Everyone’s drinking kefir these days. It may seem like a new thing, but it’s actually an ancient drink teeming with health benefits.
You’ve probably heard of dairy kefir: it’s all over supermarket shelves and, in the last 18 months, Tesco has seen a 400% uplift in its sales. To make dairy kefir, milk is fermented using a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast).
Because of the ferment, the drink contains billions of live cultures. Those of us in the know drink kefir to boost gut health and repopulate the microbiome with good bacteria.
Water kefir is the delicious, dairy-free cousin of milk kefir. They’ve got loads in common, but there are some key differences the Madre thinks you should know about:
- One of the most striking differences between water and dairy kefir is the texture of the drinks. Dairy kefir has a thick, yogurt-y consistency, while water kefir is much lighter and more refreshing, fizzing with bubbles.
- They have different tastes, too: dairy kefir is tangy, yeasty and sour, while water kefir takes on the flavour of the fruit it’s fermented with. It’s not sour, but it does have that satisfying yeasty kick!
- Both drinks are fermented with a SCOBY. The milk kefir SCOBYs, or grains, are white and look like tiny cauliflower florets. When healthy, water kefir grains are clear, gelatinous and shaped like tiny crystals.
- Although both kefirs contain live cultures, water kefir contains different lactobacillus strains to dairy kefir, like L. Mesenteroides, which is proven to survive intestinal conditions, reaching the gut ‘alive’.
So, next time you’re in need of a gut-health reboot, why not try a lighter, more refreshing Agua de Madre water kefir for a change? It’s the perfect way to rebalance your gut microbiome without having to consume the dairy! We Madres promise you won’t regret tasting this ideal invigorator.