Postby Nancy » Sat Dec 28, 2019 3:23 am
Custardy. A little thicker than custard therefore more satisfying. Smooth surface. Mild taste, not even as small a bite as one finds in plain yogurt. If it were merely like yogurt I would not be interested. The very texture is not the same. I use a very small straw to sip it. We could say suck it, as it is not a really sipping situation. I don't flavor nor want to flavor. It is relaxing and gentle. I am also mixing it with kefir grains and adding milk, carrying through this mixture but not yet trying to see whether the kefir grains I am using for this project have been 'permanently' changed by the experience of culturing alongside viili.
What I mean is, I add viili, a tablespoon per cup of milk, to each jar I am using for viili kefir culture. Then follow directions for viili culturing:
do not stir ever until ready to eat [but with viili kefir culture I do a light stir once it has been refrigerated to test the result visually]
put into refrigerator once it is set
decant or use as starter for another jar
It sets but not with a smooth surface as viili alone does, but thicker than kefir. On refrigeration thickening is seen to increase.
So far, I find it a bit more bite-y than viili on its own, but not nearly as sour as kefir can get even when not over-fermented at all. It is slightly lemony maybe, at least some batches have seemed so.
re: Plain kefir, an aside on thickening: I decant kefir or put it into the refrigerator once there are any signs at all that it is cultured, even teeny ones, at the very bottom of the jar. Once or twice it has been done but no signs... and that's because of stirring maybe more than usual even - very thick and goes into the refrigerator if the sun is up and time is up. By that I mean, I have recently learned to create very thick kefir in which the grains also multiply rapidly, simply by culturing it outside at night on a lanai, when it is cooler - which is a kind of porch and is also the name of an island named for the shape of a porch which is part of the Hawai'ian chain. And each time I wake up I go outside and stir. This works to thicken even with 2% milk.
As I said, though, I am keeping viili kefir culturing entirely separate from plain kefir culturing, and from plain viili culturing.
If we look at it like, this may not work... the culture may die en route, we can till try it. But we could take our time deciding exactly how we send.
When I say plastic bag I envision a medium small plastic bag like the kind at a health food store, with 4 tablespoons or more of viili culture, put into a bubble wrap situation or a paper wrap situation or even a cloth wrap situation, in a manila envelope, sent first class.