Kefir water

I've been making kefir water for a couple of years now.

This last year I fell behind, having other things on my mind.  Wanting and needing some more pro-biotic support I went looking for my little old pets.  I found these at the back of my fridge.

Yup.  3 jars of kefir.  Not only that, but they were experimental.  One was just the plain sugar water mix and kefir grains, one had a ground calcium tablet, and the other added molasses.  The grains in calcium  had not increased at all, the plain sugar  had doubled, and the molasses had tripled.  So, if your kefir grains are sluggish, I suggest adding molasses.

Here's how I make kefir:

1st fermentation:

3 Tbs kefir grains (I got my from a friend whose grains multiplied)
1/3 cup sugar
1 quart water


Mix all together and let sit out at room temp for 12-72 hrs.

Strain grains out

2nd fermentation:

put liquid w/o grains into bottles
add fruit juice to flavor or flavored sugar syrup and let sit at room temperature for 1-3 days.
Refrigerate what isn't immediately consumed.

Meanwhile take the grains and start over again. 

Super easy, yes?

I happened to have some of the 2nd fermented fruit flavored kefir in the fridge too.  The pomegranate, the grape, and the raspberry were excellent.  The orange had a lovely taste but developed the texture of mucous.  Fizzy mucous at that.  So, looking at the dates - don't leave orange kefir in the fridge for over a year and expect to enjoy drinking it.

The plain kefir water (1st fermentation) had sat in the fridge since last March.  That's, like, 10 months people!  Could they possibly still be alive?  I decanted them, and started them again.  Yup.  They're active and good to go, even the sluggish calcium fed grains.  Wow.   I've set the re-energized kefir back in the fridge, and started a new experiment.  I put some of the extra grains in the freezer, and set some to dehydrate.  Wonder if they'll be alive when I get around to them in a few months?



Notes and modifications:

I don't bother boiling or filtering the water and I haven't had any problems, but if you have a lot of chlorine, or don't trust your water supply might need to do something.