Strawberry-Chia Water Kefir

Strawberry-Chia Water Kefir

When the summer heat and humidity hit, I have strong cravings for cold sweet beverages – the kinds of drinks I rarely purchase – like coconut water, ridiculous froo-froo coffee drinks with lots of whipped cream, and recently, overpriced chia seed kombucha beverages.

Last week, our friend and neighbor Mike acquired some water kefir grains, and shared some with me. I’ve been wanting to start making water kefir for a while, especially after reading my friend Lisa’s post about how easy it is to make. We began brewing some at once, and were amazed at how refreshing and delicious water kefir is. With a hint of tart, a bit of sweet, and a little fizz, it’s the perfect summer beverage, and it’s a LOT less expensive than buying something similar at the store!

I wondered if I could re-create a chia seed beverage with the water kefir, so I’ve been playing around this week with a few combinations of ingredients and proportions, and finally hit upon one that I LOVE!

Strawberry-Chia Water Kefir

Step One: Brew up a batch of water kefir.

Check out Hullabaloo Homestead’s simple instructions here. Cultures for Health has a great FAQ section if you run into challenges.

Step Two: When fermentation is complete to your desired sweet-tartness, strain out the water kefir grains, and then add flavorings of your choice to the strained liquid. We used frozen strawberries from last summer and fresh lemon balm from the garden for this batch. The flavorings sat in the water kefir for about 24 hours.

Step Three: Strain out the fruit and herb flavorings, and add chia seeds. For about six cups of water kefir, I added 1/2 cup chia seeds. Let the chia seeds soak in the water kefir until they are soft and plump! Chill, and enjoy!

That’s all there is to it! The possible combinations of fruit, herbs, and chia are endless. We also enjoyed a strawberry-basil and a blueberry water kefir. I’m excited to experiment with ginger and peaches, and mulberries, and blackberries, and…

I’d love to hear your favorite combinations as well. Share in the comments below!

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Original article and pictures take homestead-honey.com site