Place the cranberries into a stock pot and cover with the gallon of water. Simmer over medium heat until the cranberry skins start to pop.

Simmer gently for ten minutes - the water in the pot should be dark red.

Strain out cranberry bits with a fine mesh sieve to remove cranberry skins and flesh. If you want to remove cranberry seeds, too, use cheesecloth to strain.

Return the cranberry juice to the pot and heat and add the sugar. Stir until dissolved entirely.

Add the mulling spice in a tea ball or tied up piece of cheesecloth to the pot and steep over low heat for at least 20 minutes. The longer the spices are in the pot, the stronger their flavor will be, FYI.

Remove the spices and pour the cranberry juice into a large pitcher. At this point, add the fresh orange juice, mixing it in well, and then taste the punch. Does it need more sweetener? More citrus? If you've got too much of a flavor, add a little more water or some unsweetened apple juice which can have a very balancing effect on homemade punch.

Serve this punch warm or cold.

Follow the instructions above to make cranberry punch up to number 6 - do NOT add the fresh orange juice yet. Allow the spice cranberry juice to cool to room temperature.

Add the additional 1/2 cup of raw sugar and the water kefir to the cranberry juice and place the whole mixture into half gallon jars with lids (or any non-metal container with a lid). Allow the kefir to ferment overnight in a warm place.

In the morning, taste the cranberry mixture - is it fizzy enough? If not, allow it to ferment another six hours. Fermentation is a finnicky business and the speed with which is occurs depends a lot on ambient temperature, as well as the kind and amount of sugar used to feed the ferment.

Once the cranberry mixture is fizzy enough for your taste, add the orange juice and the liquid sweetener to taste. Serve immediately on ice!