How to Make Coconut Water Kefir

The words probiotics and healthy flora (aka “good bacteria”) do not sound very pretty which is quite ironic because it is precisely these substances that enhance our natural beauty – possibly more than anything else! It’s in our gut where these happy flora live and frolic.

If we’ve got chaos going on in our colon (a lack of good bacteria, impacted old stuff, antibiotic residue and/or food that’s fermenting due to poor food combining), we will most certainly feel it (lack of energy, erratic moods & depression, slow mental function…) and see it as problematic skin on our face or body (acne, rashes, redness or inflammation, eczema, psoriasis), and we’ll even get bloated and gain weight after a long period of a lack of digestive enhancing healthy bacteria. Yikes! See the connection between a happy gut and revealing your best you?

There are some holistically minded theories that state that dis-ease originates in the colon, and when taking a closer look at how the health of it is entangled with the rest of our body, it makes sense. So, this 1 concept – making a dairy-free coconut water kefir that is the poster child of probiotics, has the potential to literally turn your health around for the better. In following posts, I’ll share fun cocktail-like recipes using the kefir as the base and you’ll begin looking & feeling younger in no time.

Make Coconut Kefir Easily in 2 Days

Here is what you’ll need:

1. At least 3 fresh coconuts (the young Thai coconuts at a natural food store or Asian market will do, or better yet, if you live in the tropics, get wild coconuts from your locals farmers market). You can also use un-pasteurized coconut water drinks that are now popularly found in juice boxes, which are not raw, but will be made living upon fermentation. If you have access to frozen organic raw coconut water (found in the frozen section next to the berries), you may use this as well. Check out Harmless Harvest for a raw, unpasteurized coconut water. They are great!

2. A cheap, dull, long serrated knife with a sturdy handle (no sharp serrated teeth, as they may break)

3. A half-gallon or 1 gallon clean glass jar

4. Kefir grains: fresh wet kefir grains (looks like bits of soggy white rice) can be ordered organic and vegan from eBay.com very cheaply. When your grains arrive, store them in a glass jar in the fridge or use them all to make a batch of kefir immediately. You may also get it from online & local stores that sell The Body Ecology Diet products, though the ones on eBay are just as effective and much more cost-effective.

How to Open the Coconuts

Place your 3 fresh young Thai coconuts on a sturdy counter. One at a time, take a coconut, hold it down firmly with your hand on its side (so that the pointy end faces your knife hand) and with your serrated knife, saw off the husk at the pointy end until you have a couple of square inches of the inner light brown husk showing bare.

Be extra careful, watch your fingers, and avoid slipping from your grip on the coconut. Saw off the top half-inch creating a lid that reveals a 1 to 2 inch hold with the white coconut inner meat exposed. Halfway into cutting the lid, rotate the coconut so that the lid faces upward, preventing the inner coconut water from leaking out.

Making the Kefir

Pour out the coconut water into a sterilized half-gallon or larger glass jar and drop the kefir grains in. Do not tighten a lid over the jar. Keep the air flowing. Wrap a towel over and around the jar and keep in a warm place for 36 to 48 hours – maybe longer depending on the indoor temp (you want it warmer for these kinds of ferments). Come back and taste! Mmmm.

The coconut water should have turned cloudy white, having become a probiotic-rich kefir. It should taste somewhat intense, with a little bit of sweetness left and a little bit of vinegar flavor present. If you leave the jar out for a few more days you will create vinegar that is suitable for salad dressings, but too sour for the Superfood Beauty Elixirs I love to make.

Strain the coconut water kefir into a separate glass jar and store it in the fridge or use it immediately with your chosen kefir elixir recipes. Rinse the kefir grains and store them in a small glass jar in the fridge, or use them immediately in another batch of fresh coconut water kefir.

What other fermented foods do you enjoy on a frequent basis. Share your favorites below!

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Bethanne Wanamaker

Founder at Edible Goddess

Bethanne Wanamaker is the founder of Edible Goddess, a raw superfood dessert chef, holistic nutrition & lifestyle educator and author of multiple recipe books. She lives to inspire you to become the absolute best and healthiest expression of yourself! Bethanne teaches others how to activate their highest potential as an inspirational speaker and how to use food and lifestyle as the catalyst for a MUCH better life. Her delicious workshops have won the amazing award for "awesome classes as seen on Ellen" (the Ellen Degeneres show).