Water kefir help for a first-timer?

[mama2004]

I'd love help, if anyone can chime in.  I ordered some water kefir grains well over a year ago, and they were delivered dehydrated and sealed in an airtight, opaque package.  They have been sitting on my shelf all this time, but now that I've just finished a nasty course of antibiotics I finally felt inspired to get on with some kefir making.

The package had a label on it indicating that the grains ought to be used by March or April of last year, but I thought, what the heck?  The instructions that came with the grains advised sort of starting out by waking them up in 4 c of non-chlorinated water with 4-6 T of unrefined sugar, then covering the jar with a coffee filter and giving them 48-72 to get going again.  Done, done, and almost done (it's been roughly 48 hours now).

So what I have on my counter is a cloudy, faintly yeasty/sweet smelling concoction.  According to the directions, I can dump this batch and proceed with kefir making, but I'm wondering a couple of things.  Is there any way to know for sure if my grains actually came out of hibernation?  I've read about this stuff being bubbly, when I stirred it tonight (with a plastic spoon), three or four little bubbles showed themselves, but nothing approaching effervescence.  Is the cloudiness a normal part of the water kefir experience?  Would it be a waste for me to go ahead and chuck these little critters into the coconut water I was hoping to culture ($$ for our budget), or would it be better to save the spendy stuff for after I've got this thing a little more sorted out?  Am I actually making something I'll *want* to drink?

TIA!

[bodhitree]

Well, I'm no expert as I've only had my grains for a few weeks, but I would do a few more batches of sugar water before you try the coconut water. My grains weren't even dehydrated, but once they arrived at my house they did take a few batches before they really got going. The first batch or two I was like, "I thought this was supposed to get all bubbly!" And now that I'm on maybe my fifth batch, it actually is really bubbly. So I'd wait on the coconut water, personally.

[mama2004]

Thanks!  When I gave it a stir this morning, a few more bubbles loosened up, so maybe I'm on the right path?  I also double checked the instructions and they advise allowing the grains to rehydrate for 3-4 days, I'm on day three.  I appreciate the suggestion to stick to sugar water until things are a bit livelier, that makes sense to me.