Make Healthy Water Kefir At Home This Winter Season

Water kefir, also known as tibicos, is a traditional fermented beverage created by inoculating water, sugar, and fruit with a starting culture. The starting culture comprises a variety of helpful bacteria and yeasts that result in a somewhat sour, effervescent beverage. While the exact history of water kefir is unknown, scholars believe it originated in pre-Columbian Mexico. It is still used in some tepache preparations in Mexico today, which is a gently fermented drink produced from corn or pineapple. Water kefir, like kombucha and milk kefir, need a SCOBY or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast to be effectively cultured. This culture's bacteria generate small, gelatinous crystals known as water kefir grains or tibicos. And those little crystals transform sugar water into a fizzy, fermented beverage. Most essential, without these, you cannot create the drink. These small, crystal-like grains can spontaneously grow beneath the skin of prickly pear cactus fruits. Furthermore, early brewers most likely captured tibicos in the wild and subsequently cultivated the culture through domestic brewing.

Ingredients

• Water kefir grains (hydrated)

• ¼ cup sugar

•  Water

Method

1. Dissolve the sugar in a tiny amount of hot water in a half-gallon glass jar. If you want to make the entire half gallon, you'll need 1/2 cup of sugar. The requirement is only ¼ sugar here if you only fill the jar halfway.

2. When the sugar has been dissolved, fill the remaining space in the jar with cool, filtered water. It has to be room temperature.

3. Incorporate the moistened water kefir grains.

4. To keep insects and young children out, cover with a towel, cheesecloth, or coffee filter and a rubber band.

5. Allow for 24-48 hours on the counter (ideally at 70-75°F).

6. After 48 hours, pour the liquid into another container after the water kefir grains have been strained through a bamboo or non-metal mesh strainer. It is preferable to first process it in a half-gallon jar before straining it into two quart-size jars.

7. Add more chilly water to the mixture, more sugar to dissolve it, and the same kefir grains to begin the process again.

8. Add a few ounces of fruit juice, such as grape, pomegranate, apple, or cherry juice, to the water kefir you just filtered to make it carbonated. Citrus is not advised for this phase since it produces stringy yeast-like things that are not appetising.

9. After adding the juice, carefully cover the jars with an airtight lid and let them stand for an additional 1 to 3 days before drinking or storing.