Coconut water kefir

[green_tea]

This is my first attempt at making kefir from coconut water, and i'm not sure it turned out right. i used freeze-dried kefir grains, which is what i could find at the store, and boxed coconut water, to which i added 1 tsp of sugar to enhance fermentation (read this on body ecology website). i know young coconuts are preferable, but boxed is what i have. I heated it gently to about 95 degrees, mixed in the grains, transferred to glass, covered and let sit. almost 48 hours later, it smells like bread and has a lot of chalky residue settled in the bottom, but still tastes sweet. i have it in a warm place. my question is: what should it taste like? look like? smell like? there were a few bubbles on the top, but i thought it was supposed to be clear and fizzy. i'm wondering if i may have heated it too much and killed the cultures? it does smell yeasty, like bread or beer. any helpful tips appreciated, thanks

[Tim Hall]

If it smells yeasty, it sounds like it's doing exactly what it should. 95 degrees is definitely not so warm it would harm the culture.

It's hard to say exactly what your kefir should taste like...if you're not using an actual mother culture (if you're using a powdered culture) I would recommend sourcing one, especially if you plan on doing this often. Every culture is a bit unique and produces somewhat variable flavors and textures, and results from a single culture can vary greatly depending on the fermenting conditions. To some extent you'll just have to get know your particular culture.

But generally speaking it should be a bit sour/tangy with a very light effervescence and yeasty character, depending on how long you let it go, etc. If you expect it to get really fizzy, you'll need to put it in a sealed container where it can build up some pressure (but not too much!)

[green_tea]

thank you so much for your reply. i guess i need a better starter, eh? aside from that, it's been about 60 hours that it's been fermenting and it's getting cloudier but is still sweet, and i thought it was supposed to be clear and sour/tangy. i kind of feel like i screwed it up, but i'll let it sit out longer. thanks again for your help.

[Tim Hall]

I wouldn't worry too much about it being sweet. Not all yeasts/bacteria are good at gobbling up all kinds of sugars. You may have some type of complex sugar in your coconut water that yeasts simply can't metabolize. Also I would expect a longer fermentation before you get a "dry" beverage. Kefir typically isn't like beer or wine that's been fermented to a low residual sugar content. The yeasts that are present in a kefir culture aren't bred to "attenuate" like brewery/wine yeasts.