Kéfirade

Kéfirade is made by mother and daughter, Sylvie Hudel and Marjolaine Nantillet, in Mayenne, north-west France. Fruit kefir has been a family passion for five generations – a fermented, naturally sparkling drink made from living kefir grains, passed from hand to hand the way a sourdough starter or a vinegar mother is.

Then came the turning point. Sylvie, a trained nurse, had to give up her profession for health reasons and started looking for something new – something natural and good. Her daughter Marjolaine, in her final year studying food and health engineering, saw the same gap: the shelves were full of sugary sodas but almost empty of drinks that were both good and alive. During a family meal in 2017, they took on the challenge of giving the old family drink new life. They started at home in Sylvie's kitchen, filling jars with a funnel and doing everything by hand.

Today Kéfirade is still made by hand, organically and unpasteurised – with real kefir grains and the living cultures created by fermentation kept intact. The recipe is simple and old: filtered water, organic sugar, kefir grains and – as tradition dictates – a lemon and a dried fig, before fruit, flowers or plants give each variant its flavour. During fermentation, the cultures consume most of the sugar and turn it into bubbles, so what's left in the glass is light and low. No artificial flavourings, no preservatives.

The result is a fresh, sparkling drink with character – in flavours such as lemon, elderflower and raspberry, plus a living ginger beer brewed on its own ginger starter. A genuine alternative to soda, and to the aperitif, for anyone who wants bubbles without alcohol.