Water and Milk Kefir

I am making kefir from milk kefir grains for years now and  you may remember my posts about brewing kombucha tea as well. Lately  I started  experimenting with lacto fermentation and also making sodas from water kefir grains. You can buy them or you can actually convert your milk kefir grains into water kefir grains. Sounds crazy I know, but it is true. You can read about the process here.  I don't drink juices or pop much, but my son, like most teenagers and adults ( and sadly kids) would drink pop all the time if I let him. So I decided to start making the healthy, natural, fizzy soda at home and now we are all hooked.
Benefits of Kefir:
The resulting hard work by both types of kefir produces a nutrient-rich drink full of beneficial acids and microorganisms. There is a high concentration of enzymes, vitamins A, B2, B12, K, D, phosphorus, nitrogen, and more. Kefir drinks are known to help cleanse the system and aid digestion, and may help with a long list of conditions including psoriasis, gastritis and arthritis.

These two jars of water kefir  are ready to be strain. They were "brewing" two days and ate all the sugar.

Kefir z Tibetske houby delam uz leta a mozna si pamatujete, ze jsem tady psala i o hoube Kombucha. Pred nedavnem jsem se zacala vice zajimat o prirodni kvaseni, hlavne mlecne ale take o vyrobu napoje z Tibetskych krystalu. Ty se daji koupit, nebo si je muzete "preskolit" z tech mlecnych.  Trva to asi osm dnu, nez si zvyknou na nove  prostredi a pak uz je nikdy nemuzete pouzivat do mleka ale zase si muzete zacit doma vyrabet napoje z prirodni karbonaci. Spoustu informaci naleznete zde.

Tyhle dve sklenice Tibetskych krystalu  ( jinak take nazivane vodnim kefirem)  jsou prichystane  na zcezeni. Ja je nechavam "pracovat" dva dny.

 You can see the little bubbles around the fruit.
Muzete videt bublinky a susene ovoce, z ktereho "snedly" vsechen cukr.

 Looking at the jars reminds me of the lava lamp. The grains are rising to the surface and falling to the bottom continuously, they are "alive" and it is very hypnotizing to watch .......

Pozorovani sklenic me pripomina lavovou lampu. Krystalky pomalu stoupaji vzhuru a pak klesaji zpatky ke dnu. Jsou "zive",  je to fascinujici, hybnoticka podivana......

I strain the grains
Takze precedit

 and  use the liquid to make the soda.
a  voda se pouzije na napoj.

 The grains are wash and ready to be fed to start a new ferment.
Proplachla zrna se znovu nakrmi a dalsi fermentace muze zacit.

 This time I made grape soda. This is all the juice you need, you top the bottle with your brew, tightly close it and let it sit at room temperature for another few days to let the "magic" happen. By that time your soda should be fizzy. To stop it from further fermentation (and possible explosion) you put it in the fridge or cold place.

No a my se pustime do napoje.  Ja pouzivam bio dzusy. Tenhle je z hroznoveho vina a tohle mnozstvi uplne staci. Zbytek dolejeme nasi precezenou tekutinou, zazatkujem a nechame dalsi dva, tri dny na teplem miste. Ted probehne tzv. druha fermentace. Ta prave vytvari ty bublinky. Pozor, po par dnech (dvou, trech) ulozte lahve do chladu, jinak by vam take mohly vybuchnout.

 I also made orange/mango.
Dalsi  je z pomerancovo mangoveho dzusu.

 And in the little green bottle my new experiment. Ginger, kefir and kombucha kombo. I tell you, they are fantastic, healthy ( I do use all organic stuff ) and refreshing. You can read more about the health benefits and "how to" here . You can also visit  my pinterest page  and get inspired there :))

V zelene lahvi je muj "experiment". Cerstve nasekany koren zazvoru ( asi lzice) a pul na pul tekutina z kombuchy a Tybetskych krystalu.  Na ochuceni muzete pouzivat i cerstve ovoce a stavy a bylinky podle vasi chute.

 I also made new batch of mustard, this time lacto fermented. I used whey from yogurt  instead of the brine, horseradish, hot pepper and onions. My horseradish started to sprout. I dug it out in the fall and it survived in the fridge till now! After I was done with it, I planted it in the pot.  Mustard taste beter when aged, so after about 5-7 days I will blend it to the creamy consistency and store it in the fridge for up to 6 months before eating it.

Dale jsem se pustila do vyroby horcice fermentovane v sirovatce. Tu jsem si zcedila z jogurtu, pridala cibuli, kren ( ten v lednici zacal rust a tak jsem zbytek zasadila znovu do hliny) feferonku a uzavrela kvasnou zatkou. Po peti az sedmi dnech se to rozmixuje a horcice ulozi do chladu. Mela by se nechat rozlezet a to treba i sest mesicu. Ja  jsem jednu delala uz vloni a je opravdu lepsi nez kdyz se konzumuje hned.

 You can buy lids with airlock , but Neil made mine from regular caning jar lid and airlock. It works great!
Kvasne zatky se daji koupit. Neil me ale udelal otvor do zavarovaciho vicka a ja jen nasadila vodni uzaver.

I hope you enjoy your visit, have a great weekend!
Dekuji za navstevu a  preji vam vsem krasny vikend.