Operation Kefir Jelly was a success! The kids loved it (it was just raspberry jelly with some excess kefir grains mixed in). Personally I wasn't overly keen on the texture of the kefir with the jelly - a bit like large chewy grains of rice - but, all in all, not an unpleasant way to get a dose of probiotics.

Mixed results as far as the orange flavoured kefir water went. The OH and I thought it tasted quite nice, slightly yeasty but pleasant and not too sweet. Actually, I think the boys thought it tasted okay too (Beanie couldn't get enough of it!) but, as they've never had soft drinks before, they weren't too sure about the fizziness. They kept coming back for more though and Shmoo was halfway through his second 1/3 of a cup before he decided that he didn't like it. I think that was because he didn't really like the sensation of burping bubbles up his nose rather than disliking the taste and I suspect he'll enjoy more another day, just in smaller amounts perhaps. Loo Bear kept returning for small sips of his; and Beanie downed all of his pretty much straight away and I had to tell him no more until tomorrow!

The bubbles in the kefir water were only very, very mild, nothing like commercial soft drinks, and The OH didn't even really notice too much of a fizziness. I think by doing a longer second ferment in an airtight bottle you can get more bubbles but I'm happy to forgo the bubbles (I put it straight into the fridge after bottling it) rather than risking an increase in alcohol content, plus it was fizzy enough for the kids as it was. And I'll definitely be keeping the first ferment under 24 hours for future batches that we intend to consume.

Our worm farm received a donation of about a cup of excess kefir grains today. To be honest, I was a little shocked when I opened up the pantry this morning and saw my kefir jar. Overnight I'd gone from having a fraction over 1 cup of grains in the jar back up to 3 cups (it was exceptionally warm overnight). I'm seriously starting to suspect that my kefir grains have secret plans for world domination...