Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

My ELATION with these water kefir grains is almost too much to explain! Florida Sun Kefir deserves 8 stars! I placed my order late on the 18th of February and they were shipped out the very next day. I noted that USPS showed the package delivered on the 22nd however, yet again, they mis-delivered my package to a neighbor. As the neighbor didn't get home until late, and they didn't know what was IN the package, the grains sat on their counter until the morning of the 23rd. It came VERY WELL PACKAGED. 3 very thick, food grade clear bags, 1 food grade black cup and a food grade, BIODEGRADABLE black latex balloon. The clear bags are to contain everything. The black cup and black balloon is to make sure that the grains are kept cool and out of sunlight. It's an extremely brilliant way to safely ship grains. I can't see how this package could burst or leak, unless someone deliberately threw it on the ground and/or stomped on it. I acquired something a little over 1/4th cup but not quite 1/3rd cup of grains, which had about 1T of liquid with them... but all the grains were wet. I poured everything into a quart jar, DID NOT RINSE, filled with water from my Berkey, added in 1/4th cup of raw, organic cane sugar and about 1T of molasses. Covered with an unbleached coffee filter and secured with a rubber band. As it's still fairly cold in our house, I put the jar into the oven with the oven light on and left them for 2 days. The grains fattened up AND DOUBLED! The molasses fed them well, and the kefir was drinkable however, I tossed it and started a fresh batch. The STRONG molasses flavor was off putting to me, and the kefir tasted VERY sweet to me. My second batch, I made a quart with all the grains, 2T raw cane sugar and 1t of molasses instead of 1T. Again, the grains pretty much doubled, and the kefir was ready for a 2nd ferment. The 3rd and 4th batches, I made 2 separate quarts with 2T of grains, 2T of raw cane sugar and a short squirt of Trace Minerals 40,000 Volts, 8-Ounce, maybe equal to 1/2t, in each quart. The rest of the grains went into the fridge for storage. 3rd and 4th batches turned out perfectly after 48 hours, and we 2nd fermented with orange juice. At this point we have about a half gallon of kefir, as there are only 3 of us to drink it. One last quart, 2nd fermented with apple pieces and 1T extra raw cane sugar, which was done specifically for my 6 y/o, just went into the fridge today. As shown in my photo, taken last night ( 10 March 2016), I am currently the proud owner of over 2 CUPS of plump, chunky kefir grains! (photo of jar in fridge). I have also included a couple of pics of the container it came in ( container and 1 of the clear bags), grains on a black plate, and next to a standard US quarter, to note their size. HELPFUL HINT 1. Unless your grains are old, do NOT rinse them in between batches. Never. NEVER. You're damaging them and washing off all their yeasties, which is what creates the kefir. Even when taking out of cold storage... scoop out the grains you need and start your batch. As stated by another poster, when your little guys stop kicking and, trust me, you WILL know, put them in fresh water with a bit of baking soda. Swish/swirl them around a bit and let them sit about 10 minutes. Drain, THEN rinse gently. Do a double solution, cap and let them REST in the fridge for a week or two, to give them time to *sleep*. And then I would suggest doing a *heavy feed/refeed*, which would be about double of what you would normally use. This should wake them up refreshed and ready to go! I hope this helped. Please feel free to post any questions. I usually answer within 48 hours. Happy Fermenting!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ EDIT 19 MARCH 2016 Adding a photo of what my grains look like. A standard US quarter for contrast.