The Ultimate Soda Kefir Guide

Are you ready to make “Soda Kefir?” I’m assuming you already have happy water kefir grains ready to go. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then head over to Start Your Own Water Kefir: A Beginner’s Guide. In this blog, I’m going to relate the basic instructions for keeping yourself in soda kefir, a probiotic drink. I cannot tell you how much these drinks have helped my family and me. Benefits for us have included such things as reduced dependency on PPI (GERD-related drugs) to vastly improved disease immunity. We went through one of the worst cold and flu seasons without getting touched (we always get touched). Here are the directions for delightful soda kefir.

Tools and equipment:

Mason Jar [I like wide-mouth mason jars.]
Plastic Funnel [Kefir grains do not respond well to metal.]
Plastic Mesh Strainer [I can’t say this enough. Kefir grains do not respond well to metal.]
Measuring cups [I have a mix and match of these.]
Flip Top Bottles [You need these airtight containers if you want some fizz!]
Electric Kettle (OPTIONAL) [I love these things, and they get you hot water fast]

Ingredients

Water Kefir [Required!] (Make sure you followed these instructions to get started)
Organic Cane Sugar [Buy the good stuff. Do right by yourself.]

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Directions for Soda Kefir

These should look familiar to you if you just came from my “Starting Water Kefir” blog.

In a 16 oz Mason Jar

Add 1/4 cup of sugar. I bought lots of sugar and kept it in a food-safe bucket.

Add hot water to just cover the sugar. We used our electric kettle to get the water hot.

Please make sure to put your Mason Jar on a hot pad before adding hot water. We do not want it to shatter if the surface it is sitting on is cold.

Stir it up until the sugar is dissolved.

Fill the rest of the jar with cold water (I use tap water, but I have a house filter so your results may vary) to just below the threads.

FLAVORING TIME!

Get out the Flip Top Bottles and put your plastic funnel into it.

Add the juice or fruit or whatever of your choice.

I have used lots of things from marshmallows (yuck!) to pineapple chunks (yum!).

I find it is easiest to use juice. You can pour it in, and you don’t have to smash food down a small hole.

You only want to fill about an inch on the bottom.

I did Orange Juice for this one.

OR you can mix and match! I did orange juice and grape juice in this one.

This flavor tastes a little like “sex on the beach” to me.

Use your plastic mesh strainer on top of your plastic funnel and fill the rest of the bottle with your water kefir liquids. The plastic mesh strainer will keep your kefir grains from going into your bottles.

Make sure to save some room at the top. Pressure is going to build up from the water kefir off gassing CO2. You will want to save some room, or it will get messy. It still might get messy!

You should end up with something like this:

Pour your water kefir grains into the sugar water you made earlier.

Cover and set it aside until you are ready to make some more.

You want you can drink your Kefir Juice right away, OR you can have “soda kefir!”

For “soda kefir” set everything aside!

For a good fizz, I tend to wait 2 days depending on the juice I use. But I recommend checking on them every day. You can pop the lid to see if it makes a nice “soda opening sound.” If it does, then enjoy! But be careful opening these things. I tried bananas and in 2 days there was so much pressure that it exploded everywhere! It was a mess.

If you can’t drink it all, then you can put it in the refrigerator to slow the water kefir grains down. This way you won’t have a mess from the pressure. Yes, the kefir grains continue to off-gas even when only a little is left in the jar. “Kefir soda” does not go flat. It only gets more potent!

One final thought, start drinking water kefir slowly. For the first week, only do a 1/4 of a cup a day and work your way up. If you go too fast you could find yourself running to the bathroom… Don’t ask me how I know.

Until next time
-Hubby

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