Once I started making water kefir, I ran into a problem pretty quickly…
What was I going to do with it all?! My family doesn’t even like soda or fizzy drinks!
My probiotic elixir couldn’t go to waste!
At first I mixed the water kefir with freshly-squeezed lemon juice to create lemonade, but soon my family wanted more variety.
So… I experimented with tea. We loved it, and here’s how to do it.
How To Make Probiotic Water Kefir Tea
Start fermenting your water kefir. Let it ferment for 48 to 72 hours. For every 1 quart of water, use 1/4 cup of raw sugar or Rapadura. Don’t let the amount of sugar startle you — the kefir grains will eat it! 🙂
When I make my 1/2 gallon batches, I use 1/2 gallon of water and 1/2 cup of raw organic sugar.
When your kefir is fermented (it’s not too sweet any more), pour it into a 1/2 gallon jar through a small mesh sieve. This will separate the kefir grains from the newly-fermented water kefir.
Next, add either tea bags or tea leaves. Green tea or any favorite will work wonderfully. Per 1/2 gallon, use 2 large or 4 small tea bags. If you prefer loose tea, no problem — 1/2 to 1/3 teaspoon is the equivalent of a small tea bag.
You can also spice things up with sliced fruit and black tea — for instance, lemons for lemon tea or peaches for peach tea.
Put your tea bag(s) or loose tea (in a ball or mesh bag) and any fruit into the jar with the water kefir, and let it steep at room temperature for 12 to 24 hours. (Or you could use cold brew tea bags and your water kefir tea will be done in less than 15 minutes.)
Remember — no heating the water kefir to brew the tea, since that will kill all of the probiotics!
Strain the tea or remove the tea bags and serve your water kefir tea over ice or chilled. And of course smile as the tummies in your household fill with probiotics.
If you are new to fermented foods, don’t overdo it — this tea is full of probiotics! Try drinking 1 glass a day and work up to the desired amount.
What’s your favorite probiotic food or beverage?
If you are interested in adding more probiotics to your diet, dairy kefir is great in smoothies or even for just drinking straight. Yogurt is also easy to make at home. Or, check out our Cultured Dairy and Lacto-Fermentation eCourses.
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I just made my second batch of water kefir, I started with one cup of water (per instructions) and have now gotten two cups of water brewing. Can I just skip working up to a half gallon or is that necessary to have enough grains? I put raspberry tea in it yesterday and it was yummy!! 🙂
Shannon how many tablespoons of water kefir grains do you have?
Almost 1/4 cup.
A fourth of a cup should be able to ferment one quart of sugar water.
Shannon, I use about 1/4 of a cup of grains to ferment 1/2 gallon. I do let mine ferment for 3 days or so though.
I use 2T of water kefir grains to 4 cups of water, 1/2 c. sugar. I let it sit on counter for 48 hours. Then I put in my juice (1-1.5c) and let it set another 48 hours. It’s perfect fizzy goodness.
Do you cover the kefir during the second ferment with the tea tightly to produce a bubbly drink or just loosely cover it Luke during the initial ferment? Sounds yummy. I would love to try it.
Rebecca, I do not cover it with anything other than a tea towel after I put the tea bags in as I do not like the fizziness. But if you do then you can certainly cover.
Thanks! Will give it a try 🙂
I love water kefir, especially as it will tolerate my cool temperature kitchen and still grow! I have been reading people using this for their breads and cooking. Doesn’t that kill the probiotics? It would be better to use plain water wouldn’t? Please advise. Thanks
Carmen, because of it’s fermented state it helps with the rise in baked goods. Yes once cooked it kills the probiotics, but it does help with the rise which is probably why they are using it.
Thanks so much Katie. I couldn’t see wasting it for baking but if it helps with the rise, that is a definite plus.
We have water kefir grain see the following site:
You will need to copy & paste the following link to purchase these grains;
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007MHBY2W?ie=UTF8&seller=A2JFM9KAUZC9X7&sn=Budney
Or you could send us $ directly
Thanks
Tracey, what is your website address for ordering the water kefir and where in CA are you located? Thanks!
This is a great idea, Katie! We love our water kefir nice and bubbly, or “fuzzy” as my two year old says! I have lots of dried herbs and some rooibos leaves… I’m thinking I’ll have to try a tea kefir. Do you sweeten yours at all? Though I suppose if you add fruit that will add some sweetness, too.
I generally don’t sweeten it as I find it has a sour/sweet taste. Almost like a sweet vinegar, with a tea flavor. I like the tangy-ness of it. Although some raw honey would be fabulous.
I have read to be cautious about using honey since it is antimicrobial and will kill the good bacteria. Just food for thought 🙂
I heard the same thing.
Can water kefir be used to soak grains, and be used as a starter culture for culturing foods – cabbage, carrots, salsa, etc.??
One of my children has a severe allergy to dairy, so using yogurt or dairy kefir or whey is out of the question for soaking grains or fermenting foods. Even the vegetable starter cultures I’ve looked at say they contain trace amounts if milk, so I can’t use those either.
We do not like the flavor left behind when using apple cider vinegar (with the mother) for soaking grains. Or lemon juice. They are too strong, and change the flavor of the final product.
Yes, Jill. You should be able to use water kefir to soak your grains and when culturing foods. It can even be used in baked goods to help give it an extra rise.
Where can you get water kefir grains?
I got mine at kombuchakamp.com
I have been putting 2 tsp of gelatin (the green can that does not gel) in my 1/2 gallon of iced tea. If I switch and start using the water kefir to make the tea, can I still use the gelatin?
Thanks!
We are just starting out with this. How long will the kefir tea be good after it is made?
A bit to tangy for my family so I mix it with juice and they will than drink it.
KW with juice can be stored in the fridge can be stored for quite some time. I can’t imagine there would be a difference/shorter period with tea.
LOVE this idea. We’ve been doing lemon juice, grape juice, and blueberry juice. Looking forward to changing things up!
Thank you so much for this recipe. I wanted to make kombucha because I wanted a fermented tea but I have never made it before so I’m kind of afraid of the process. Thankfully, my husband’s aunt gave us some dehydrated water kefir grains and this sounds so easy!! Great way to have tea with health benefits!
Katie – I have been making water kefir tea almost exclusively now. My crystals went through a time where they were acting sluggish, and they weren’t multiplying. To keep up with my family’s cry for water kefir, I would steep one quart of tea with 1/8th cup of healthy sugar and a combination of loose herbs. I let it sit until it had completely cooled to room temperature. Then I took my one quart of syrupy, four-day old kefir and divided it between two flip-top liter jars straining out the crystals like you do. I then strained and divided the cooled tea between the two jars, capped them and let them sit for another 24 hours. My family likes the fizz. Even though my crystals are doing much better now, I keep using the kefir to make kefir tea. I like that I can use some super-healthy herbs (like tulsi, nettles, hibiscus, and jasmine) to boost the nutritive value of the kefir. My family are all adults now, coming and going on crazy schedules day and night. This gives them something satisfying that they can grab and go and offsets the temptation for fast foods. Plus, I get two liters from the same time that it takes to make one quart of kefir which really helps satisfy six dependent adults. 😀
~ Melisa
I have a question. Does Water Kefir give off the same general flavor of Kombucha? We’ve had Kombucha and we just can not get pass how much it taste of Vinegar and almost alcohol. We just do not like those flavors! We all love yogurt, pickles – that type of sour, but vinegar and alcohol type flavors are not yummy to us! But, I really would to find some probiotic wonder that me and my fmaily can stomach! Is this it??? Thanks!
JT – I would say that if your kombucha is unpleasantly vinegary, you might be fermenting it for too long. I use to ferment mine 2 to 4 weeks before removing the SCOBY. Now I do it for no more than one week. It tastes perfectly wonderful after a second fermentation with a little more juice or sweet tea. Kombucha is a fermentation that should taste good to you, so your own preferences determine how long you should let it go. You want to be sure it has converted the sugars, so it should have at least a little bit of a tangy flavor, but not to the point you describe, especially when you already like some sour foods. Also, if your kombucha has turned too far to vinegar, you’ve lost all the pathogenic and probiotic value of the drink. At least, that’s what I’ve read. 🙂
Thank you for your input! I am not sure of the length of fermentaion, as the 2 bottles we purchased were from a Healthfood store, and not made by us. I wanted to make our own, even bought my “set-up”, less the scoby, but decided we would try it first. So, do you think perhaps that it was just the brand, or they let it go to long? It was really vinegary and fizzy,.. honestly it reminded me a LOT of beer. (which I hate) If water Kefir a different flavor than Kombucha? Thanks again for your help!
JT – Water kefir does taste different from kombucha since one is a base of sugar water and the other a base of black tea. My family prefers the former. I drink both for the different health benefits they offer. I also make my own rootbeer for the same reason – different benefits. If you make your own kombucha, you have ALL the control over the flavor and the fizz. You decide how long you like it to brew, how much tang you like in it. It’s also pennies to make compared to the cost of a bottle in the store. The only way you can make out better is if you had a friend who was willing to make it for you with your ingredients! Haha! If that bottle tasted like beer, it did go too long. The store might not have been able to sell it as soon as it should have. Sometimes my ginger-kefir turns to that flavor when it’s been in the fridge just sitting and sitting. But my family loves it even more then. 😀
You make me smile! 🙂
Thanks!
Does water Keifer taste ‘vinegary” like Kombucha does?
Would love to try it, but we do not like Kombucha’s vinegary taste, and do not want to buy grains and then end up disliking it.
Thanks for the help!
hello jaslyn – i too had the same reservations about water kefir as i find kombucha too strong of a flavor.
happy to say water kefir is more of a mild flavor and is usually quicker!
in terms of the tea, i’ve made ginger tea and used in the first ferment with success.
i added some lemon and lime juice to the second ferment and am hooked!
thanks katie for sharing such great info!
cheryl
Hi hope u answer me since last comments here are from 2015 ?I’ve only started playing with water kefir this year. I’m over trying to find fruit flavours that I like. I just want water kefir that taste good without the headache of too much thought. So I googled if I can teabagfruit infusions in second ferment and came across you in google. If I just use tea bags in second ferment with no added fruit,and leave for another 24 hours, will I get the fizz? Maybe I can add lemon. Lemon is good. I like the fizz but if it doesn’t then I’m ok with that too, as I am drinking kefir water coz of it health benefits not coz of the fizz. Your quarts and gallons confuse me so much coz we don’t use that in Australia. Thank god for google to convert it for me ?
Hey Katie, Sandy Frazier here. I am new to all water kefir. Years ago I used to make yogurt at home using yogurt cups from 2 different brands to have enough or real bacillus, maybe is the wrong term, sorry.
I am 68 y old on stage 3 renal failure. I am doing well on 100% plant based diet. My overseas nutritionist mentioned about water kefir. Searching Google here you are. How do I get the kefir grains to make the water kefir? I live in Orlando, Florida every natural store I go, they have the bacteria for lacto fermentation not water and sugar kefir. People tell me it is dangerous by grains by mail due to contamination and may affect my kidneys. There is any way to produce the grains by myself at home? Thank you.
Sandy
what are kefir grains?
I have used both water from our well and water from our Berkey filter and my grains never seem to increase in size, or quantity. They have gotten smaller and almost like powder. I have tried adding a few organic raisins and also organic molasses to help them grow and that has not worked either.
I would love and appreciate any suggestions on what might be the cause of this and what I can try to remedy the problem.
Forgot to mention that my grains are now 3 years old.