Coconut Water Kefir

I have just finished making a raspberry-vanilla-honey syrup to use in my second ferment of coconut water kefir. Since we are on the GAPS / SCD diets we have been finding every way possible to get more probiotics into our bodies. Coconut water kefir is a very delicious way to get extra probiotics as it creates a fizzy, champagne-like coconut water soda.

Personally I prefer using dairy kefir grains, which work quite well a few times, but since they prefer dairy to grow in they will get depleted and you will have to replace them. You can also use water kefir grains which just love a mineral-rich, sweet medium to grow in and coconut water is just perfect. If you are looking for cultures you can get dairy kefir grains here. The same method works for either dairy or water kefir grains.

Coconut water kefir is very rich in probiotics and it is best to only drink about 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time especially when you first start drinking it.

  • 1 can coconut water
  • 1-2 T kefir grains, dairy or water
  • 1/4 c fruit syrup for second ferment

Method:
Simply strain out your kefir grains. Add the strained grains into another can of coconut water (do this in a glass jar) and put a lid on the jar and place it in a dark warm spot for 24 hours (you can experiment with how many grains to put in and how long or how warm the spot is that you place the kefir to see how you like it best). A longer time, warmer spot and more grains will make a more sour kefir.

With the strained coconut water kefir you can either drink it up right as it is (many people like to chill it first), or you can make it into a fizzy, probiotic-rich fruit soda by adding in about 1/4 c fruit syrup. Alternatively you can just add in fresh fruit along with some sweetener (I prefer honey). It needs some kind of sweetener to get the fizz going in the second ferment. If you add in home-made, honey syrup you also won’t need to strain out the bits of fruit before drinking and it is quick and easy to add into your second ferment.

Bottle up the coconut water kefir and let stand in your warm, dark fermenting corner for another 24 hours before chilling and drinking. Simply fantastic!

If you start to notice that the first ferment isn’t getting very tangy, then you need to change your kefir grains.

So far my favorite flavor for a second ferment is raspberry, but any variety of fruit can be used. I prefer to make them into syrups with honey as it fits into my GAPS / SCD diet and makes it very easy to do a second ferment.

Other flavors you might like to try: grape, blueberry, blackberry, lime, peach, watermelon, herbal teas (I’ve made nettle, mint, green etc), spices such as star-anise, cardamom or ginger.

9 Comments

  1. Amy says:

    Hello,
    Do you know if coconut water kefir is ok to use in gaps intro diet instead of sauerkraut or yogurt?
    Thanks!

    • hellaD says:

      Yes coconut water kefir is ok to use in intro diet. It is probably a bit stronger than sauerkraut or yogurt and it would be good to use one or both sauerkraut and yogurt as well as there are different types of bacteria in them and it is good to get as much diversity as possible.

  2. shannon says:

    Just a quick question can you also share your recipe for raspberry-vanilla-honey syrup and maybe any other syrup recipes you make.I am always looking for homemade real fruit syrup recipes and this one sounds good.

    Thanks
    Shannon

  3. Maureen says:

    Can you use the grains for dairy again after using on the coconut milk? I have only a precious amount of the grains and no way to get more locally. Thanks!

    • hellaD says:

      You can use the kefir grains for a few times making with coconut water. Its not the coconut milk, actually I haven’t tried it on coconut milk that might be interesting but I think way to thick, probably more like a yogurt, I’ll have to try it.

      But since they aren’t geared for that medium they will loose their potency, so yeah it isn’t the best solution, as you would have to have plenty of leftover kefir grains. The ones I have grow like crazy if I am using them daily, so I haven’t tried using them in dairy again after doing a batch with coconut water.

      I hope to start using the water kefir grains soon as I think they will just thrive in coconut water.

      • Maureen says:

        thanks for the info. Yeah, I meant to say “coconut water” not milk. I have 1/2 tsp of milk kefir grains that I got dehydrated a few years ago from Marilyn the kefir lady. They have never grown but can easily make kefir out of a quart of milk. So it’s been OK. They aren’t likely to grow and give me extra to experiment with, but I may go for it and try the coconut water.

        • hellaD says:

          Hey I’ve been trying this now for more than a month with my dairy kefir grains. I just use the Cocos-Pure coconut water, as mentioned. I think it has the right amount of sugars in it to keep the kefir grains going as mine are quite happy. They aren’t growing but they are still kicking ass converting the sugars.

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