Water Kefir

Today we are going to be describing the wonders of Water Kefir, a wonderful Vegan fermented beverage, which is rife with probiotic bacteria, healthy strains of yeast and natural antioxidants. You may have seen it’s dairy based counterpart on the shelves of your local health food shop. Water Kefir bacteria grains are similar to the Milk Kefir ones except that they need sugary water to survive as opposed to milk. With its simplicity, taste and health benefits it is surprising it is not more well-known.

Let’s begin!


You will need:
[Do not use any metal utensils in this recipe; the little kefirs react badly with it]

1 litre transparent glass or plastic container

6 tbsps. of live water kefir grains (internet, your health food or local to you is a keen community of food fermenters with a surplus)

3 tbsps. cane or caster sugar

½ tsp of molasses (optional, but the grains do benefit from the extra minerals)

½ lemon

Water (from the tap is fine)


1. Make sure the jug is clean

2. Put about 200ml of water into it with the sugar and molasses

3. Stir until they are as dissolved as possible. If you are using molasses expecting the water to darken

4. Add your kefir grains

5. Fill the jug with water leaving a gap of about 5cm from the top

6. Add the lemon half

7. Loosely place a lid or kitchen towel over the top

8. Leave for 24 hours to ferment. Out on a tabletop or windowsill is fine

9. Drink the liquid

Done. You can repeat this as for as long as the grains are alive. Pour away whatever you don’t drink from each batch; if left fermenting for too long the drink will become more and more alcoholic – which may or may not be a bad thing*. I’ll leave that up to you.


There are many varieties possible with this. Maybe add dried fruit or spices to adjust the flavour or make the drink using just coconut water and the kefir grains. Coconut water has sufficient nutrients for the grains to live off.


An added bonus is that if you look after your pet water kefir grains properly they can live indefinitely, and duplicate, thus you will have a life’s supply of water kefir.

*If avoiding alcohol is a part of your lifestyle, invest in a hydrometer to test the alcohol content (if any) of your drink – only a few pounds from the home-brew section of your local supermarket.


The benefits probiotics have on our guts seems to be widespread. Exciting, recent development on this train of treatment importance, implications and influence of a healthy gut on our moods and depression, visit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/magazine/can-the-bacteria-in-your-gut-explain-your-mood.html?_r=0