Water kefir flavours: second-ferment ideas

Water kefir is mild and lightly sweet on its own, and a second ferment in a sealed bottle turns it into a fizzy, flavoured drink. Add a few tablespoons of juice or a few pieces of fruit to each bottle, leave it for a day or two, then chill it.

The safe way to do a second ferment

1. Take the grains out first. Strain the finished water kefir. Never put the grains into juice or fruit, which can harm them.
2. Use the right bottles. Swing-top bottles are best. Check each one for cracks before you use it.
3. Fill and flavour. Pour in the water kefir, add your flavouring, and leave about 2.5cm of air at the top.
4. Close and wait. Keep the bottles at room temperature for 24 to 72 hours, or 12 to 24 hours in summer.
5. Let the gas out. Open each cap briefly once a day, over the sink.
6. Chill. Put the bottles in the fridge when they are fizzy, and open them slowly over the sink with a towel over the cap.

Flavour ideas

These amounts are for a 500ml bottle. Start with them, and change them to suit your taste.

Flavour	Add to each bottle	Notes
Mango	3 tablespoons of ripe mango pulp or juice	Sweet and soft. Keep summer ferments short.
Pomegranate (anar)	3 tablespoons of juice	Tart, with a deep colour.
Orange or kinnow	3 tablespoons of juice	Bright and sweet.
Lemon and ginger	1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 3 thin slices of fresh ginger	Sharp and warming.
Mint and lime	A few mint leaves and 1 tablespoon of lime juice	Cooling, for hot afternoons.
Strawberry	3 or 4 chopped strawberries	Lovely when they are in season.
Apple and cinnamon	3 tablespoons of apple juice and a small cinnamon stick	Mild and cosy.

Tips

• More juice means more sugar for the microbes, and a fizzier, faster second ferment. Increase the amount slowly, and open the caps every day.
• Flat? Give it another day somewhere warm, and check that the cap seals well.
• Gushing? Chill the bottles sooner and open them slowly over the sink.
• Keep bottled water kefir in the fridge, where it keeps for 2 to 3 weeks.

New to water kefir? Start with What is water kefir? and How to make water kefir at home. You can order live Water Kefir Grains and we send them by courier across Pakistan.

Sources: Cultures for Health, Water kefir: bottling, opened 10 October 2026; our own guide, How to make water kefir at home. Written by KefirBuy.