We've been drinking water kefir nearly every day since I started making it a couple of months ago. {The original tutorial can be found here.} Now that citrus season is nearly over, I started exploring other flavors, and by far, this root beer version is our new favorite. It's creamy and spicy and very refreshing. We are looking forward to making root beer floats with our homemade coconut cream ice cream this summer.
I'd love to hear from you if you've started making water kefir and what flavors you've tried and like best!
Probiotic Water Kefir Root Beer
Once you have your water kefir batch started and going strong, this is fairly easy to make. You basically make a tea with all of the roots, bark and spices, then sweeten and mix in with the water kefir before bottling to make it fizzy. The main ingredient that gives that true root beer flavor is sassafras bark, which you can find at health food stores or online, or if you know the plant you can forage for it in your area.
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Servings: 1 quart
Ingredients
- 3 cups of freshly made water kefir
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup rapadura
- 1 tablespoon dried sassafras bark
- 1 tablespoon dried wintergreen leaf
- ½ of a vanilla bean
- 1 cinnamon stick or a few cinnamon leaves if you can find them
- ½ teaspoon whole cloves
- 2 whole cardamom pods
- 1 star anise pod
- 1 knuckle sized piece of fresh ginger root
Instructions
- In a mortar and pestle, break down ginger, anise, cardamom, cloves and vanilla by pounding on them to release their flavors.
- Add water, sassafras, wintergreen, cinnamon stick and broken down spices to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately bring heat down to simmer and cover for 10 minutes.
- Strain off the infusion into a bowl or jar. Dissolve rapadura into the infusion while it is still hot. Cool infusion to room temperature. Pour infusion into the prepared water kefir and stir to combine. Pour mixture into a clean bottle or mason jar and secure lid.
- Let sit at room temperature for 1-2 days. Then refrigerate until ready to drink. Enjoy!
Notes
The longer it sits the less sweet it will be as the sugar gets eaten up by the probiotic bacteria. 1 day seems to yield the best true root beer flavor.
Burp bottle to release pressure once or twice a day. This stuff can get explosive! We've had a few messes already with it shooting out of the bottle. So open with caution.
Kristine says
I'm going on the AIP diet due to illness soon. Do you think enough of the sugar dissolves out?
Kristine says
Also do you think airlock lids work better for 2nd fermentation? With the regular plastic lids I am having trouble with no fizz
Kaity Farrell says
Hi Kristine,
The longer it ferments the more sugar will be used up. So you could ferment it for several days during the second ferment. You may have to "burp" it to release the presssure every so often. Yes you need to use air tight lids that seal. Plastic screw top lids will not work so well. Thanks for your comments! xx Kaity
Cindy says
I came across this recipe while searching for a root beer kefir recipe. I have not tried the recipe, but I want to comment about how I fixed the problem with the plastic lids. As you mention, the lids need to be airtight in order to create a good fizz. When making kefir for both the 1st and 2nd ferments, I use 1/2-gallon canning jars (I then bottle and refrigerate it). I use cotton covers held on with rubber bands for the 1st fermentation. For the 2nd fermentation, I would use the metal disks and metal rings that came with the jars. After some time, the metal rings began to rust and they became difficult to use. I had to use a rubber glove in order to screw them on tightly enough, but then had difficulty unscrewing them. I bought plastic lids hoping to fix that problem but realized quickly that they were not airtight. I looked locally but without success for silicone rings to pair with the plastic lids. Prior to ordering the rings online, I decided to try the metal disks with the plastic lids. They work beautifully! After only a few hours on the 2nd ferment, I burped the jars and heard the abundant sound of fizz. Time will tell if I will need to eventually purchase silicone rings.
Kaity Farrell says
Thanks for the tip, Cindy!
Todd says
I know this is an old post, but can you keep the infusion for awhile in the fridge and add a bit to each batch of kefir as you finish the first fermentation? It's a lot to go through all at once. I'd like to use it over time.
Kaity Farrell says
Hi Todd! Yes the root beer infusion will last in the fridge for 2 weeks I would say. Are you wanting to bottle it in single serve batches? Once you bottle the second fermentation, which you can do it in smaller sized bottles, and after it has fermented you can store it in the fridge for quite some time before opening it. So you can make a large batch of small bottles and just open them as needed. Hope that answers your question! Thanks for reading! xx Kaity
Todd says
Yes - since it loses sweetness in a day or two I was thinking it would work best to make the infusion batch and then make new root beer with each batch of Kefir to keep the sweetness where you want it.
Kaity Farrell says
Yes definitely! Give it a try and I would love to hear your results!
Todd McGlauchlin says
Kaity, when you say wintergreen leaves, are those wintergreen mint or wintergreen (gaultheria procumbens)?
Todd
Kaity Farrell says
Gaultheria procumbens! Makes a nice tea on it's own too!
Kaity Farrell says
https://reconalist.teachable.com/p/content-audit