Water kefir grains can be used to ferment all sorts of sweet liquids (honey, juice coconut water). Here are some fun and interesting water kefir flavours and variations
Rules for experimenting with water kefir grains:
- Either only use your extra grains (in case they die) or refresh you grains in a sugar-water solution after every experimental ferment to keep your grains healthy.
- Water kefir made without sugar won’t be as fizzy.
- Always follow the basic rules for water kefir, to keep your grains healthy.
Water Kefir Variations:
Honey: Heat 1/4 cup of filtered water, and 1/4 cup of honey on the stove, and bring to a boil to pasteurize the honey. Then mix with 3 3/4 cups of filtered water and cool to room temperature. Use this honey-water solution to replace the sugar-water solution in the basic recipe.
Coconut Water: Mix 2 tbsp of water kefir grains with 4 cups of coconut water and ferment on the counter for 24-48 hours.
Juice: Mix 2 tbsp of grains with 4 cups of clear juice (grape, apple, blueberry) and ferment for 24-48 hours. The fruit sugars will result in a slightly alcoholic beverage, so it’s not recommended for children. If you add clear juice to the second ferment, it won’t be as much of an issue. Don’t use acidic juices (orange, pineapple, etc) as they are harmful for water kefir grains.
Other First Ferment Additions: In general it is best to flavour water kefir during the second ferment. Adding fruits or other herbs and spices to the first ferment may damage the water kefir grains. However, whole organic lemons, organic raisins (without oil) or organic figs can be added to the first ferment without hurting the grains.
Why does the honey need to be pasteurised?
Raw honey contains its own bacterial culture, which ferments into mead, but is not the best for water kefir. If you only have raw honey, just mix it into boiling water to kill the culture first.
Hi Emillie!
Great and thoroughtful post with not that easy to find info. I’ve a simple question; is there a visual cue to tell if the grains are healthy or not? (color, flotability, texture, brightness, etc) ?
Thanks!!
Healthy grains will start to reproduce in sugar water. The colour will depend on your sugar (white or brown). Perhaps avoid experimenting with your water kefir grains until you have enough to make two different batches. I personally haven’t managed kill my grains, so I don’t know what that would look like!