Learn how to make yummy pink fizz with our mulberry water kefir recipe.
Follow these simple steps and in a few days you could be enjoying your very own homemade water kefir!
These days I’m not much of a drinker, but I sometimes miss the fun of popping a bottle of bubbles for a special occasion or cracking an ice cold beer after a hot day in the garden.
So now I drink water kefir instead and this recipe for pink mulberry water kefir is the perfect alternative to having that special drink in times of celebration.
What is water kefir?
Water kefir is a lactofermented drink which means it provides beneficial lactic acid and lactobacilli to your intestinal tract. It is a probiotic drink, helping you digest food and improve your gut biota.
Lactic acid drinks have a range of medicinal qualities including helping you digest food, improve intestinal problems, strengthen your nervous and immune systems and quench your thirst after physical activity.
It’s a great alternative to alcohol and soft drinks and kids love it, providing an easy way to add probiotics into their diet.
Water kefir is made from water kefir grains otherwise known as a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts) which are quite different from milk kefir grains used for fermenting milk.
Traditionally you would get grains from a friend or someone in your community who has them, as over time they grow and increase in number, allowing you to share them.
If you don’t know anyone who has them, they are available to purchase online and in many wholefoods and health food shops.
Mulberry Water Kefir Recipe
Ingredients:
- Clean wide mouth jar 2 litres
- 6 cups of filtered water
- 1/2-1 cup of water kefir crystals
- ½ cup of raw sugar (or rapadura for added mineral content)
- A knob of ginger, sliced or grated with the juice squeezed in.
- 1-2 slices of lemon
- 1 dried fig
- ¼ teaspoon of bi-carb soda
- 1cm sq of eggshell, boiled and crushed (optional). This adds extra mineral content to the mixture. If using rapadura sugar this is not necessary.
- Mulberrries, or your fruit of choice
Method:
First fermentation
Add all ingredients to a glass jar, except the mulberries. You can either use a lid or something like a beeswax wrap to seal it.
Leave at room temperature for two days, stirring occasionally. Once your drink tastes slightly sweet and tangy, with effervescence, strain off the liquid, this is you water kefir drink.
Second fermentation
Pour into airtight bottles, swing top bottles are great but any sealable bottle will do, I often use passata jars if I have nothing else. I strain into a jug and then pour into the bottles from the jug.
This is the time to add your fruit for the second fermentation process. Add your mulberries or whatever fruit you have around. This is a great way to make your water kefir seasonal. I love the mulberry because it makes a beautiful pink drink.
Leave on the bench for another day or two. This is the second fermentation, it will become more bubbly and reduce sugar content even more.
Add strained grains to clean jar and begin the process again.
If you would like to rest your water kefir grains, place in a clean jar with sugared water and leave in the fridge. They will last one to two weeks like this.
This recipe was adapted from the recipe by Emily Stokes of Fermaculture Farm.
