found here
The benefits of consuming dairy kefir (same health benefits from water kefir):
"Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there. But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.
Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt, Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species.
It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside, forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.
Kefir’s active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly excellent, nutritious food for babies, the elderly and people experiencing chronic fatigue and digestive disorders."
Ill be updating this thread every now and then with my progress, and such. Ill let you guys know how the demerara batch tastes , and ill get some more shots uploaded later of the product in a glass
Some pictures:
My latest batch, 2 bottles of mango kefir, and 1 of concord grape. First time trying demerara. Loooks alot fizzer already, im excited
I stopped drinking colas and sodas over 7 years ago so it was great to feel the fizz again!
the juices used in this current batch
the kefir food
latest batch fermenting, take note of the happy grains at the bottom!!
aerial shot of it, as you can see its "alive" and bubbling .
A friends batch, Ginger lemon kefir, so fizzy!
More updates to come soon..
Thank you for reading and if you have any questions im happy to help.
Talal
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I actually brewed some pretty nice raspberry wine - bought some honey that turned out to be mostly plain syrup, so I blended up a bunch of frozen raspberries, added the syrup, yeast nutrients and yeast and put it in demijohn for a couple of months before clearing off the sediment and bottling. It was still fermenting when I bottled it so it ended up being a lightly sparkling wine at around 9%. I've saved a couple of bottles to chill for a sunny day 
