Mineral drops or pastured egg shells (I prefer the liquid minerals)
1 gallon jar with tight fitting lid
Ingredients
Kefir grainsabout ¼ cup
Gallonof non-chlorinated water
¾cupnatural sweetener such as dehydrated sugar cane juiceSucanat, Rapidura, honey, or turbinado sugar
2cupsorganic fruit juice
Prevent your screen from going dark
Instructions
Put the sweetener in a small saucepan and just cover it with water. Heat, stirring frequently, just until dissolved.
Pour filtered water into your gallon jar until it’s about half full. Add the sweetened water and stir.
Add more water up to the shoulder. Make sure the water has cooled before you go to the next step.
Add your mineral drops or egg shells and stir. Now add your kefir grains.
First Fermentation
Cover the top of the jar with a coffee filter or clean towel. Use a rubber band or twine to secure it.
Now set the jar in a warmish place (75°F to 85°F is ideal) and let it brew for 24 to 48 hours. The warmer it is the faster it brews.
Taste it at 24 hours. It should be much less sweet than when you started. Keep tasting it until the sweetness level is to your liking.
At this point, you can bottle it and let it sit for another 24 to 48 hours to build up carbonation, or you can flavor it in a second fermentation.
Second Fermentation
For the second fermentation you need to strain the kefir grains out and add juice or fruit.
After straining out the kefir grains, make sure to put them back in a jar with fresh sugar water so they stay active for the next batch.
Then I fill the jar to within an inch or so of the top with organic fruit juice. You can also use fresh or frozen fruit, changing it out every day.
Now put the lid on the jar. If it doesn’t seal well, put some plastic wrap over the top first before you put the lid on it.
Put it back in the warm place to brew some more. After 24 hours check for carbonation and taste.
If it’s bubbly and tastes good to you, transfer it to your flip-top bottles.
Bottling Water Kefir
I like to put about a tablespoon of juice in each bottle before I fill them with kefir.
Make sure that you leave about one to 2 inches of head room in each bottle.
You can refrigerate right away or leave the bottles out for another day at room temperature to get really bubbly.
Notes
NUTRITION NOTES: The nutrition calculation is for the sugar water and fruit juice before fermentation. The actual amount of sugar will be MUCH less, but the calculator has limitations.