What is Water Kefir?

If you've never been to the fermenting world, you probably have not heard about water kefir. But if you’ve been following my kombucha brewing journey and been making kombucha tea yourself, you may have come across the topic water kefir, or I may have mentioned it to you once or twice. Water kefir is another type of fermented drink. I’m very tempted to call it fermented water, because that’s what really is. But most people raise their eyebrows when they hear “fermented water” and confused face that’s like asking “why would you ferment water?” Call me crazy, but I’m telling you, you should ferment water and make water kefir. Anyway, so what is water kefir?

Water kefir, also called as tibi, tibicos, Japanese water crystals and sugar kefir grains, is a type of fermented water cultured using water kefir grains. These grains are like kombucha’s SCOBY but they have different types of bacteria and different colonies of yeast. They are called grains, because they are small crystals, unlike kombucha SCOBY that is a lump of bacteria and yeast.

I have just started fermenting my own water kefir, but my mom used to make it about 7-8 years ago. I can’t remember if I tried her water kefir before, but she said she threw it away because couldn’t take care of it anymore. Also, it was growing like crazy and she was afraid it might grow inside her stomach. LOL.

So what’s in Water kefir?

Water kefir grains contain Lactobacillus, Streptococcus,Pediococcus and Leuconostoc bacteria with yeasts from Saccharomyces, Candida, Kloeckera according to Wikipedia. These bacteria and yeast are probiotics that are good for our gut health.

What does water kefir taste like?

Plain water kefir tastes like sugar water. When it ferments longer, it starts to taste tangy, like kombucha but lighter. If you don’t like the taste of Kombucha, you may like water kefir. You can also experiment with flavors as you can do second fermentation.

Fermenting water kefir. Photo by: Little Eco Footprints

What I love most about water kefir is the carbonation. Unlike Kombucha in which carbonation is quite difficult to achieve, in water kefir, you’ll have carbonation even if it’s only been a day since you fermented it. So if you’re into soda-like carbonation, you’ll love water kefir too.

Have you tasted water kefir before? If so, please tell me what you like about it in the comments below!