Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start out by saying that I am no water kefir novice. I've been brewing on and off for five years and have experimented with tons of different sugars, water types, minerals, fruits, etc etc. I have also read just about every resource out there on the subject. What can I say, I'm a big water kefir nerd! I've purchased water kefir grains from several different sources in the past and I'm totally blown away by Florida Sun Kefir's grains. I've had them less than a week and they have already outperformed every other batch of water kefir grains I've purchased in the past (from other sellers). They are superior in the following ways: 1. Most kefir grains arrive in a "distressed state" and you have to baby them for a few weeks to get them to start making good kefir, and even longer to start multiplying. These plump babies started fizzing and multiplying the same day I received them! In 6 days they've about quadrupled in quantity, I kid you not. I have such an over abundance of kefir grains that I've been giving them away to neighbors and even feeding them to my dog (yes its safe to do that and its good for your four-legged friends too). 2. Shipping was super duper fast! Normally I'm not a stickler about fast shipping but when it comes to perishable, living organisms shipping time is important, and I was blown away by how quickly these arrived (ordered on a Friday and received on Monday). The quick transit time probably was a big factor in why these grains arrived in such great shape and went right to work. 3. Another reason these grains probably did so well immediately after their travels is that the seller is a packing genius! OK so now I'm going to bash the ignorant reviews that complain about the "balloon" the grains came in. First of all, it's not a balloon like the kind you blow up at parties, it looks more like a black sausage casing tied off at both ends, that's the best way i can describe it. I can't verify what material the "balloon" is made of, but I can verify that it is odorless and looks like it is intended for food storage. YES, there is a smell when you open the "balloon," but that is the grains you are smelling. They have come a long way in an airtight container and it got a little musty in there from the trip, it's NORMAL. The smell goes away after making your first batch of water kefir. Secondly, for those of you complaining about said balloon, it is a GENIUS and very inventive idea for transporting grains and this is why: Water kefir grains give off carbon dioxide. If you leave them in a sealed container without opening the container occasionally to relieve the pressure of the building carbon dioxide, the container could explode. This actually happened to me when I was attempting to transport some grains myself from Florida to Texas (I swiped some of my dad's grains while I was visiting him and put them in a jar in my checked luggage). Big mistake! When I got to Texas the jar lid was off and my grains were wearing my clothes ;). My point is, balloons are STRETCHY and therefore can ACCOMODATE EXPANSION from the gas the grains are releasing. The lesson here kids is that the "balloon" your grains arrive in is protecting them from exploding all over the box they were shipped in. So embrace the water kefir balloon packaging people and stop leaving this seller negative reviews because ot it!! In addition to the balloon, the grains are further protected from harm during transit because the seller then puts the balloon in a plastic food storage container and then puts the storage container in two thick zip baggies, further ensuring that no explosion takes place. Kudos to you Florida Sun Keir for your water kefir packaging genius! I have already consumed two batches of water kefir from these grains and can verify that they do produce excellent kefir. Now for anyone who might be on the fence about buying from this seller because this product is not Prime eligible and are tempted to buy dehydrated grains from Cultures for Health instead, let me save you the headache and tell you DON'T! Before buying these grains, I actually did buy from cultures for health and I will never, ever purchase dehaydrated grains again. Without writing an entire novel about it, let me just say that I should have listened to the warnings made by people on the interwebs about the awful performance and inevitable death of water kefir grains that have previously been dehydrated. I babied the **** out of the Cultures for Health grains and still they slowly disintegrated into oblivion. I actually started questioning my kefir skills until I purchased these grains and realized I wasn't the problem! So do yourself a favor and get your grains from FLorida Sun instead. The reason this seller can't sell these grains as Prime is because in order for a seller to make their products Prime eligible, the product needs to be stored at Amazon and shipped by Amazon. Obviously storing live water kefir grains in an Amazon warehouse is impossible, so this seller did the next best thing by offering free FAST shipping. And I mean faster than Prime shipping. Cultures for health sells their grains prime but at the cost of having to dehydrate them to give them a shelf life on an amazon warehouse shelf. Listen to what this water kefir nerd tells you : dehydrated water kefir grains suck! I will agree with one negative point a reviewer made: This seller's PDF of water kefir info is God-awful in terms of spelling, grammar, and organization of information. They're great at growing kefir grains, not so much at publishing literature. But don't let that sway you from buying the grains, they're awesome. If you want good info about brewing water kefir, which water and sugar types to use, and recipe ideas, the Cultures for Health website is a great resource for that. Just don't buy their dehydrated grains or you'll be sorry ;) Maggie (Nick's wifey)