Have you given up on soft drinks because of all the loaded sugar and high fructose corn syrup?  I hope so.  I ditched those drinks several years ago.  Back then, I thought I was doing just fine, because I was drinking diet sodas and escaping the sugar content.  Well, that was just as bad, if not worse.  So since that time, I have had some great soda alternatives with my flavored homemade water kefir drinks.  If you want to know how to make your own water kefir sodas, which are a wonderful probiotic rich alternative, then see my Water Kefir Blog.  

I'm happy to share with you yet another great alternative to sugary sodas.  I just received from Amazon this past week, my Soda Stream soda machine.  It doesn't use electricity, so it can be placed just about anywhere.  It's fun to use and really neat to have that soda pop tongue tingle that I remembered so many years ago.  

But wait, I know you are wondering about the ingredients.  Well, this little fizzy drink can be compared to those very expensive Perrier Lemon Lime Sparkling drinks that are so popular now.  Perrier Sparkling Water contains only carbonated water and a little flavoring - that's it.  There's no sugar and no artificial sweeteners of any kind, but the carbonated flavored water hits the spot when you don't want all that other bad stuff, and the taste is really good, plus the fact it gives us more opportunity to drink water. 

 This little soda machine will put an end to lugging Perrier bottles from store to home.  I bet you can get the kids to convert over to this soda and give up all the sugar.  Even if you don't think a complete no sugar taste will go over, this machine will still make a great alternative, because just a small amount of the pre-mixed sugary flavors can be added.  With time, less and less sugar can be added, so this makes a wonderful transition type soda.  

The machine comes with sample packs of flavors, both sugar and diet mixes, which I'm not a fan of, so I ordered this little trio of flavors from Amazon as well.  It only takes 1/2 teaspoon for a powerful little taste, and again, these flavors contain no sugar or artificial sweeteners - just flavor, and fun!   For an even more natural drink, just add a little fruit juice of your choice; fresh squeezed would be tops.

The machine comes with one bottle, but I ordered an extra pair.  These bottles are BPA free.  Also, the machine comes with a small CO2 cartridge that screws into the back.  Larger canisters can be purchased when this small container is empty.

To make flavored carbonated water, just fill your bottles with cold  filtered water.  I fill my bottles with water and put them in the refrigerator for use when I'm ready.  All you have to do then is take a bottle out of the refrigerator and screw it into the nozzle on the machine and press a button.  Then you add your flavoring, put the top back on and sit back and drink.  That's it!  

I give this machine a two thumbs up!

After 2 days, use a mesh strainer (no metal) and strain off the kefir water.  This strained water is called the 1st ferment.  Put some of the kefir grains back into a new batch of sucanat or rapadura water (1 qt. water to 1/4 cup sucanat or rapadura) for starting a new batch, then, just pour up the strained kefir water into any bottles or jars and add your own flavor.  Grape is a favorite, just make sure you use organic grape juice.  I fill the bottles with the kefir water almost to the top, but leave a little room for adding the grape juice to the bottle, about 4 parts kefir to 1 part grape juice.  Really you can't go wrong. So this is called the 2nd ferment when you add some flavor.  Put a tight lid on if you want to produce a fizzy drink, and then just let this flavored kefir sit for about a day or two, and it's done and ready to be refrigerated.  Here's how you know if it's finished - slightly loosen the top, and if it fizzes like soda, it's done.  But be careful, I've had so much fizz that I've cleaned my kitchen walls and floors more times than I want to admit.  Grape juice is notorious for making a big fizz.

Ok, so here's some house rules to keep your little water kefir critters happy.  
1.  Don't let them go hungry.  You must strain them off every two days (except maybe in the winter, if you keep your house cold, then you might can go 3 days).  Going longer will make them sad and they will lose their health and won't be able to work for you.  You should see these little critters double in quantity every time you pour them up.  And sadly, that means that you will have to discard some of them.  You only need about 1/4 cup of them to each new ferment batch.  If they do not double in quantity, then (at least in my case) that means something is not quite right.  The biggest reason for not doubling in quantity is that they have been too long in the ferment before you changed it out, and they become weakened with time.   I've heard that some people say their grains do not multiply, but that's not my case.  I guess it depends on where you get your grains from, but from all indications, a doubling in quantity equals healthy thriving kefir grains, and also it means they are using up the sugar in the ferment.

2.  Use only filtered room temperature chlorine free water.  Chlorine will kill them, so maybe we need to think about what chlorine does to our bodies too.  Check out my water filter.  I love it.

3.  Use a mesh strainer; no metal (see my link below for where to buy)

4.  Use only sucanat or rapadura sugar (at least that's the only kind mine likes); no white sugar (not even organic), and no regular brown sugar! (see link below).  Mine love sucanat, but they go crazy over rapadura, so either works.

5.  Factors that effect ferment time:  temperature and the amount of grains in the water.
The higher the temperature the faster the ferment and the more grains in the jar the faster the ferment.  If you think about it, it makes sense.  Heat speeds reactions and then the more mouths to feed the quicker the food runs out.  So anyway, the general rule of thumb is that it takes 2 days to ferment.

With summer on the way, we will all be looking for that refreshing drink.  Have you ever tried Water Kefir?  It's the healthier choice soda alternative.  Say you aren't fond of water kefir?  Then try my other blog post on another soda alternative.  
 I've taught Water Kefir classes, but realized I didn't have a blog post about it, so here it is.  After reading, you will be able to make your own probiotic rich soda alternative.

Pictured to the left are 3 bottles of kefir in their 2nd ferment.  There are two bottles with crystallized ginger and one bottle with a mix of grape juice and crystallized ginger.  You can see the crystallized ginger in the bottom of the bottles. 

So here's my instructions for making water kefir:
First, you will need to get some water kefir grains.  These are different from milk kefir grains.  They are small rubbery like little particles that even bounce when you drop them.  They have their own little living colony of good bacteria and yeast in the grains.  These bacteria and yeasts feed off sugar and they give back probiotics in return.  That makes a good relationship between you and them.  You feed them sugar and they feed you with probiotics.

You can get these grains from many online sources or if you live close enough to me, I'll share some with you.  Just contact me.
Fill any jar with this ratio:  1 Quart Filtered Water to 1/4 cup Sucanat.  
Mix and add your kefir grains.  Let sit on counter for 2 days with a loose lid.