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The Irish Kefir Co. by Balance You Foods
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FAQs

Questions, answered

Everything people ask most often. If yours isn’t here, get in touch.

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About water kefir

A lightly sparkling fermented drink, made by leaving live kefir cultures in sweetened water for several days. Ours ferments 96 hours in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo.

Small, translucent, jelly-like clusters of bacteria and yeasts. Called grains because of how they look, not what they are - there’s no grain and no gluten in them.

Yes. Every flavour is gluten free and vegan.

No. No tea at any stage, in any flavour.

No. It’s fermented in sugar water, not milk.

Not quite. Kefir on its own usually means milk kefir - fermented dairy, thick and sour. Water kefir uses different cultures in sugar water, so it’s clear, light and dairy free.

Kombucha ferments sweetened tea, so it usually carries caffeine and a sharper, vinegary note. Water kefir ferments sugar water with kefir cultures. No tea, no caffeine, lighter in the glass.

Yes. The cultures do the fermenting, and because we don’t pasteurise, they’re still there when the bottle is filled. That’s why it has to stay cold.

The cultures need something to feed on. Sugar goes in at the start of the 96 hours and they work through most of it. What’s left is on the label.

Fermentation produces a trace amount, as any live ferment does. It’s sold as a soft drink and every batch stays within the legal limit for one.

Water, organic cane sugar, live water kefir cultures, and the organic fruit or root for that flavour. Full declarations are on every label and on each product page.

In the glass

Drinking it

Dry, clean, slightly tart, with a fine carbonation. Closer to a dry sparkling drink than a soft drink.

No. That sharpness usually comes from kombucha, which ferments tea. Water kefir is gentler.

Lemon & Ginger is the most familiar - sharp citrus with warm ginger behind it.

Up to you. Most people have a bottle a day, or a few across the week. If you haven’t had a fermented drink before, start with one and see how you get on.

It’s unfiltered and alive. Most noticeable in the fruit and turmeric flavours.

The gas is made inside the sealed bottle during fermentation, so it can build. Open it over a sink and let it settle.

The same 96-hour ferment with 5g of creatine per 200ml. Creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity exercise. The beneficial effect is obtained with a daily intake of 3g of creatine, for adults performing high-intensity exercise.

Creatine Berry is made for adults doing high-intensity exercise and isn’t intended for children. For the other flavours - water kefir is unpasteurised and contains live cultures, so speak to your GP or pharmacist first.

Water kefir is unpasteurised and contains live cultures. If you’re pregnant or breastfeeding, immunocompromised, or managing a medical condition, have a word with your GP, pharmacist or midwife first.

Getting it to you

Delivery and storage

Yes, as soon as it arrives. Fermented, unpasteurised, live.

Until the date on the bottle, refrigerated and unopened. Once opened, that day.

Send a photo to info@irishkefirco.com with your order number. We’ll replace it or refund it.

Buy 3 - Get 15% off. Costs and regions are shown at checkout.

Buying

Orders

If it hasn’t been dispatched, yes. Email info@irishkefirco.com as soon as you can with your order number.

Yes. Email info@irishkefirco.com and tell us where you are.

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