Nourish Me Organics (by invitation)

I have been on a fermentation journey for the past year or so.  Jars of kombucha and sauerkraut resembling science experiments crowd up my bench surfaces.  My home smells faintly of vinegar (fellow fermentators would know what I mean!). However I am new to fermenting milk and water kefir.  The folks at Nourish Me Organics were kind to send me a sample of each of their milk and water kefir grains to initiate me.

Nourish Me Organics' website is a treasure trove of information regarding gut health and recipes for kefir and other nourishing foodstuff.


I found the milk kefir easy to grow and it actually taste pleasant.  It reminded me texturally of unsweetened condensed milk by the time it was 'done'.  Here's what went into my milk kefir mix. The recipe was courtesy of Nourish Me Organics.

After two days, it had formed a thicker surface on the top with a few bubbles in suspended animation.  It was extremely creamy and dense.

The water kefir were slightly  more challenging to grow.  It wasn't difficult in terms of ingredient procurement but rather the grains themselves were a bit more sluggish.  I did a bit of Google research and found out that filtered water (which was what I had used) did not have much mineral matter to feed the grains.  To rectify the situation, many fellow fermentators had recommended I throw in an egg shell to provide a mineral boost.  Which I did and the grains seemed happier and grew slightly.

The water kefir underwent a secondary fermentation with orange juice and blackberries which was what I had at hand.  It wasn't as fizzy as I had anticipated.  My kombucha develops crazy fizz during secondary fermentation.  The water kefir was quite flat in comparison.  Once again, I think I need to experiment a bit more with the subsequent batches to make sure the kefir grains are happy and growing well.

Overall

Water and milk kefir is more palatable than say a kombucha drink which can get vinegary,  to get your dose of pro biotics and other goodies.  They also ferment much quicker so there is ease there in comparison.  These are also easy to mask in or masquerade as other beverages which makes it handy to sneak some goodness into unsuspecting children.