Water kefir
Milk kefir
Kombucha
Ginger beer
Kefir and kombucha
Starter kit
RennetYou will not find live water kefir grains in the supermarket: only kefir drinks in bottles. From us you order 30 g for 1 litre a day or 60 g for 2 litres, wet and alive in their own liquid, with instructions and recipes. Pay by Visa or Mastercard debit or credit card, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal or Klarna (pay in 3). Standard tracked delivery costs £4.90 and is free from £35, and all prices include VAT.
Why the supermarket does not have them
Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda and M&S have more and more fermented drinks in the chilled aisle, water kefir and kombucha included. Handy if you want a taste, but they are ready-made drinks. You cannot start a new batch from them: the grains that do the work are not in the bottle.
Water kefir grains only ever grow from existing grains. You cannot make them appear from sugar water or from a bottle of kefir; the guide What are water kefir grains? explains why. So anyone who wants to make their own buys a living culture once, and then keeps it going for years.
What to look for when buying
Grains are grains, you might think. Yet a few things make the difference between a smooth start and weeks of wondering whether it is working.
| What to look for | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Wet and alive | Wet grains in their own liquid are active straight away |
| Enough weight | With 30 g you make a full litre from day one, without weeks of building up |
| Good packaging | A well-sealed pouch keeps the liquid and the culture together on the way |
| Clear instructions | Quantities, timings and signs, so you know what is normal |
| Someone to email | When in doubt you want a person, not a stock reply |
| Quick dispatch | The shorter the time in the post, the easier the start |
Our orders go out within 24 to 48 working hours, and every question sent to us is answered by a person. More than 20,000 customers have ordered from us, and they rate us 4.8 out of 5 on Trustpilot across 244 reviews.
Wet or dried?
Water kefir grains come in two forms. Wet, live grains travel in their culture liquid and can go into sugar water the day they arrive. Dried grains keep for a long time in the cupboard and need a few extra days to get going, because they have to wake up first.
Both become a living culture. If you want your first fizzy bottle soon, wet grains are the easiest route. Our water kefir grains arrive wet and alive. Our cultures come from traditional methods: unique and vigorous.
30 g or 60 g?
The ratio is always 30 g of grains to 1 litre of water. So choose according to how much you want to drink.
| 30 g | 60 g | |
|---|---|---|
| Water kefir per day | 1 litre | 2 litres |
| Suits | One or two people | A family, or two flavours at once |
| Sugar per batch | 4 tablespoons (about 60 g) | 8 tablespoons (about 120 g) |
| Jar | A little over 1 litre | A little over 2 litres, or two jars |
If you are unsure, start with 30 g. The grains grow, and within a few weeks you often have enough for 2 litres. If you want to keep a whole household in sparkling drinks from the start, or have two flavours on the go, 60 g is the obvious choice. The grains start at £11.
Adding a second culture
Lots of people start with water kefir and soon want something else alongside it. A set then works out cheaper than ordering separately.
- Kefir duo: water kefir grains and milk kefir grains together. Creamy kefir on the porridge in the morning, a fruity bottle in the afternoon. £27, which saves you £4.
- Water kefir and kombucha set: 30 g of water kefir grains beside a kombucha SCOBY, for two very different sparkling drinks: a fruity one every day and a tea-based one every week. £23, which saves you £4.
- Complete fermentation starter kit: water kefir, milk kefir and kombucha in one go. £40, which saves you £7.
Kefir duo: water kefir and milk kefir
Water kefir 30 g + Milk kefir 20 g. One creamy, one fizzy, every day.
You save £4 compared with buying separately
£27£54 / 100 g
incl. VAT, plus delivery (free from £35)Not sure which combination suits you? Which ferment suits me? helps you decide with a couple of questions. All the sets are together on Sets.
Delivery and payment
Your order is packed carefully and posted within 24 to 48 working hours, and we deliver everywhere in the UK. Both options are tracked, so you know when it is coming, and Royal Mail handles the last leg to your door.
| Option | Cost | Delivery time |
|---|---|---|
| Standard tracked delivery | £4.90, free from £35 | 3 to 6 working days |
| Express tracked delivery | £14.90 | 3 to 5 working days |
You can pay by Visa or Mastercard, debit or credit, with Apple Pay or Google Pay, with PayPal, or with Klarna if you would like to pay in 3. All prices are in pounds sterling and include VAT. Order the grains together with a second culture or the set and you go over £35, so standard delivery costs nothing. The full details are on Delivery and payment.
What to do as soon as the parcel arrives
Ideally, put the grains into sugar water the same day. You need 1 litre of water (tap water left to stand or boiled and cooled), 4 tablespoons of sugar, a dried fig and a slice of lemon. Grains in with their liquid, no rinsing, tea towel over the top. After 24 hours at 20 to 25°C you strain and start the next batch.
If that is not possible on the day, put the closed pouch in the fridge for one night. The first one to three batches are often flat: the grains are getting used to your water and your kitchen. What you will see in the first week is in Water kefir: the first days, and the full recipe in How to make water kefir.
As a present
A pouch of live grains with a good swing-top bottle is an original present for anyone who loves pottering in the kitchen, at Christmas, for Mothering Sunday or for a birthday. Do remember that it is a living culture: the person receiving it needs to put it into sugar water within a day. So it is best to have the parcel sent straight to them. More ideas are in Gift ideas for home cooks.
What else you need at home
You almost certainly have it all already. A glass jar holding a little over a litre, a plastic or stainless steel sieve, a tea towel and an elastic band, granulated or golden caster sugar, dried figs and lemons. For the second fermentation, add a sturdy swing-top bottle. How to get real fizz with it is explained in Water kefir: the second fermentation.
Frequently asked questions
How long are the grains in the post?
Can I keep the grains until I have time to start?
I once had grains that did not work. What now?
Do I have to buy new grains every time?
Can I pay in instalments?
Ready to start? Order your live water kefir grains from £11. Everything about water kefir, from the first batch to the best bottles, is in the complete water kefir guide.