Water Kefir

I bet if you're like me the title of this post has you scratching your head.  What in the world is water kefir?  When I told Phil that I wanted to try making water kefir he asked me what it was.
A fermented beverage.
Like beer/wine/alcohol?
No honey, more like a probiotic drink that uses fermentation, think yogurt.

We had tried kombucha before, another fermented beverage, and surprisingly everyone in the house (yes, even Abi) liked it.  Our whole family loves pop, we just don't drink it unless out of the house because my budget can't swing it.  When I read that water kefir was a great substitution for sodas, and was healthy for you, and easy to make, I knew I had landed a goldmine!

Better yet, it was cheap to start making.  Twelve dollars and a few days later UPS dropped off my live water kefir cultures.  Phil rinsed off the culture while I prepared the water.  Are you ready for this?  To my blender I added four cups of water, four tablespoons of sugar, a pinch of baking soda, and whizzed it for 30 seconds before adding to the pitcher that housed the kefir culture.  24 hours later we were ready for the first batch.

Knowing that my family loves root beer, I assumed that cream soda would be a slam dunk flavor.  Little did I know that Phil and Abi don't like cream soda.  However, Lizzi and Wesley chugged it down.  Lizzi calls it 'healthy pop' and Wesley calls it juice.  Those two bug a boos are currently our kefir drinking champions.  The rest of us decided that if you like cream soda it was very tasty.

Same routine and in another 24 hours we were ready for a new flavor--fruit punch.  I was added to the familial list of kefir drinkers, but Phil was disappointed at how flat it was since he was looking for a burst of carbonation.  Abi is a hard sell and after a tiny sip declared she didn't like it.  I let her know that this was a good for your tummy drink and that we would find a flavor for her to enjoy.

Next we decided to wait 48 hours and see if it would be more bubbly.  It was, but not enough for Phil.  Then we tried 72 hours assuming that it would have the most bubbles but were surprised to find that it was totally flat and tasted like fruit punch we flavored it with.  Now that pleased me personally because I am sensitive to yeasty tastes and smells and was having a hard time finding the love.  I could drink it, but the kefir didn't call out my name until it hit the 72 hr mark.  Also, Abi surprised me by giving it a thumbs up, woohoo!

Last night we started the next experiment round.  24 hour ferment with three bottles on the counter ready for the next stages of 24, 48, and 72 hr second ferments.  
Tonight we will start another three bottles with a 48 hr first ferment and will place the bottles on the counter for the same 24, 48, and 72 hr second ferments.
We are curious to see which ferment combination will create the most carbonation and win Phil over to the 'dark side' of healthy!