water kefir with rapadura

[blessedwithboys]

so i'm well along on my TF transition and last week i got my 2 cases of rapadura and my cultures in the mail. i have some water kefir grains rehydrating as we speak, and as of this morning, little bubbles are starting to rise.

of course, my 7yo and 15yo ds's look at it and call it muddy water and swear never to put lip to glass! LOL

i intended to mix it with fresh squezzed juice anyway, but i wonder if maybe rapadura isn't the way to go with this one cultured item.

does anyone use slightly more refined sugar for water kefir to make it look for esthetically pleasing to their kids? or should i just culture juice and skip the water part? i dont want to kill my little grain-babies! LOL

[rhesp1212]

You can use just about any type of sugar with water kefir grains...I have used just plain ol' organic refined sugar, sugar in the raw, and right now I'm brewing some with organic maple syrup and my grains are LOVING it! I have heard you can use pure fruit juices to brew with as well....or brew with just a sugar water for 24-48 hours, then strain out the grains. Add fruit juice or fruit pieces and bottle up. Let it sit for another day or two for a second fermentation. Rapadura has a very strong flavor that not everyone likes, but you can defnitely use other sugars without a problem. Maple syrup and sugar in the raw give it a nice pretty golden color.

[blessedwithboys]

i know it can be done with any ole sugar, but i'm trying to stick to TF principles LOL

i think maybe rapadura will have to be for baking and kombucha and for water kefir i'll use the organic version of the evil white stuff

[PeggyinNC]

I love to use rapadura for water kefir and kombucha. Sally Fallon says that kombucha can be done with just plain white sugar, but I am never quite comfortable with that. I tend to use Florida Crystals or whatever, it has still some molasses in it, and the grains just love molasses. The rapadura has even more of the good stuff in molasses, of course. I tend to use rapadura in water kefir more than kombucha, I think, because the kefir is only a 1-2 day brew, rather than the 4-14+ days of brewing kombucha. If I am making kefir lemonade, I just use the Florida crystals or whatever it is called, because then the lemon flavor is not overwhelmed by the molasses flavor. I try to stick to TF principles, too, because when I don't, I usually regret it~ good luck!