Water kefir is like
Fresca for hippies
January 27, 2009
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Water kefir brewing in the weak, mid-winter sun.
Maybe it started because all this New Austerity had me peaked to produce bubbles outta thin air. Maybe it’s because I just kick on growing stuff, even if that stuff is only a colony of yeast and bacteria. As a whole foods enthusiast and professional eschewer of soft drinks, the hardest part of this process was learning how to love the slightly carbonated, tangy drink, reminiscent of the only soft drink for which I can conjure up a fond childhood memory, ‘Surprisingly Complex Fresca’.
‘Kefir’ describes both the grains and the drinks of two different sorts of cultures, one made with milk, one with water. I’ve been growing the water version, also called ‘tibicos’. A 2-day fermentation process produces a drink loaded with lactic and acetic acids and thusly has an impressive list of health claims. Although I’ve been drinking it regularly, I cannot judge whether the kefir claims are true because I ingest so many other foods that make a claim to the self-same. There are about 6 different things that could be making me feel great right now, 5 of them are food. Suffice it to say, kefir is observably pro-biotic, and you can produce a batch of bubbles out of thin-air, in an urban apartment, in the dead and dark of winter.
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Water kefir grains. Add water, cane sugar, some dried fruit and lemon to taste, cover and wait for the bubbling to begin.
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Rubbery, but otherwise inoffensive.
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The added sugar is for the yeasties, not for you. They will convert it to surprisingly complex effervescence, as a ‘back-atcha’.
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Dried apricots and a slice of lemon flavour the kefir favourably. It’s floral!
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JT tests the turgid waters overlooking a semi-freddo Amsterdam harbour.
- Further reading:
From wikipedia: Tibicos, also known as tibi, water kefir grains, sugar kefir grains, Japanese water crystals and California Bees, are a culture of bacteria and yeast held in a polysaccharide matrix created by the bacteria. As with kefir grains, the microbes present in tibicos act in symbiosis to maintain a stable culture. Tibicos can do this in many different sugary liquids, feeding off the sugar to produce lactic acid, alcohol (ethanol), and carbon dioxide gas which carbonates the drink.
Tibicos are found around the world, with no two cultures being exactly the same. Typical tibicos have a mix of Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Pediococcus and Leuconostoc bacteria with yeasts from Saccharomyces, Candida, Kloeckera and possibly others. Lactobacillus brevis has been identified as the species responsible for the production of the polysaccharide (dextran) that forms the grains.
People who do not wish to consume dairy or have a vegan type diet may find that water kefir provides the living pro-biotics without the need for dairy or tea cultured products, like kombucha. Since the finished product, if bottled, will produce a carbonated beverage, it provides an alternative to sweet soda drinks for children and adults.Sharon Astyk’s article on ‘foodie’ food storage
(Merçi MB, P and KvR! You were right, kefir likes to brew airtight and I’m starting to love it more than kombucha.)
If you live in Amsterdam and can’t suppress the urge to grow some grains yourself, peep me on my kefir hotline. We’ll do that Northern coffee drinking appointment thing. Curious hippies elsewhere will have to find curious hippies elsewhere. I have a post office phobia.
debra at 15:58 | | post to del.icio.us
Interesting read and great tips! Can you give me some address in Amsterdam (or elsewhere in NL) where I could buy these grains? Thx.
Comment by Srirang — May 20, 2009 @ 9:57
Yeah… Ace! I’m in Amsterdam and I’d like to try culturing this stuff! where’s your kefir hotline info so I can peep you???
thanks…
Comment by dj stranger — June 17, 2009 @ 0:00
please let me know how i can get the water kefir grains. thanks,
Comment by young larsen — March 3, 2010 @ 23:27
hello,
I would verry much like to start growing kefir again, I used to do it but moving house sort of stopped it and I wouldn’t know how to get some again
Comment by Ayla — April 18, 2010 @ 8:07
I am also in Amsterdam NL and would like to get ahold of these grains. Can you help me out?
Cheers,
Malcolm
Comment by Malcolm — May 31, 2010 @ 11:04
Any answer on where to get some grains in Amsterdam ? I did some long time ago and you made me want to try again :)
Cheers
Eddy
Comment by Eddy — July 26, 2010 @ 16:57
Hi, can a person re-use the culture in the kefir? I was just given some water kefir and would like to make my own, thinking that I might re-use the mother culture as can be done with yogurt and sometimes beer yeast. Does anyone know if that can be done, avoiding the need to buy the crystals? Thanks,
Rosie from California
Comment by Rosie — August 13, 2010 @ 21:24
You can get them here: http://www.culturesforhealth.com/splash.php They ship worldwide. And yes, you can use them over and over again - and if you’re lucky they reproduce and you have baby kefirs to give your friends :)
Enjoy.
Comment by rebecca — October 31, 2010 @ 17:14