Kefir

I bought milk kefir grains from Cultures for Health about a month ago, and have had a pint jar on the windowsill growing ever since the grains arrived. We had been eating a lot of "kefir" from our dairy delivery (love South Mountain Creamery) in smoothies and such, but it was getting too expensive. H loves it so much that I decided to begin making my own.

I wish I could say this was harder, but kefir is so incredibly easy to make. After rehydrating the grains, you really just dump them into milk and leave it, covered, for 24 hours. H's favorite smoothie is kefir with strawberries and a little honey. We have been eating it instead of yogurt. For about a year, I was making yogurt every week, first in a little yogurt maker and then in the crock pot, but this is so much easier I don't know that I'll ever go back to making the yogurt.

Our success with milk kefir is making me curious about water kefir. I am a little wary, though, because although milk kefir is a fermented beverage, it doesn't taste alcoholic in the least. I'm worried that water kefir will be like kombucha, which I can't stand. Has anyone tried making their own water kefir?