Water kefir is such an amazing product! It’s not only tasty and refreshing. It’s also incredibly good for your overall health. By the way, kefir is one of those products that you can easily make at home. You wouldn’t need a lot of special equipment. In fact, the chances are high that you already have all the necessary equipment for making kefir in your kitchen. The whole process won’t take a lot of time and effort and you will soon have the opportunity to enjoy your homemade water kefir.
However, in case you really do want to start making this wonderful beverage, you have to make sure that you’re doing everything right. You should have a basic understanding of what the mysterious kefir grains are and how you should take care of them. Moreover, it would be great, if you could find some easy to follow recipes…
And that’s exactly what books have to offer! Of course, there are quite a lot of options available on the market today. But we have made things easier for you and picked out the 4 best water kefir books to buy with only the most important information and the coolest recipes.
1. Water Kefir Mastery: Complete Guidebook to Brewing and Mastering Water Kefir
2. Fermented Foods Volume 3: Water Kefir
3. All You Need to Know about Kefir Water Plus 45 Recipes
Stay tuned for our detailed reviews of every single book and our recommendation for a water kefir starter kit. But for now, let’s take a look at the main reasons why you should even bother and buy a book in the first place.
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Why Should You Buy a Water Kefir Book?
After all, it’s the 21st century and we can find all the necessary information on the Internet. Water kefir is not rocket science, you will certainly be able to find some reliable instructions online, right?
Of course, it’s all up to you. There are websites that can give you enough information and you can surely try and make kefir according to the recipes that someone decided to post online.
But there are at least a few reasons that might make you want to buy an actual book.
Firstly, it is always pleasant to have something that you can hold in your hands, right? Once you get a book about water kefir making, it will certainly become a real must-have in your kitchen. You can open the book whenever you feel like it. By the way, if you are afraid that the information provided in the book will soon ‘expire’, don’t be. Throughout the centuries, not a lot of things changed with the kefir making process. So, once you get the book, you can be sure that the information will stay pretty much up-to-date for at least a few decades.
Secondly, and this is possibly the most important point, you can trust books. We all know that anyone can publish an article or a blog post on the Internet. And even if it looks like these ‘writers’ know what they’re talking about, it’s not necessarily the case.
However, when you get a book, you can be sure that the material is well-researched and can be trusted. After all, getting a book published is quite a big deal. And it certainly requires a lot more effort. Moreover, in case you find some mistakes online, no one is going to take responsibility. But if the same thing happens with the book, then the author is going to lose the trust of his readers. And that practically means the end of his career.
That’s exactly why all the facts and figures that you can find in books are double and triple checked before being placed on the pages.
What Are the Main Differences Between Water Kefir and Kombucha?
Once you decide to buy a book, you have to make sure that you are getting exactly what you need. At this point, some people don’t really understand the difference between water kefir and kombucha and might end up getting the wrong literature.
Even though these beverages look alike, there are a few important differences that you have to know about.
- Water kefir takes less time to make. Though both of the drinks are made during a fermentation process, your water kefir will be ready in a couple of days with the help of the grains. It will take you up to a month to make kombucha. And instead of kefir grains, you would have to use a starter culture – SCOBY.
- Kombucha contains caffeine and a percent of alcohol. This drink is made with the help of tea, so that’s where the caffeine comes from.
- These drinks have slightly different flavors. Even though they are both fizzy, kombucha is a little sourer and, generally, has a stronger taste. However, you can totally change the taste of your water kefir with different flavorings. Even the type of sugar that you decide to use will affect the flavor of the finished product.
Review: 4 Best Water Kefir Books to Buy and a Water Kefir Starter Kit
Now that you know exactly what you are looking for in a book, let’s proceed to the actual reviews. Of course, you can end up buying a couple of the options from the list. However, we would recommend choosing a single piece as the information will certainly end up repeating itself.
1. Water Kefir Mastery: Complete Guidebook to Brewing and Mastering Water Kefir
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Barnes, Dylan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 33 Pages - 04/08/2016 (Publication Date) - Dylan Barnes (Publisher)
To get the book, you would have to download it. It is suitable for your Mac, PC, Kindle or even smartphone. The piece is written by Dylan Barnes, a health and wellness enthusiast.
The master guidebook has only 33 pages, so it’s not a long read. However, it contains all the necessary information, so that you can get your water kefir journey started. You will learn everything about kefir grains; the history of this healthy beverage; the exact equipment that you would need to brew your water kefir. Easy step-by-step instructions are included.
You will also be getting 30 cool recipes to make your water kefir even more delicious and unique. Moreover, the author kindly provided the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.
2. Fermented Foods Volume 3: Water Kefir
- Grande, Meghan (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 114 Pages - 05/04/2014 (Publication Date) - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (Publisher)
Of course, if you decide to choose the downloadable version, you will be able to start reading the book straight away. But if you are a paperback lover, then it is certainly worth waiting a few days for the actual book to arrive at your door.
This is volume number 3 in The Food Preservation Series. The paperback has 114 pages, so once you have read it, you are going to become a real water kefir expert.
You will learn so much more about the health benefits of water kefir. Moreover, the book includes plenty of unique recipes that are fun to follow (and the final product is yummy).
Check out the current price for Fermented Foods Volume 3: Water Kefir on Amazon.
3. All You Need to Know about Kefir Water Plus 45 Recipes
- Amazon Kindle Edition
- Weil, Jennifer (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 99 Pages - 05/26/2014 (Publication Date)
There is no paperback available for this option. It is the seventh book of Today’s Superfoods series. So, who knows? You might end up getting the whole thing. Unlike a lot of other books, this one includes everything you need to know about second fermentation and even about all the strains of bacteria that are present in water kefir.
Of course, you will get to know everything about the history of the beverage, its health benefits and even about the suitable temperatures for water kefir and why they matter so much. As a pleasant bonus, you will be getting 45 easy to follow recipes.
Check out the current price for All You Need to Know about Kefir Water Plus 45 Recipes on Amazon.
4. Water Kefir Handbook
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With this option, you will be getting eight recipes. The 64 pages will tell you everything about the health benefits of water kefir, the right equipment, and about how to take proper care of your grains and why that’s important.
Check out the current price for Water Kefir Handbook on Amazon.
Take a close look at the options above and choose the book that you think will do the job for you. What a wonderful way to begin your water kefir journey, right?
Also, here is a great water kefir starter kit that you might like.
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Live Water Kefir Kit
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Of course, you can easily come up with a water kefir starter kit all on your own. But sometimes it’s so much easier to get a ready-to-go option on the Internet. And that’s exactly what this kefir kit offers. It includes a quarter of a cup of organic kefir grains, organic sugar, a rubber band, a paper filter, and a brewing bag.
By the way, easy to follow instructions are also included.
These particular grains contain more than 40 strains of probiotics. The water kefir grains are alive and can be easily activated.
Check out the current price for Live Water Kefir Kit on Amazon.
With the water kefir starter kit, the whole process of making water kefir will become so much easier.
We would still recommend reading some literature before getting started, in order to avoid various problems. In the next section, we will try to give the answers to the most common questions about water kefir making.
How to Activate the Kefir Grains?
Did you know that once you get your kefir grains, you can’t really start using them to make kefir straight away?
The first thing that we have to clarify is that these water kefir grains are not actually grains. They are a symbiotic colony of yeasts and bacteria. Yes, this doesn’t sound really attractive, but these little guys have the power to turn ordinary water into a really cool and a healthy beverage.
Bear in mind that the grains will do their job only in case they are alive and active. In case the kefir grains die, you won’t be able to use them any longer. But if you manage to help your grains thrive, they will become bigger and they will multiply. In the end, you might even want to give some grains to your friends or family members. Moreover, if you take proper care of the water kefir grains, one single teaspoon of those can last for years and years. In a nutshell, you might never have to buy a portion of water kefir grains ever again.
Ok, so you have ordered your kefir grains. The chances are high that those will come dehydrated. The grains might also be small, but don’t let that scare you. However, bear in mind that you would have to spend some time activating the grains before starting to make water kefir.
The activation process is relatively slow. It might take around 10 days (sometimes even longer). But the good news is that the activation is not a difficult thing and that you would need only a few ingredients. Here are the things that you will need.
- Boiled or bottled water.
- Sugar (you might want to try using cane sugar)
- A big jar (for around a liter of liquid)
- A thermometer (this one is optional, but will certainly make the whole process even easier)
- And, of course, your water kefir grains
Once you have all the necessary ingredients and equipment, you can start preparing the sugar water. If you are only getting started, you might want to start with a smaller portion of water. Basically, you would need 40 grams of sugar for every 0.5 liters of water. Pour the ingredients in the jar and stir the whole thing for several minutes (the sugar has to fully dissolve).
Now get your thermometer and check the temperature of the water. It has to be below 20 C. If the temperature is higher, the water might kill the grains, so this certainly is an important step. However, water should not be too cold.
After the solution is prepared, you would have to add the grains to it. Make sure to read the instructions carefully to understand if there is enough water in your jar. Cover the container with a cloth and secure it with a rubber band. Store the jar in a cupboard or in any safe place in your kitchen where the temperature is between 20 and 28 degrees.
In 3-5 days, separate the grains from the water.
Your little fellows should already look a little different. However, this is only the beginning. You would have to repeat the whole process once again and check the grains in three more days. They have to be bigger now. Bear in mind that the higher the temperature, the less time it will take to activate your grains. 20 degrees is the bottom limit, but in case you go higher than 28 degrees, then the grains might die.
How to Take Care of the Kefir Grains?
Grains are a living culture. And you would certainly need to take care of the tiny guys even if you are not planning on making kefir for a few days. In case you leave the grains more than 3 days straight, they might die. So, make sure that your water kefir grains always have something to eat.
Bear in mind that at first your grains might be rapidly reproducing. But they don’t need to do that during every single fermentation cycle. So, if you notice that the grains haven’t multiplied during a certain batch – don’t worry. At the same time, if the little guys haven’t been reproducing for quite a while, they might be lacking essential minerals.
Thankfully, if you manage to find the right water and sugar, you might not even need additional mineral supplementation. Change the water and the sugar that you use first and only after that switch to supplementation. But remember that too many minerals can be just as bad.
You don’t have to rinse the water kefir grains after every single use. However, if you feel like they need a little cleaning, do use only clean, filtered water.
If your kefir is already done before 24 hours have passed, is that a good or a bad sign? Well, the truth is that an extremely short fermentation cycle is a bad sign. But you can easily fix the situation. Simply add fewer grains to the batch. Or you can always add a little bit more sugar.
The best thing about water kefir is that you can easily experiment with different flavors. Kefir is certainly worth your time because not only is it tasty but at the same time extremely beneficial for your overall health.