small size- Contains 25g and will brew up to 500ml per brew
Standard Size- Contains 45g will brew up to 1L per brew
Family size- contains 80g will brew 2L per brew
Are you looking for a healthy alternative to chemical laden fizzy drinks? Water Kefir is just what your looking for. Water Kefir is a fermented drink chock full of beneficial bacteria, it is easily flavoured incredibly versatile and simple to prepare and to some more palatable than kombucha, offering a pleasant alternative to commercial fizzy drinks. Similar in flavour to a dry, and slightly fizzy lemonade, water kefir is pleasant and even small children can enjoy it. As with many probiotic foods and beverages, that faintly fermented flavor is an acquired taste – especially if you’re accustomed to overly sweet, sugary beverages. Impressively rich in micronutrients, enzymes and beneficial bacteria, water kefir numbers among the top ten pro-biotics and is a fantastic alternative to milk kefir if you are looking for a diary free alternative
Water kefir, like kombucha, is first cultured by introducing a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts into sugar water.
The beneficial bacteria and yeasts present in the grains metabolize the sugar and turn it into actic acid. Grains are small, translucent, gelatinous structures and are made up from an mixture of bacteria including lactobacillus hilgardii which gives them their characteristic crystal-like appearance. When properly cared for and regularly cultured, they produce a wonderful probiotic-rich beverage and will continue to grow and reproduce indefinitely. The grains have been grown in chlorine free water. Full instructions, and some general care information is included.
The grains are sent in a heat sealed sachet with plenty of kefir liquid to ensure their safe arrival, please use within 48 hours of receipt.
If you are not planning on starting your kefir immediatley or are looking for international delivery please order dehydrated grains.
Water Kefir: the basics
PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU DO THIS AS SOON AS YOU RECIEVE YOUR GRAINS
Equipment
Non metal Strainer
Wooden or Plastic Spoon
1 litre or larger glass jar
Bottles for storage
Ingredients
1 Sachet of Water Kefir Grains
3 Tablespoons Organic Raisins or Other Unsulphured Dried Fruit
65-70G of Sugar per sachet of grains
1/2 Organic Lemon**
1 Thin Slice Fresh Ginger, Peeled**
750ml-1litre Filtered, Chlorine-free Water (leave boiled water over night to remove Chlorine)
** Optional
Method
1. Disolve sugar into water. Do not use honey in place of sugar. Honey has antimicrobial properties and will damage your water kefir grains or delay their proliferation.
2. Add water kefir grains, raisins, half a lemon and slice of ginger to the mixture of sugar water in a glass jar.
3. Allow your water kefir to brew in a lidded glass jar (or glass jar covered with a tight weave cloth, DO NOT SEAL THE LID ON THE JAR) at room temperature for 24 – 48 hours depending on the strength you prefer and the temperature of your home. The warmer your home is, the faster water kefir will brew.
4. Strain the water kefir grains, raisins, lemon and ginger from the water kefir and bottle the liquid into smaller containers.
5. (Allow the smaller bottles to sit out for another 24 – 48 hours to continue fermentation and produce natural carbonation)** optional if you wish your kefir to be really fizzy.
6. Serve cold over ice and enjoy!
7. Please make sure that you change the water and refresh your kefir at least every 48 hours but if you can change the water every day, even better!
Water kefir is remarkably versatile.
This basic recipe can be altered slightly to introduce different beneficial herbs or flavours to produce a wide array of probiotic beverages. Some people enjoy replacing the ginger with fresh mint, anise or cardamom while others replace raisins with figs.
Kefir is a fermented pro-biotic, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that help balance your “inner ecosystem.” It is very similar to Kombucha but is made with sweet water instead of tea and is made with live Kefir grains. It is far more nutritious and therapeutic than yogurt, it supplies complete protein, essential minerals, and valuable B vitamins.
· Kefir is very simple and inexpensive to make at home
· Kefir is excellent nourishment for pregnant and nursing women, the elderly, and those with compromised immunity.
Due to the fact we are selling live bacterial cultures and lots of glass- We only dispatch Mon-Thursdayto avoid the live cultures sitting in the post over the weekend and sometimes we may have to wait for a culture to finish growing before we can send it.
We will try to get orders dispatched as quickly as possible but due to the nature of the goods as well as the volume of orders we receive it is not instant dispatch and in most cases it will take us at least a day or so to pack up orders.
If you have questions or want a rough estimate of the wait give us a call 01323 730091
Updates and Delays:
The strikes are over but the service from Royal mail is still as shaky as ever but at the moment they are the best of a bad bunch. We are currently using Royal mail and DPD services.
We apologize that this will increase postage costs but this is because we have had to switch to fully tracked services as Royal mail do not seem to want to deliver letters or untracked post. They have also just increased their prices by 10% and added a new climate surcharge and also a further fuel surcharge and a peak time surcharge (they are now charging more when they are busy!) and they now charge us to return to sender if there has been an address issue that prevented delivery.
Please feel free to complain to Royal mail about the prices and the new surcharges they invent on a weekly basis. but sadly we have to pass them on.
From 2 January 2024, proof of non-delivery from the intended recipient will be required to support a claim for loss with Royal Mail.
If you believe your item is lost/not delivered/incorrectly delivered, you need to provide specific evidence. This applies if the item has been tracked to the recipient's delivery office, and there's no tracking to confirm delivery has been made or attempted. Alternatively, if the item has been confirmed as delivered, but you believe the delivery information is inconclusive, you will need to provide evidence if any of the following apply:
No photo on delivery captured (not currently available for Tracked Returns®)
Photo captured but not believed to be at the intended address
Poor quality photo capture
The photo shows the item left in an inappropriate location (at the property but in an insecure location)
No or incorrect signature (signature products only)
Please note that where an item is tracked as delivered to the intended address, and delivery evidence supports this, they will not consider any claim for loss. If the item has been stolen from a secure location or by a neighbour this will need to be reported to the police.
All claims must include supporting evidence.
These are Royal Mail's new rules, we have no option but to follow them. If you do not provide us with the evidence that Royal Mail require we will not be able to help. Royal Mail are doing this due to a huge rise in fraudulent claims and mail fraud.
Our standard postable service is currently being sent via Royal Mail
Our Express service is being sent via Royal Mail/DPD (up to 500g)
Our Express parcel service is sent via DPD (500g-10kg)
Our standard service/free shipping is sent via Royal Mail/DPD(500G-10KG)
These recent changes have been implemented by DPD country-wide – they are not specific to Happykombucha parcel deliveries.
Please take the time to read through the following bullet points carefully so that you are aware of steps that will need to be taken in order to receive your delivery on time:
DPD will now only attempt to deliver your parcelONCE. If no one is available to take receipt of the parcel, a delivery note will be left, and you will need to take this to your nearest DPD ‘drop off shop’ in order to receive your parcel
If your parcel is not collected within seven days, it will be returned to us at Happykombucha.
It is recommended that you download the DPD app, which can be used to receive updates on your delivery, as well as to collect your parcel at a DPD ‘drop off shop’
DPD will confirm an hour delivery slot via text message, at which point you will be able to request delivery to a safe place, or neighbour – if you do not do this and there is no one available to take receipt of the parcel, a delivery note will be left, and your parcel will be taken to the nearest DPD ‘drop off shop’
When you are placing your order with HappyKombucha, please inform us of any specific delivery requirements(such as, “please leave in my porch”/”please leave with next door neighbour”), so that we can amend delivery notes for DPD on our system
We will endeavor to ensure that missed deliveries are minimized, but we would request your help to do this by taking note of the above, and informing us of any relevant details at the point of order. Please note DPD deliver Mon-Fri (excluding bank holidays).
Packaging:
As we sell a lot of glass and fragile items we do have to use a great deal of packaging. We do try to keep it to a minimum BUT we would rather your item arrived in one piece than be mean with the packaging.
HOWEVER all of the packaging that we use is either recycled, can be recycled or is biodegradable. The only exception to this is the tape we use which is made from PVC and needs to be thrown in the normal waste.
Boxes-Our boxes are made from recycled cardboard and can be recycled
Bubblewrap- This is Biodegradable
Packing peanut-These are biodegradable
Culture Packaging-Plastic but it can be recycled*
If you purchase an item that we have not physically made (ie from Kilner or Kefirko) we cannot guarantee the internal packaging is plastic free but we do encourage our suppliers to use as little plastic as possible.
*all culture packaging has been audited and passes Organic standards.
Postage costs:
Please note: Any delivery times quoted are in addition to the 1-7 working dispatch wait.
UK Mainland
Standard delivery-small items - Delivery aim 3-7 working days £4.95 (Delivery confirmation, GPS delivery scan)
DPD parcel - Delivery aim 1-2 working days £7.95 (fully tracked, delivery confirmation, GPS scan) UK mainland only. One hour delivery timeslot.
Standard delivery-parcels - Delivery aim 3-7 working days £6.95 (fully tracked, delivery confirmation, GPS scan)
DPD- Delivery before 12 noon. Delivery Aim 1-2 working days- weekday delivery's (MAX 15kg) * £16.95 (fully tracked, delivery confirmation, GPS scan, delivery window) UK mainland only * This service is NOT suitable for liquids in bottles.
FREE SHIPPING- Available for all orders over £50* UK mainland and Northern Ireland only
Please note: all delivery times are aims and are not guaranteed. Please do expect some delays at present. Please do not worry about live cultures please see the guide below for how long they can be in their packaging.
Kombucha scoby-Up to 1 year
Kefir (both milk and water) - 14 days
Sourdough (all varieties) - 3 Weeks
Viili - 7 days
Ginger beer/Turmeric bug - 3 weeks
Northern Ireland and Highlands and Islands are included in our free delivery
Free shipping offer is available for orders over £50* to any UK address and is sent via our standard service. It is not available for deliveries to a non UK address or for orders that are heavier than 15kg.
*Or subject to any current free shipping promotion, Excludes liquid deliveries
Please note: it is your responsibility to ensure that the name & address you have given us correct. Our website sends your address exactly as you input it into Royal Mail/EVRI/DPD to produce the delivery label. It is very difficult to amend details once they have been passed on to the couriers. We cannot amend an address once an order has been dispatched. If you need us to change a name or address then please give us a call on 01323 730091 (Mon-Thurs 9am-4.30pm) please do not sent the request by email. We will try our best to amend address's where we can but we cannot always guarantee that we will be able to.
We use DPD/EVRI/ROYAL MAIL as our standard shipping method. You will be informed of the progress of your order via email or SMS depending on the details you have given us. We will provide the courier with your email address or mobile number and they will contact you with delivery information, this email/text message also contains the information needed to rearrange or alter the delivery.
Please note: we cannot ship to Poste Restante address' and if you would like something sent to a BFPO address please check that whatever you are purchasing is allowed to be sent. The rules have changed on this and items returned due to incorrect customs will not be resent.
Royal Mail Surcharges:
Royal mail charge surcharges in certain circumstances
Where items are returned to the sender for the below reasons, you will be charged a standard rate by Royal mail to return the item back to us (£5.95) These charges will be taken from any refund issued.
Undelivered items that have not been collected, nor a Redelivery arranged within the 18-day holding period
Incorrect/incomplete address
Recipient moved (gone away)
Recipient refused
Please ensure your address details and contact details are correct as once Royal mail has issued charges we cannot get them refunded.
Northern Ireland and Highlands and Islands are included in our free delivery
What happens if your order states that it has been delivered but you cannot find it?Free shipping offer is available for orders over £50* to any UK address and is sent via our standard service. It is not available for deliveries to a non UK address or for orders that are heavier than 15kg.
*Or subject to any current free shipping promotion, Excludes liquid deliveries
FOR ALL OF THE ABOVE DESTINATIONS PLEASE CHOOSE HIGHLAND AND ISLAND AS YOUR POSTAGE OPTION. if incorrect postage option is selected we will either send your order out via Royal Mail where possible or will contact you to pay additional postage costs.
What Happens if your order is delayed?
If your order is delayed by the delivery company please contact us and we will chase up the delivery. If we replace your order and the original order then arrives please contact us to arrange to have the goods returned to us. DO NOT THROW THE GOODS AWAY. We will replace goods once the delivery company have confirmed that the goods are lost, we will no longer replace the order until we have had this confirmation from the courier. Sadly we have had to implement this policy due to the levels of fraud that we are currently facing. We will ask you to fill in a form in order to claim with the courier. This is for GDPR compliance. Royal Mail do not class an order as late until 10 working days have passed since posting.
What happens if your order arrives damaged?
If your order arrives broken or damaged then please inform us within 7 days and take photographs of the damaged goods and packaging. Once we have received photographs of the damaged items and packaging we will replace the item as soon as possible. If we do not receive photographic evidence of the damage we will not be able to process a claim and therefore will not be able to offer a refund/exchange.
Please do not throw away any broken goods until we have confirmed it is ok to do so as sometimes the couriers ask for the goods as part of their investigations.
We will ask you to fill in a form in order to claim with the courier. This is for GDPR compliance.
What happens if your tracking states that the order is delivered but you cannot find it?
We send all orders with a GPS delivery confirmation and some with full tracking (depending on what you select at the checkout). This is a scan shows the location of the delivery as well as the time and date. Some of our smaller orders are sent in letterbox boxes so check that it has not simply been posted through your door (or an immediate neighbors). Often with these deliveries another member of your household has picked up the delivery and forgotten to mention it so its best to double check this. Some of the services that we use provide a delivery confirmation photo so please check the photo as it will often show you were they have left the delivery. If it still cannot be located contact us on 01323 730091 (Mon-Thursday) and we will get that investigated. Please be aware that if the delivery needs to be investigated we will no longer replace the goods until this investigation is completed due to the current high levels of mail fraud we are currently experiencing.
What happens if there is something missing or wrong with your order?
We do try and make sure that all orders are 100% correct however they all packed by humans so occasionally we do make mistakes. If we have made an error with your order please give us a call (01323 730091 Mon-Thursday) and we will get that investigated and rectified for you.
We Charge VAT on all applicable orders and our VAT registration number is 191475390
International Shipping:
Currently we have had to suspend shipments to the EU countries due to difficulties with the EU border and our logistic partners. We are currently working on a solution and hope to reinstate ordering very soon. Trade shipments are still able to be processed.
Please be advised that the courier may look to leave your parcel with a neighbors if you are not at home when they deliver, if you are not happy for this to happen please ensure that you display an opt out sticker available from Royal Mail and notify us in the notes to merchant section of the shopping cart so we can note it on your parcel.
