Water Kefir with Pineapple
I think this pineapple water kefir with fresh cucumbers will become one of my favourite drinks for this summer. It is hydrating, sparkly, refreshing and delicious. Secondary kefir fermentation with pressed pineapple juice really gives it a ton of flavour.
Probiotic drinks like this secondary fermented water kefir with pineapple, just like raw fermented foods, support your gut microbiome. Why is that cool? Because a big part of our health comes from a healthy gut.
If you have water kefir grains, then you know the “drill” – just feed them sugar and you will get lactic acid, carbon dioxide and more microorganisms. I have described the whole water kefir making process in more detail in this post.
For the secondary fermentation, you just need to drain the liquid, add some cold pressed pineapple juice (or other fresh fruit juice) and keep in a closed bottle or a jar for 1-3 days.
Kefir grains are in fact colonies of bacteria and yeasts that feed on sucrose and produce lactic acid, carbon dioxide and ethanol. The microorganisms will, of course, reproduce, so after each batch of kefir you will have some new grains.
After each batch of primary fermentation, make the same sugar solution for your microorganisms and put the strained grains inside. You can eat the delicious fermented lemon, or put it in a cake or a smoothie.
When you notice that there are too many new kefir grains for a proper fermentation in your jar, you can just eat them in a salad, in a smoothie or save some of them in the fridge in a sugar solution and give them to your friends when they come by.
If you are interested in some more detailed instructions and tips for water kefir, you can find them in this post.
Water kefir with pineapple
Ingredients
- 1 cup water kefir grains
- 3/4 cup raw cane sugar
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- 5 cup water
- 1/2 organic lemon
- 1 cup pressed pineapple juice
Instructions
Dissolve the sugar in water and pour it into a glass jar. Add the kefir grains and sliced lemon with skin. If you cannot get organic lemons, cut the outer part of the skin before adding them to the fermentation medium.
Cover the jar loosely and let it ferment at a room temperature for 1-3 days, or until it gets acidic, bubbly and much less sweet.
You can strain the liquid and drink it at this point, but you can also make a secondary fermentation by adding about a cup of pressed pineapple or other fruit juice to the kefir water (without grains) and letting it ferment in a closed bottle for another day or two, depending on the temperature in the room.
If you see that it is getting very bubbly, it is good to open the bottle once or twice a day to get the excess gas out and to make it easier to open once it is ready to drink. It will still be really fizzy, as most of the carbon dioxide that microorganisms produce will stay inside the bottle.
Notes
Be careful when opening, it can get a bit explosive! I still have stains on my ceiling from a poorly handled bottle of passion fruit kombucha. Learned my lesson there.
