There is nothing quite as refreshing as elderberry kefir soda, and making your own from scratch. This delicious elderberry soda is one you will want to keep on hand, perfect for warm months or the flu season.

My recipe is so easy, fast, and a great recipe to follow. If you have some water kefir grains on hand or you want to give water kefir grains a go, this recipe is perfect for you. If you don’t have kefir grains, you can pick some up off of Etsy, just give it a search “water kefir grains” and then pick a vendor! I did this with my milk kefir grains and water kefir grains. Both are thriving!
When you drink water kefir cultures, they have so many health benefits such as these per DrAxe.com:
Improved immune system
Protection against certain types of cancer
Boosts gut health
Supports weight loss
Suitable for any diet
This recipe is for the second fermentation of your water kefir grains after they’ve gone through their initial fermentation process. After you’ve already strained your grains after letting them sit at room temperature for 48 hours (first ferment), then it is now time to second ferment your kefir grains with your infusion.
How to make elderberry kefir soda
Ingredients you will need
First fermented water kefir
Elderberry jam (if you don’t have an organic elderberry jam near you, you can use elderberry syrup if you’d like)
Tools you need are
Flip-top bottles
Funnel
Now that you have everything ready, it’s time for the infusion for the second ferment. This is probably my most favorite way to make small batches of elderberry soda. To start, take your strained water kefir and place it in the blender with a tablespoon or two of elderberry jam. Blend this on low speed being careful to not over aggravate the water kefir. I made this mistake the first time I made this and allowed the blender to go at a high speed. Needless to say, a small explosion had been had and a mess to clean up. So be very gentle with your kefir, ha!

Blend just until there are no chunks in the water kefir anymore. Then, funnel the soda into a pop-top jar that’s safe for fermenting. Fill the jar leaving about an inch or two of headspace so the water kefir & the wild yeasts will have plenty of room to breathe.

Allow to sit for 1-4 days, burping daily. If you do not burp your water kefir, there is the possibility of your jar exploding under pressure.

So, that’s it! You can taste the elderberry kefir water daily and see which day you prefer to drink your soda. I prefer mine around the 48-hour mark, after that, I am not the biggest fan. So, it’s all in personal preference.
If you have a hard time flipping the top off of the bottle, just use a towel to cover the bottle and use the towel as a help. I do this about every time, the towel also aids in case there is a mess.
Other options instead of elderberry jam
So, if you have elderberry syrup just chilling in your fridge, you can use that instead. Just fill the bottle with water kefir a little over halfway, then fill the rest up, leaving about an inch or two of headspace.
Side note: Using elderberry syrup will make your fruit sodas not as sweet as using elderberry jam.
You can also use elderberry tea or elder flowers, or you can make your own elderberry syrup at home as well. All you need to make homemade elderberry syrup is fresh berries or dried berries, cinnamon stick, ginger, honey, etc. There are many ways to make it but that is the basic recipe I use. I sometimes like to use raw sugar to sweeten just a little.

So, there are so many more naturally fermented soda recipes and I will be adding more! You can read all about how to make your own milk kefir as well right here. I love adding different flavors to my water kefir in the second ferment. Stay tuned to see what other recipes I come up with.
Thanks for stoppin’ by y’all!
Related posts:
What is milk kefir and why you should make it
Fluffy milk kefir pancakes (from scratch recipe)
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