What is Tibico Kefir Water?
Probiotics
Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for you, especially for your digestive system. We usually think of bacteria and yeasts as disease and infection causing, but your body comprises over 70% (yes 70%) of its cell mass in bacteria, both good and bad. In many people, what should be an abundance of 'good bacteria' in their gut, is dominated by 'not so good bacteria'; the results of poor lifestyle, pharmaceutical drugs, antibiotics, processed foods, additives, pesticides, preservatives, salt, sugar, pollution, poor diet, plastic residues and the big killer... stress.
The kingdom of one hundred trillion bacteria that live in your gut is called the microbiome and an unhealthy microbiome can lead to many modern day diseases and ailments such as a weak immune system, food allergies, poor skin condition. heart attacks, strokes, Type 2 Diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's, Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Diverticulitis, bloating, inflammation and constipation, along with a direct correlation to many cancers.
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Tibico Kefir Water in your daily life
Tibico is a fun and an easy way to quench your thirst with a sugar free drink, while adding a wide range of probiotics and goodness to your diet. They are a great alternative to nut-milks in smoothies, sugary sodas and juices. Adored by adults and kids alike, Tibico is the perfect healthy add-on to your daily life.
Follow our Blog for more on how Kefir Water can improve your health and lifestyle.
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How is Tibico Kefir Water made?
Craft Fermented over 10 days in our own unique process.
Fermented beverages use "grains" of kefir culture to ferment sugars into amazing healthy goodness. These are not actual grains like wheat or rye, but polysaccharide crystalline structures created by live bacteria and yeast colonies living together in a symbiotic relationship, referred to as a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast). We now use the word community instead of culture.
Our Tibico colonies look like large crystals or "grains", hence the name and take on the colour of the fruits and spices which are fermented in our process.
Our nursery of Tibico Grains or SCOBYs (Symbiotic Community of Bacteria and Yeast) contains tens of thousands of grains in every batch we produce and within each SCOBY are billions of individual bacteria and yeasts all living and working in harmony.
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To date we have identified 18 different beneficial types of bacteria all essential for a health gut.
Our production operation is a 4 stage process in which air is completely excluded to generate anaerobic gut friendy colonies.
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Every bottle of Tibico takes 10-15 days to produce before it leaves for the customer.
Stage 1
Our nursery process produces 1,000 litre (or 1 tonne) batches using hundreds of thousands of 'Tibico grains' (pic above) under controlled temperature and time conditions. Micro minerals and organic dried fruits are added to provide a rich diet to the SCOBYs (symbiotic cultures of bacteria and yeasts). In return the SCOBY's ferment down the organic sugars into trillions of good bacteria and organic acids (mostly lactic and folic acid).
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At the end of the first stage (3 days) we filter out our SCOBYs to be used time after time.
Stage 2
In our second stage process, our Primary Ferment goes to either fruit fermentation to produce our unique fruit water kefirs or to ferment vegetables, fruits and spices for our unique kefir krauts.
For our water kefirs, we add up to 20% fruit and spices and many kilo's of more Tibico grains. During the next 3/4 days bacteria ferment the natural fruit sugars, converting them into more organic acids, a small amount of alcohol (less than 0.5%), phytochemicals beneficial digestive enzymes, pre-digested nutrients, amino acids, free fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals that our bodies just love.
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From start to finish we maintain strict anaerobic conditions to maximise the friendly cultures that will go to work within minutes of drinking Tibico.
Stage 3
Once our bubbling fermented fruit liquor reaches a pH less that 3.2 and a fructose content below 1% we filter and cold crash each tank to below 4 degrees to halt the process..
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Our third stage bottling and further 'in bottle' fermentation process is carefully controlled. Here we add the fizz to produce the carbonation of Tibico which brings you a healthy and refreshing sparkling probiotic beverage.
Stage 4
Once bottled and labelled we mature for 7 days before tasting and quality checking.
The end Tibico Fruit Water Kefir does vary in gas content from batch to batch. This is a completely raw, unpasteurised and natural process delivering a potent profile of gut friendly bacteria.
What's fermentation?
Preserving food by fermentation is nothing new. Humanity has been fermenting food since the Neolithic age, long before people understood the science behind the process.
Fermented foods are created through a process in which the components of foods are broken down by yeast and bacteria into other beneficial substances. The end result is a food that's chock-full of probiotics (good bacteria) and a variety of other beneficial nutrients: digestive enzymes, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that our bodies both need and love.
Examples of fermented foods; Cheese, sauerkraut, fermented vegetables, kimchi, yogurt, sourdough bread, and drinks like kombucha, kefir and wine.
Fermentation is the transformation of food by various bacteria, fungi and yeasts to produce alcohol, to preserve food and to make this digestible, less toxic and more/or less delicious.
Fermentation has played an instrumental role in human cultural evolution. a natural phenomenon much broader than human culinary practices. As Sapiens (Homo sapiens) our successful evolution has been equally successful due to the natural probiotics produced in fermentation and their population of our bodies. Not just Sapiens, but the digestive tracts of all living species. The probiotics produced during fermentation largely populate our large intestine, living symbiotically (equally dependent) breaking down indigestible foods to release their nutrients and support the cells responsible for powering our immune system, hormone balance and wellbeing.
Since the second world war, the exponential growth of processed and fast food and the uncontrolled use of antibiotics has become the major contributor to obesity, type 2 diabetes, gut ailments and the emergence of so many lifestyle illnesses.
It's so important for us all to incorporate fermented foods into our diets to support good gut health and a strong immune system..