What is water kefir?

Water kefir is a fermented beverage teeming with beneficial probiotic bacteria. It is quick and
simple to prepare, and once it is brewed, absolutely delicious. Even small children can enjoy it. It
has a slightly sweet through to crisp, earthy, yeasty flavour, depending on how it was prepared.
Sometimes when there are more yeasts in the brew it contains a tiny amount of alcohol and is
slightly fizzy if bottled. Water kefir is a magnificent source of beneficial bacteria; it also contains
a variety of enzymes and organic acids, and a range of B vitamins, vitamin K and folic acid.
Kefir means "feel good" in Turkish. Water kefir is also known as tibicos, tibi, sugar kefir, Japanese
water crystals, bebees, Australian bees, African bees, California Bees, ale nuts, balm of Gilead or
beer seeds.
Water kefir is made with kefir grains (small, translucent, gelatinous structures comprised of
assorted bacteria and yeasts), water, and sugars. Kefir or tibicos cultures are found around the
world, with no two cultures being exactly the same. Water kefir grains are translucent white and
break easily when squeezed between the fingers. They more closely resemble irregular crystals.
You can eat the kefir grains, they don't have much flavour but are a good probiotic.
If you don't want to consume dairy products then water kefir is an excellent non-dairy probiotic
source. Other non-dairy probiotics include kombucha, sauerkraut and rejuvelac.
Do NOT dismiss water kefir because it contains sugars, and may be high in sugar. It contains and
promotes bacteria that eat sugars, and therefore need to live in a sugar medium. Water kefir
heals candida, and is suitable for diabetics in small quantities provided they monitor their blood
sugar level. The numerous benefits of water kefir are too significant to ignore.
The kefir grains are a culture of bacteria and yeasts held in a polysaccharide matrix created by
some of the bacteria. The microbes in kefir grains act in symbiosis to maintain a stable culture.
They can do this in many different sugary liquids, feeding off the sugar to produce lactic acid,
acetic acid, alcohol (ethanol), and carbon dioxide gas which carbonates the drink. When properly
cared for and regularly cultured, they produce a wonderful probiotic-rich beverage that continues
to grow and reproduce indefinitely.
Water kefir is completely different to kombucha, with different bacteria and yeasts, different
nutrients, different therapeutic benefits and a totally different flavour. You can't compare or
replace the one with the other.
You can brew water kefir with a variety of fruits, coconut water, and various kinds of sugars, all of
which come together to produce complex and beautiful flavours. After you have brewed your
water kefir / tibicos, it is easy to add other flavours too.
Benefits of drinking water kefir and using it on your skin
Drinking Water Kefir can help you to achieve your optimal health, strengthen your immune
system, and help to prevent diseases of all kinds. Most importantly, it restores good digestion the key to health and longevity. When your body is out of balance, unfriendly opportunistic
bacteria and yeasts can take over - producing irritable and bad digestion, food allergies,
headaches, flu, skin rashes, and other more serious disorders. Water kefir is something you and
your family can drink and use on your skin every day.
Inhibits the growth of unfriendly bacteria and yeasts, and helps beneficial probiotic
microorganisms to colonise and thrive in your digestive tract, and throughout the test of the
body (skin, eyes, bladder, vagina, nose, throat, etc).
Contributes to a healthy immune system.
Reduces inflammation.
Helps with the digestion of food and micronutrients. The KEY for health and longevity is good
digestion, and a balance of good bacteria are the essential starting point.
Heals, or reduces the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome IBS) including bloating, indigestion,
flatulence, diarrhoea/constipation, nausea, low energy, muscle aches and pains.
Heals intestinal dysbiosis and SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth).
Increased energy and overall feeling of good health.
Can stop unhealthy food cravings, especially for sugars and sweet foods.
Skin complexion and overall condition improves. Brown liver spots / age spots can fade, as can
skin tags, moles, warts etc. It can ease or cure many skin conditions, such as psoriasis, eczema
and acne.

Hair and nails look healthier, and are strengthened and improved.
Liver cleansing, as in traditional Chinese medicine, thus easing aches and joint pains, and
benefiting the eyes.
Glandular ( endocrine) system (adrenals, thyroid, pituitary, ovaries) benefits. Women have
healthier periods, some women have periods start again after early menopause.
A tranquillising effect on the nervous system has helped many who suffer from sleep disorders
and insomnia, depression, ADHD and autism.
water kefir brewing in a jar
Recipe - how to make water kefir
Basically you put water kefir grains in a sugary water and let them ferment for 24 to 72 hours at
room temperature. The final result will depend on the temperature, the particular sugars that you
use, your kefir grain culture, the mineral content of the water, and the lack of pollutants in the
water, and the sugars and fruits you may use.
Here is a typical recipe to make 1 litre / 1 quart of water kefir. You will need a 2 litre / 2 quart jar
with loose lid or thin material cover, so there is air above your brew. You also need a sieve.
INGREDIENTS
4 cups / 1 litre / 1 quart of water (see below for details on which types of water).
1/4 cup / 60 grams / 2 oz of white/raw/brown sugar, sucanat, rapadura, agave nectar, jagari,
palm sugar or maple syrup.
Alternatively, you can replace the sugarwater solution with coconut water (the juice from a fresh
coconut).
Do NOT use honey unless your kefir grains have been adapted to honey - honey is an antimicrobial that will kill unadapted water kefir.
1/4 cup of kefir grains.
(Get a starter: You live outside Australia or you live in Australia).
1 or 2 teaspoons blackstrap molasses.
1/2 small/medium lemon, cut into two pieces, do not squeeze (optional). If you do not use a
lemon, add a couple of tablespoons of your previous brew. This is good for acidity.
Optional - try adding one or two of these:
Two dried organic apricots.
1 dried organic fig, halved.
A small handful of raisins.
1 dried organic prune.
1/4 cup apple juice.
banana - about 2cm / 1" cut into three slices.
METHOD
Dissolve the sugar in the water. If you heat it let it cool completely to room temperature. If it is
hot you will kill the kefir grains. Put it in the jar, add the other ingredients and stir. There should
be plenty of air space at the top of the jar.
Cover the jar with a piece of loose cloth, so it can breathe. Set the jar aside to ferment at room
temperature in a cool place out of the sun.
Sometimes a few kefir grains will float, but mostly they stay on the bottom of the jar. It is not
necessary to stir the kefir while it is fermenting, though gentle stirring or swishing the jar may
help the fermentation.
When your brew is ready to bottle, pick out the pieces of fruit and discard them, then strain out
the tibicos grains to make the next batch. The grains should have grown - ranging from almost
no growth to doubling, depending on the conditions.
Temperature
The perfect temperature for water kefir is 22C / 71F. However, it will thrive in a range of 18-28C /
65-82F. At higher temperatures some of the microorganisms will still thrive, but others will die off
and the symbiotic integrity of the culture may be lost. At lower temperatures your brew will be

OK but will slow down. If you do not need kefir for a while you can keep it in the refrigerator as
long as it is above 4C / 39F. Freezing water kefir grains will usually destroy them.
When is the kefir ready to bottle?
Your brew should take between 1 - 3 days, depending on the temperature, the amount and
health of the grains you use, the ingredients, and the water quality. New starter grains will take
longer, and may need a few generations to regain their full vigour.
Taste it. It is no longer flat, sweet water. It should be dry, slightly sour, with an acidic or tart bite
along with just a little sweetness. It is important that it is not sweet. Leave it long enough that
virtually all of the sugar is gone. There may be a few tiny bubbles effervescing when you move
the jar. Depending on the ingredients you used, it may taste a little like a dry red wine, complex
fruity, or have its own delicious unique flavour.
I like to leave my water kefir to brew for 4-5 days, especially in winter when it takes longer.
When you bottle the kefir, it continues to ferment, but more slowly, especially if it is in the
refrigerator. After a few days there may be more carbonation (bubbles) and it will continue to
become more tart and acidic (and very healthy). It is quite drinkable at any point so there is
nothing to worry about. Once you get into the swing of things you will brew it the way you like it.
If you forget to bottle your kefir when it is ready, a few extra days will do no harm. After a long
break you may still be able to continue to use the culture. Smell it, and make sure there is no
mould. It may take a couple of brews to re-establish the full symbiotic balance of the bacteria
and yeasts.
Storage
After you brew is ready, you can store it in a glass bottle at room temperature. If the lid is on
tightly, it will develop a fizz or sparkle after a day or two, depending on the temperature, the
level of residual sugar in your brew, and the particular yeasts that are in your culture. Warning:
after a couple of days, considerable pressure may build up under some circumstances, and there
is a danger of the bottle exploding. With your first few brews, I suggest that you gently release
the cap to see how much pressure there is. After a few different brews, you get a feel for how
long you can leave it.
If you put it straight into the refrigerator after bottling, you will get a still, rather than fizzy drink.
If the lid is on tight, it may build up a little pressure, but it will take much longer.
You can store water kefir for years, the same as you can store wine. Its flavour and complexity
changes, and it remains a delicious drink.
Possible problems
Insufficient acidity.
The kefir culture should be acidic, with a pH of 3.0 to 5.0. Adding a piece of fresh lemon or a little
of your previous brew to your new brew will make it more acidic. If the kefir is not slightly acidic,
there is a danger that moulds and other undesirable microorganisms can take hold.
Skin or scum on the surface.
A white or cream-coloured skin on the surface is common, and is usually a harmless kham yeast.
Simply spoon it off and discard before you bottle your brew. It should not affect the taste, smell
or health properties of the tibicos.
A translucent skin is caused by an imbalance in the bacteria/yeasts. I have seen a translucent
skin after my water kefir had been in the refrigerator for a few weeks - after a couple of brews,
things were back in balance.
A black, blue or dark brown coloured skin on the surface is a probably a mould. In this case
discard the brew, wash everything carefully, throw away your grains, and start again.
The basic test is how does your brew smell? It should smell yeasty, earthy, fruity, vinegar and
pleasant, but not foul.
Water.
The best water to use is mineral-rich water, hard water, or spring water.
The chlorine in tap water can kill the microorganisms in the kefir, so leave it in an open container
for half a day for the chlorine to evaporate off. Tap water often contains other nasty ingredients
that inhibit kefir fermentation, such as chloramine and fluorides. But normally tap water works
well.

Filtered water is also OK. Remember that reverse osmosis (RO) filtered water and distilled water
contain no minerals, so add some mineral drops to such water, use a tiny pin-head sized pinch of
Celtic sea salt, or use mineral-rich blackstrap molasses in your recipe.
Do NOT use alkaline water to make water kefir. Water kefir needs an acidic environment and
alkaline water will kill it.
Rinse your utensils well - do not leave any soap or detergents on them, as they will harm the
kefir.
Fresh fruit should be organic if possible. Otherwise wash it carefully to remove herbicide and
pesticide residues.
Dried fruit must be preservative-free, otherwise it will inhibit or kill the bacteria. Many dried fruits
use preservatives, so try to buy organic.
Fast brew in less than a day.
If your brew is ready in less 24 hours and is very fizzy, you probably have an excess of yeast in it.
Before you make the next batch, rinse the grains in fresh water and clean your brewing jar.
Check the recipe to confirm that you are not using too much sugar, or try using a little less sugar
than previously. A fast, fizzy, yeasty brew will have more alcohol in it, and will not have as much
of the healthy complex acids and probiotic bacteria.
Metals.
Kefir can react with metals such as aluminium and iron, so don't brew it in a pot made from those
metals. Ideally use a glass or ceramic jar to brew your kefir. Stainless steel and plastic utensils
are OK.
What is the best size for water kefir grains?
Water kefir grains can vary in size from 1mm / 0.04" (the size of a grain of sand) to 5cm / 2" (the
size of a small chicken egg). A batch of kefir will have a variety of sizes, but with most tending
towards the same size.
The smaller the grains, the greater the surface area they have, and the faster they work. Smaller
grains tend to be more consistent and produce a better flavour drink. However, mashing or
breaking up the grains does not seem to improve them. Just let them grow to their own natural
size.
The size of the grains depends on:
Temperature. Warmer temperatures produce smaller grains, cooler temperatures make larger
grains.
Season. They really seem to know what the season is, regardless of the temperature inside the
room. In summer, they produce smaller, faster-growing grains.
Brewing time. The longer your usual brew time before a fresh batch of liquid is used to start the
next brew, the smaller the grains.
The recipe. Some recipes, with different sugars and fruits, produce smaller or larger grains.
Stress. If the grains are stressed, they will be smaller.
Water kefir and fructose
Sucrose (table sugar) consists of a glucose and a fructose molecule linked together. The bacteria
and yeasts in water kefir prefer to feed on glucose rather than fructose. (1) They convert the
glucose into glucuronic acid and a variety of other acids, all with anti-bacterial and other
beneficial properties. They convert fructose into acetic acid (vinegar) and other organic acids.
Because of this preference for glucose, most of the glucose is quickly consumed. The sugar that
remains in your water kefir is mostly fructose. The longer you leave your water kefir to brew, the
more it also uses up this remaining fructose.
Unlike most other sugars, fructose can only be metabolised in your body through your liver. You
should limit the amount of fructose that you consume, especially if your liver is not as healthy as
it could be. This means avoiding fruit juice, large quantities of sweet fruit, and of course most
processed and restaurant foods which all have large quantities of sugar / HFCS added.
Water kefir is a source of fructose, especially sweet brews that have been made in only a day or
two. Small quantities of well-fermented water kefir are of course highly beneficial, but it seems to
me that it is not a good idea to drink more than a glass per day of water kefir, especially sweet
short-fermented brews.
This suggests that you can substitute glucose powder for sucrose in the water kefir recipe. I
made a brew in which a quarter of the sugar was substituted with glucose, and it seemed to work

OK. It seems that nobody has yet tested this important question. If anyone has further
information or laboratory results, I would be most grateful if you would contact me.
Bacteria and yeasts in water kefir
A variety of bacteria and yeasts exist in the kefir grains and liquid (1,2). Bacteria are not like
other living organisms that breed true according to a genetic program that is transmitted only
vertically from parent to offspring. Instead, bacteria morph from one species to another, partly
by means of horizontal transfer of genes by various weird and wonderful biological mechanisms
(other than sex, which by definition cannot occur in bacteria). Thus, the species-designations in
bacteriology are matters of convenience and are misleading inasmuch as they imply some sort of
genetic integrity which may or may not be there. It seems perfectly possible for one species of
Lactobacillus to morph into another in response to environmental conditions, and indeed I would
assume it is also possible for Lactobacillus to morph into other bacilli. With bacteria it is more or
less the case that whatever the environment dictates will spontaneously appear. So microbial
species lists, while interesting, are not definitive.
Bacteria:
Acetobacter.
a. fabarum.
a. orientalis.
Bacillus.
b. subtilis.
b. graveolus.
Lactobacillus.
l. acidophilus.
l. alactosus.
l. brevis has been identified as the species responsible for the production of the polysaccharide
(dextran) that forms the grains.
l. bulgaricus.
l. casei. Produces lots of lactic acid; colonises well in the gastric tract; creates a favourable
medium in which other beneficial bacteria can grow; inhibits putrefaction and harmful bacteria;
increases immune function; helps protect against bacterial infections.
l. casei ss. (subspecies) casei.
L. casei ss. pseudoplantarum.
l. casei ss. rhamnosus.
l. casei ss. tolerans.
l. coryneformis ss. torquens.
l. fructosus.
l. hilgardii.
l. homohiochi.
l. hordei.
l. nagelii.
l. plantarum. Produces lactic acid; fights listeria monocytogenes; makes plantaricin; inhibits a
large number of Gram-positive bacteria - the type of bacteria that cause spoilage.
l. plantarum.
l. pseudoplantarum.
l. reuterietc.
l. yamanashiensis.
Leuconostoc.
l. mesenteroides.
l. citreum.
Pediococcus damnosus.
Streptococcus.
s. agalactiae.
s. bovis.
s. cremoris. Has similar properties to s. lactis.

s. diacetylactis. Produces carbon dioxide in the kefir; makes diacetyl, which gives kefir its
characteristic odour; other properties similar to s. lactis.
s. faecalis.
s. lactis. Produces lactic acid, aids digestion, inhibits harmful microorganisms, produces
bacteriolysins.
s. mutans.
s. pneumonia.
s. pyogenes.
s. salivarius.
s. sanguinis.
s. suis.
s. viridans.
Yeasts:
Candida.
c. lambica.
c. lamica.
c. gueretana.
c. valida.
Hansenula valbyensis.
Kloeckera apiculata.
Lachancea fermentati.
Saccharomyces.
s. bayanus.
s. boulardii.
s. cerevisiae.
s. florentinus.
s. pretoriensis.
s. uvarum.
Torulopsis insconspicna.
Zygotorulaspora florentina.