Cultures For HealthWater Kefir Grains | DIY Fermented Probiotic Drink Powder for Stronger Gut Health | Heirloom Starter Makes Limitless Supply | Non-GMO Dairy Free Vegan Sparkling Water with Enzymes

Nice, plump kefir grains. This is the first time I've tried dehydrated grains. I bought fresh kefer grains from a seller on Amazon a month or so ago. I want to make more kefir, so ordered more grains. Thought I'd try the Cultures for Health dehydrated type. The instructions were easy to follow and I had my first jar of water kefir after 4 days. It's very easy to rehydrate. Put 1/4 cup good quality sugar in a quart jar with warm purified water. I use organic sucanat sugar for my water kefir. Let the sugar totally dissolve, then add the kefir grains. Wait 3-4 days until the grains have gotten big and translucent. Then strain off the grains, put the kefir in the fridge and start a new batch by repeating the 1/4 cup sugar in a jar of water process again. Every 48 hours, you'll have a new batch of water kefir. This is such a healthy, tasty, refreshing drink; full of natural probiotics! I understand that many people put the finished kefir into a 2nd ferment by adding fruit or fruit juice and letting it ferment another day or so. You can flavor it any way you want. The second ferment makes fizzy kefir and resembles soda. I haven't tried this yet, but plan to give it a try. These Cultures for Health kefir grains are much bigger than my other water kefir grains. The kefir tastes slightly different, but equally good. I was making milk kefir on a regular basis, but felt I was putting on weight because of the full fat milk. I switched to water kefir and I like it better because it's not so filling. Also, making water kefir is easier and cheaper than making milk kefir. Water kefir only needs "harvesting" every 48 hours, as opposed to milk kefir which ferments in 24 hours. If you're considering making your own water kefir, I highly recommend these grains.

The media could not be loaded. I have never written a review discouraging anyone from buying. However, I purchase these on June 30, it’s September 7 and these are my dehydrated water kefir cultures. Does it work, yes. But my problem with them is, according to pics on their ad, the cultures look like beautiful crystals. They claim it multiplies under proper care. I am very consistent and take great of my cultures like a child. I have done everything from only spring water, exact portions of water and sugar, alternating every three weeks I have fed it organic figs, dates and even bought the darn expensive Celtic salt to aid in growth and strength. I always use a good mesh strainer to avoid losing any grains and never used any metal strainer (not even stainless steel). As you see, this is what my grains look like. I’m almost afraid these grains are engineered not to multiply so people will have the only option to buy. It’s just strange to me how bo matter how much care, this is the result. Makes No sense. So I would am going to try a live strain from another company next time. Bummed this is it from those grains.Final note: as I said they work, they fizz, they taste good, they however are weak grains, not plumb at all - just what you see in pics. Disappointed. I hope this review helped.

EDIT: Changing review to 5 stars because Cultures for Health offered a refund and some value suggestions moving forward.Really bummed these water kefir grains didn't work. I know Cultures for Health is a great company but I'm disappointed that these grains did not activate. I followed the instructions exactly as written and was even in contact with their customer support for a little additional information I needed. Unfortunately after answering my questions I didn't get a response back when I sent them pictures of the grains after the 3 days initial activation. The grains are mushy and not alive at all, there is absolutely no fermentation going on with the first fermentation. I should have bought the grains directly from Cultures of Health since they offer a 60 day guarantee. Lesson learned. I was going to leave 1 star because the grains didn't activate but decided on 2 Stars because they originally had quick communication.

For background info: I have been fermenting things for years, brewing kombucha and working with other cultures, all with 0 issues. That is not the case with these grains.First off, the grains were the size of pop rocks, not the size shown in the pictures. It's like they scraped the bottom of the barrel for my "grains". Next I rehydrated them as the instructions say, thought everything was good to go. I gave them 2 days even though they were translucent after 24 hours. I began my first actual crew, water was cloudy and smelled interesting so I put it in bottles for 2nd ferment with juice, this resulted in nothing at all for 3 days so I dumped it and began again. I have now done 4 brews of this with exactly 0 bubbles formed, 0 activity except for unwanted activity. There is a film on top of my 4th attempt now (2nd ferment) that looks like an oil slick. Some of my grains are floating in the large jar where I'm doing my first brew, there are yeast strands hanging, and it had only been 30 hours. Something is wrong with these grains. For $20 I would not spend your money. My sister ordered from Amazon from a different company, half the price, at the same time i ordered and she has had many successful batches. It is just this brand that is awful. I 100% would appreciate a refund. I can send you these duds back, they ate absolute trash. I've wasted so much sugar and juice trying to get these to grow with absolutely no luck.

The media could not be loaded. Update: I gave this one star at first it didn’t work, but their customer service was great and replaced the cultures. I tried again with spring water as they suggested and it still didn’t work and my cultures are still not white and look the same as the last batch.Original review: I wish I could give these zero stars. They never activated. Waste of money and super disappointing. I followed the directions to a T and tried three different rounds. It never activated. I should’ve known the first time when they never got clear they stayed a brownish clear color. Save your money and find a reputable source.