Blue Bay goat kefir review
Here we will give a hands-on, taste-tested review of Blue Bay goat kefir. We’ll look into the benefits, ingredients, nutrition, use and flavour of this cow-free kefir.
You can find this kefir in some health foods stores in Australia. It is made on the Mornington Peninsula, so you’re probably more likely to find it in Victoria.
About kefir
Kefir is a fermented dairy drink which is made by adding kefir grains - full of different strains of bacteria and yeast - to milk. (There’s also non-dairy kefir, but we won’t get into that here.)
The result is a tangy dairy drink which is similar to yoghurt but more runny. It also has a lot more bacterial diversity than yoghurt does which makes it better for our gut.
Because of this diversity and increased microbial activity, kefir can sometimes taste a bit more ‘funky’ than yoghurt.
Kefir can be had on its own or you can add it to cereal, smoothies or dressings to increase your probiotic intake.
And because of the strong fermentation of the milk sugars, it is better for people with some degree of lactose intolerance.
Read more about the benefits of kefir and how it differs to yoghurt.
Ingredients of Blue Bay goat kefir
This is an authentic and simple kefir which only contains non-homogenised goat milk and live cultures.
As you can see it is very clean and natural and doesn’t use any milk powders as some supermarket competitors do (like Babushka’s Kefir and The Collective Protein Kefir).
Benefits of Blue Bay goat kefir
This kefir comes with various health benefits, particular related to its probiotics. For context, we’ll compare a few key factors against Table of Plenty kefir, which is another high-quality kefir.
Goat milk
One of the key reasons you might choose this kefir is because it contains goat milk rather than cow milk. This means that there is no A1-beta casein protein in this kefir. (You can read more about why some people choose to avoid this in our review of Jalna A2 protein yoghurt.)
Probiotics
Probiotics are live cultures (usually bacteria) which have been proven to give us health benefits.
Blue Bay claim this kefir is fermented with ‘10 probiotic strains’. Unfortunately, they give no information on the exact strains included apart from saying that they use ‘live ABC and kefir cultures’.
‘ABC’ refers to:
A – Lactobacillus acidophilus: a well-known probiotic strain
B – Bifidobacterium: this is a genus of bacteria. Common strains within this genus are probiotic, but not all of them
C – Lactobacillus casei: another common probiotic which is resilient and survives the passage to our guts well
The term ‘probiotic’ is often used loosely in marketing to refer to live cultures which aren’t sufficiently beneficial to our health to be considered actually probiotic. So while we know there are some strains of probiotics in this kefir, it is unclear whether there are actually 10 strains of live cultures which are all strictly considered probiotic.
In contrast, Table of Plenty specifies the 10 strains of live cultures it includes - and around half of these are considered probiotic.
In terms of the actual amount of live cultures present (ie colony forming units), Blue Bay goat kefir has 12 billion CFU per 100g. For comparison, Table of Plenty has over 37 billion colony forming units per 100g.
Learn more about the benefits of probiotics.
Other health measures
Various health measures in this kefir (like Table of Plenty) come in fairly mid-range, with none being very low or high.
Fat: This kefir has moderate fat levels at 3.8%. While this isn’t super high, it is above most other brands including Table of Plenty which is 2.7% fat.
Protein: Its protein content is fairly good at 3.9% - which is above Table of Plenty at 2.9%. However it’s worth noting this is much below The Collective Protein Kefir which is 7.3% protein.
Calcium: Its calcium content is also good at 150mg per 100g - which is above Table of Plenty at 120mg.
Appearance
Like all authentic kefir, it appears very lumpy and a bit split.
As the picture below shows, the lumpiness causes it to pour very unevenly into the glass and it splashes a lot because of this.
Texture
The texture is very lumpy and thick. And it has the sort of ‘slimey’ characteristic of good kefir - sorry but it’s true! (And not a bad thing.)
Flavour
The aroma is surprisingly neutral and smells mostly like a normal yoghurt. So far no goat.
The taste is quite acidic and of fresh milk. Again, it is not as goaty as I was expecting. Some goat flavour comes through at the end of the palate and lingers on the tongue though.
Overall, the taste is very good. It has a lovely, vibrant and fresh milk taste. And the acidity makes it refreshing. I was worried the goat flavour would be too strong, but it definitely is not.
Use
Because of the great taste, you could use this kefir in many ways. It could go on cereal, used in smoothies, used in dressings and definitely drunk on its own.
Cost of Blue Bay goat kefir
We bought a 500ml bottle from a wholefoods store for $7. This makes it among the most expensive kefir we have reviewed so far. But given it is a niche, small-batch, high-quality product, I don’t think the price is outrageous.
Summary
Rating: 4.75 stars out of 5.
Verdict: Blue Bay goat kefir is a delicious kefir with some probiotics and a taste which isn’t overly goaty.
Pros
clean, simple ingredients
great refreshing taste
made from fresh goat milk (not milk powders)
contains only A2 milk proteins
seems to have good microbial diversity…
Cons
….but more information is needed on whether all the microbial stains are actually probiotic
expensive
Other health benefits of kefir
Along with the specific benefits of this kefir mentioned above, kefir in general is good for our health in the following ways.
Vitamins and minerals
Kefir is a source of various vitamins and minerals including:
calcium
B vitamins (B12 and riboflavin)
magnesium
potassium
phosphorous
These vitamins collectively support bone health, energy production, muscle function, immune function and cardiovascular health.
Probiotics
These are the beneficial living microbes you are ingesting when you drink kefir. And kefir in general usually has a lot more different strains of probiotics than yoghurt or kombucha does.
Probiotics offer many health benefits including:
better digestive health
better immune function
reduced inflammation
reduced allergies
better nutrient absorption
Postbiotics
Postbiotics are essentially things probiotics produce during fermentation. These include healthy short-chain fatty acids which nourish our gut lining and may help reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Reduced lactose
Because of the strong fermentation of milk sugars by a diverse range of bacteria and yeasts, kefir is better for people with some degree of lactose intolerance compared to milk or yoghurt.
Your reviewer
This hands-on review was written by Travis, the founder of this website, long-time gut-health enthusiast, science nerd and passionate kombucha maker of over 10 years!
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