Daphne I first tried Rejuvelac at a local raw vegan restaurant, Chicago Raw, and I won’t lie. It had a weird, like nothing I’ve tasted before flavor that I still find difficult to describe. The flavor is odd, but it’s definitely not offensive in any way. Some folks describe the taste as “tangy lemonade.” Hmmmmm not so sure I feel comfortable sending you off like that. The more accurate description is slightly “wheat-y,” lemony, understatedly sweet and a touch tart. In other words, it’s perfectly fine and plus, the taste isn’t it’s most attractive feature. Once I researched, I was most impressed with the benefits to the gut. As we learn from more and more research, the gut is the major key to the kingdom aka your baaawwwdddy.
The flavor is admittedly odd, but definitely not offensive in any way.
Rejuvelac is a pre/probiotic (and a ton of other nutrients too) -rich drink made by fermenting freshly sprouted grains in water. Including it in your diet is an inexpensive way to improve gut health.
The delicate balance of the trillions of bacteria in the gut is critical to overall wellness. Imbalances are linked to colon cancer, depression, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, and weight gain/loss. Although there are many ways to improve gut health like changing diet and reducing stress levels, including prebiotics and probiotics is a helpful tool. Because try as I might, I haven’t completely eliminated stress from my life and quite frankly I think it’s impossible (insert eye roll here), so I sprouted some wheat berries.
There are other options, but they’ll cost you. Kombucha is great, but I don’t have the patience to make it and buying it can cost $4-$5 a pop. There’s this probiotic drink shot that I like at Whole Foods, but it’s $5 for four servings. What’s even more fabulous is that rejuvelac does double duty. It’s not only an excellent gut tonic. It’s also a building block for making vegan cheese.
That’s how this all started. Was I just looking for economical gut remedies? No. I’m making fromage, baby. I was going to try to have it ready by Bastille day. But laziness won and I didn’t get started on time. All good though because any day is a good day for cheese. I’ll tell you more about the cheese later. Let’s just begin at the beginning. The Rejuvelac.
It took me a couple days to sprout the wheat berries. The instructions I found online for sprouting were a little confusing so I hope I do a better job of describing. Drop a message with questions.
- Place one cup of red wheat berries in a 1000 mL glass beaker and filled it up to the top with water.
- Cover the beaker with a few layers of cheesecloth and seal it at the rim with a rubber band.
- Soak in a cool, dark place overnight. Not the fridge.
- The next day, drain out the water so the berries are no longer submerged or floating in water.
- Cover the beaker again with cheesecloth and rubber band.
- I placed the beaker on its side inside of a large bowl until they sprouted. That took 2 1/2 days. You can lay them flat, if you’d like. It’s all a matter of preference and counter space.
- Once they sprouted, I placed them in a one gallon glass jar and filled it with water. About 8 cups.
- After covering the jar with cheesecloth and dealing with a rubber band, I sat it in a cool place away from sunlight. It sat there for until the water got cloudy and bubbly – about two and a half days.
- I doubled strained the liquid, placed it back in the glass jar, and refrigerated. Voila!
Of course, you don’t have to use a beaker or the same type of jar. It’s just important that the wheat berries are covered with water as they soak. You also want to make sure that your final jar is large enough to accommodate water.
Please let me know if you try it. I’d love to hear your experiences. Not ready to try to make it yourself? Check out your local health cafes or stores. The sometimes have a batch or two for sale. Cheers!
