Healthy Soda: Probiotic and Homemade

These days there are many replacement options for both regular soda and the toxic "sugar free" sodas.  One "healthy" response has been a corn syrup alternative that is also controversial, agave nectar, and another is stevia.  While both of these might be slight improvements, they are still not great options for your health. In fact, they are pretty much a luxury item that serve no purpose but to bring you joy. Does drinking soda really bring you joy? Perhaps...but what if a sweet, carbonated beverage could bring you health benefits in addition to joy? There is such a healthy soda that you can make at home!

Why Probiotic Soda:

I know my kids love carbonated anything. They didn't develop this love by drinking soda. Their very first experience was with kombucha. My middle child called it "spicy" and loved it from the very first sip. While we love kombucha, the flavor, fizziness, and probiotic rich soda--known as water kefir is our favorite.

Healthy Soda:

Water kefir, while not as packed with probiotics as dairy kefir, still contains an impressive variety of beneficial bacteria and yeasts. The best way to make, or "brew", water kefir is through the use of grains. Powdered culture is an option; however, the grains will multiply and grow providing you with an endless supply to use and share.

Getting grains from local groups or even Facebook groups is always a good option. We also love using Kombucha Kamp for cultures.

Here is my favorite recipe for brewing water kefir. I wouldn't even call it "brewing" because it is so simple. It really only requires dissolving sugar in water and placing the mixture in a dark spot for 1-2 days.

Water Kefir First Ferment Instructions

• Put 1/4 cup sugar in a glass jar with a lid. We prefer to use an airlock as opposed to "burping" the jar to release the pressure on a regular basis. We love using the Pickl-It and the Pickle Pipe
• Pour in enough hot water to dissolve the sugar with stirring.
• Add cool water to reach 4 cups of water total.
• Check to make sure the water is cool enough for the grains and then add the water kefir grains
• Cover the jar and make it as airtight as possible.  Place in a warm spot, to culture approximately 24 to 48 hours.

After culturing is complete, prepare a new batch of sugar water, (steps 1-4 above). Use a strainer to separate kefir grains from the finished water kefir. Put the kefir grains in the new batch of sugar water.

The finished water kefir is now ready to drink, but will not be very fizzy. Flavor and bottle in a narrow neck bottle and allow the brew to sit overnight at room temp. After 24 to 48 hours, put in the refrigerator to cool before opening.

Flavorings:

The really exciting part of water kefir is flavoring. Summer brings out abundant options from lavender to fresh cherries and homemade vanilla. The possibilities are endless. With some experimenting you can even come up with healthy soda flavors that match those at the store--like root beer, cream soda, lemon lime, and orange soda.

Our go to flavoring this time of year is:

1-2 pitted Rainier cherries

1/4 tsp of vanilla extract (use a glycerine based extract to avoid any taste of alcohol in your finished water kefir)

Check out the fizz on this water kefir. I didn't even shake it to make it do this--this is what it looked like when I opened it to pour for my children! While we love the fizz, always be careful when dealing with water kefir as it can be so fizzy that it "explodes".

What Do You Ferment?

Tell us about your ferments. What is your favorite recipe? What questions do you have about fermentation? Talk to us here.