How to Make Kefir Soda Pop

Servings

2 liters

Ready In:

3 – 5 days

Good For:

Beverage

About this Recipe

By: Morgana Jane

Unless you have had your head stuck in the ground for the last couple of years, I don’t need to tell you how much sugar is in soda pop, or that all that sugar is detrimental to your health… But it’s just so yummy and fizzy and we all like a little treat now and again, especially kids, right?? So what to do!!?? Well, there’s a great alternative that’s loaded with flavor, is super easy to make, and has only a fraction of the sugar… Say hello to, Kefir Soda!

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Ingredients

4 Naturally Flavored Fruity Herbal Tea Bags (any flavor you like!)
1500 ml Water
(1.5 liters or quarts)
1 cup cane sugar
(natural sugar)
1/2 cup Kefir Whey

Most soda has between 10 and 17 teaspoons of sugar per serving – but teaspoons are so tiny, so no big deal, right? Let’s put these facts into a perspective that sheds a little more insight: There are 12 tsp in 1/4 of a cup, and there are almost 16 tsp in 1/3 of a cup... so on average, soda contains 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup of sugar per serving… That’s a lot of sugar! Now imagine if you drink a couple of those per day?! You could be consuming half a cup of sugar, or more, per day! Crazy!

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Nutrition

Kefir Soda is a probiotic, and probiotics help restore healthy gut flora. Kefir soda is made with sugar but that sugar is what feeds the little micro organisms that create the ferment. So while it starts out sweet, as it ferments it becomes more bubbly and less sweet – because the micro organisms are eating the sugar! By the time the fermentation is finished, there is very little sugar left.

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1 – Collect the Kefir Whey

After you strain the grains from your kefir and store it in the fridge you will notice that after a day or so it will separate into whey and curd. The liquidy stuff is the whey (in the photo above, it’s floating on the curds – sometimes it’s in the middle, sometimes it’s at the bottom). The whey is what you need to make this soda. Use a large spoon to hold back the curd and pour 1/2 to 1 cup of whey through a fine strainer into a glass container. If there is debris in the whey, strain it again through a coffee filter. Cover the whey and set it in the fridge until needed.

Step 2 – Make Tea

Place 3 – 4 naturally flavored fruity herbal tea bags into a 2 quart mason jar (Choose any flavor you like! In the photos for this recipe, I used a mixed berry herbal tea). Fill the jar with 1.5 quarts of boiling water, cover and let the tea steep for 2 or 3 hours.

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Step 3 – Sugar & Whey

When the tea has cooled, remove the bags, add 1 cup natural sugar and stir until dissolved, but wait until the tea has reached room temperature before you add the whey. Do not add the whey to tea that is hot or too warm – you will kill the little micro organisms and your Kefir Soda will flop! Also, be sure that’s there is at least a 1 inch gap between the tea and the lid – this baby needs room to ferment, which is a gassy, fizzy, bubbly kind of process!

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Step 4 – Give it a Rest – Then Enjoy!

Cover the jar with a tight lid and set the jar in a warm area. Check (remove the lid) on your creation daily to see where fermentation is at and to release any pressure that is building due to fermentation. You will know that things have started to move along when you hear a little pfffiiiit sound as the lid is undone. Once you have released the pressure, give it a gentle stir and replace the lid. Fermentation will take between 3 and 5 days, depending on the temperature. The cooler it is, the longer it will take. There is flexibility here – you can certainly drink your soda when it’s not terribly fizzy, but, that will mean that there is still a lot of sugar in the mix. The more bubbly the soda, the less sugar – and since the goal here is to reduce sugar intake, give it time and let it get good and bubbly! Once fermentation is complete, store your kefir soda in the fridge. It’s good for about a week – if it lasts that long!