I love the purity of this wild kefir chardonnay recipe and its ability to pass as a plausible white wine replacement when you can’t, or don’t want to, drink a glass of regular wine with dinner. This is great when you want something to drink that feels indulgent and has the acidity to complement food.
This combination of ingredients offers just the right balance of flavours and, as a happy accident, they’re also rich immune-boosting substances. Oak chips are optional, but easy to source online, and they have been used medicinally throughout history to treat the common cold, sore throats and bronchitis. Interestingly, the high tannin content of certain wines is typically a result of ageing wine in oak barrels. It’s the oak’s tannin that lends both flavour and antibacterial properties.
Kefir grains can also be purchased online and are used to ferment the delicious brew below, resulting in a lot of gut-friendly, good bacteria-boosting benefits, as well as giving the drink a more rounded wine-like complexity.
by Rachel Dethample
This Wild Kefir Chardonnay Recipe Makes 1 litre
Ingredients
1 litre freshly boiled water
4 chamomile tea bags, or 4 tbsp dried chamomile flowers
2 fresh pine, spruce, or fir sprigs, or 2 tbsp dried needles
strip of lemon zest (about 1⁄2 lemon)
2 tbsp oak wood chips, or 2 tbsp oak-smoked water (optional)
2 tbsp golden caster sugar
3 tbsp kefir grains
How to tell the difference between Douglas Fir, Spruce and Pine Trees
Method
Pour the measured boiling water over the chamomile, pine and lemon zest in a large heatproof bowl.
If you’re using oak, toast it gently in a frying pan set over medium-high heat. You can use fine wood chips which look like desiccated coconut,
or larger chips that look like coconut chips. Toast until fragrant (you’ll get hints of vanilla scent when it’s ready) and lightly golden.
Tip the toasted oak, if using, straight in with the brewing tea. Allow to steep for 30 minutes, then strain into a sterilised 1.5-litre jar (see page 188). Stir in the sugar, then, when fully cool, add the kefir grains.
Cover with a cloth and let it ferment for 2 days at room temperature. Strain, bottle and chill before drinking. It will keep happily in the refrigerator for 1 week. Store the kefir grains in the refrigerator with just enough water to keep them hydrated; they can be reused. To keep them happy, dust a spoonful of sugar over them, as that’s their food source.
More on How Kefir Works…
Water kefir is a fermented, carbonated beverage made by inoculating a sugar-water solution (often with dried fruit) with water kefir grains – a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. These grains contain lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeasts, and usually some acetic acid bacteria (AAB), all embedded in a polysaccharide matrix. During fermentation (typically 1–3 days at room temperature), the microbes metabolize sugars (primarily sucrose from the sugar source) into a variety of end products. The result is a slightly sweet, acidic, mildly alcoholic, and fizzy drink rich in probiotic microorganisms
Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB): LAB (e.g. various Lactobacillus species) thrive in the anaerobic, sugar-rich environment of water kefir. They ferment sugars through glycolysis followed by lactic acid fermentation, producing lactic acid as a major end product. This lactic acid is responsible for the tangy, sour taste of water kefir. Many LAB in kefir are heterofermentative, meaning that besides lactate they also produce some carbon dioxide and either ethanol or other byproducts. For example, heterofermentative LAB can metabolize fructose (from sucrose) to mannitol (a sugar alcohol) and use this reaction to generate acetic acid instead of ethanol. (Mannitol itself has a mild sweetness and antioxidant properties, which can subtly influence flavour and health benefits.
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