Fermented Soda Recipe (Water Kiefer) ~ sugar free ~
Every want a refreshing and fizzy soda, but don’t want all the sugar and chemicals?
This is the beauty of fermenting your own soda, like they were traditionally made. These gems are naturally sugar free because the fermentation process eats the sugar to make it’s own fizz.
Water kiefer is made from a symbiotic culture of yeast and bacteria, of no certain origin. One theory is that it came from the prickly pear cacti, which may have to do why the Mexican’s loved their cola’s long before Coke and Pepsi discovered and commercialized them.
You will have to get grains from someone you know, or try to trust a source online. They populate with every batch you make, so you can easily share them around. I always include them in a starter kit with my classes.
Water Kiefir or Natural Soda Recipe is a 2-Step process:
Step One Ingredients:
Unsulfered, preferably organic dried fruit like apricots, figs, raisins*. (do not use dried bananas or mangoes or anything that will fall apart in the process)
1/3 Cup of organic sugar
Non-chlorinated water*
1/4 Cup of kiefer ‘grains’
2-Quart Mason Jar with pressure lid
Step 1 instructions:
Rinse the Kiefer grains with non-chlorinated water if they are not fresh, (they should rinse clear). Fill the Mason Jar with water, add the grains, sugar and 5 dried apricots. (Apricots really work the very best for this process)
Tightly lace the lid on the jar and store for around 24 hours in a dark area (or use a dish towel to cover them). The area should be between 68 and 72 degrees. And wait. When the figs have all floated to the top when step one is complete. Initially, they may take longer than 24 hours, and if it is too warm or two cold, less or more time may be needed accordingly.
Step 2 Ingredients:
Fizzy bacteria liquid from step 1
Your choice of organic, unsulfered, no preservative flavoring like sweet apple slices, tart cherry concentrate, and my favorite, orange carrot drink.
Smaller airtight bottles. I use old kombucha bottles. They should be sterile, and ready to go, it is important for maximum fizziness to start step 2 as soon as you open up the mason jar for step 1.
Step 2 Instructions:
This step is subjective science. It depends greatly on how sweet the flavoring of your choice is, and there is no magic figs to float when it’s ready. A store bought beverage like carrot orange drink is going to have a lot of sugar because it is not fresh and carrots are sweet and so is orange juice. If you were to use freshly made carrot and orange juice, it would have much less sugar. Lemons, cranberries, etc don’t work will for this process. To make the fizz, the bacteria needs to eat sugar!
Add your sugary flavor
For apples, slice up apples thin enough to get in and out of your smaller jar, and place up to a 1/2 an apple in the jar. Fill the jar to 1/2” from the top with the fizzy Kiefer from step 1 and place the lid on tight.
For Cherry concentrate, pour about 1/3 Cup of concentrate into the bottle, then fill the rest of the way with the fizzy Kiefer from step 1 and place the lid on tight.
For the orange carrot juice, fill the smaller bottle half way with the juice and the other half with fizzy Kiefer from step 1.
Place bottles in a dark space (or covered) at 68-72 degrees and wait no longer than 12 hours. Immediately refrigerate or serve! Soda’s will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge.
A normal serving is about 1/3 a Kombucha bottle or 4 OZ. More than that per meal could put extra bacteria in your gut and loosen your stools! Listen to your body!
The sugar will be eaten by the bacteria, the friendly bacteria will have created a soda treat that is as refreshing as it is tasty!
You can store you Kiefer grains in the fridge for a long time in between batches. The longer you store it, the more you have to occasionally feed them, as they are alive.
As always, contact me with any questions,
Thank you, Karin
*chemicals such as sulfers and chlorine will destroy the bacteria in the kiefer grains, slowing or possibly stopping the process.