Project: Made by Hand - Sam Murphy

I first met Sam whilst working with a cocktail mixologist in my hometown of Lewes. Originally from Leeds, Sam works as a Barre instructor in London, models for ITV’s This Morning, and co-founded Ki Kefir with her business partner (and my personal trainer), Damien.

For those who may not know, Kefir is a nutrient rich, probiotic drink that is great for gut health and is really versatile for cooking; helping not only those who are wanting to be healthy on a daily basis, but also people with IBS, Colitis, Crohns and more.

To make the Kefir, Sam starts by buying gallons of organic milk from grass fed cows in Sussex (thankfully available at the local market for her). From here, she adds the kefir starter grains into a jar and tops up with the organic milk; making sure to cover it with muslin. After twelve hours, it’s given a stir before resting for another twelve hours. After 24 hours has passed, Sam strains the grains through a sieve to separate the milk from the grains - now ready for bottling into 200ml/750ml sizes, to then be chilled. The strained grains are washed and are ready for use in later batches.

The next day they’re labelled and taken out for local delivery to their clients in and around London.

As someone who loves buying local, and eating nutritious, delicious and homemade food - I really like what Sam & Damien are doing at Ki, and it’s been great to see how much they’ve grown since I first met them!