Homemade, Naturally-fermented Black Zapote Drink

On some of the websites I've looked at regarding the black sapote (chocolate pudding fruit), it mentions that people in Central American countries have made a traditional fermented drink from the fruit...  but, as with many "traditional" recipes, this one seems to have not been recorded or is no longer in practice.  What else can I do but make my own recipe?  :)  I have experimented with fermented drinks before, so here I go again:

For the fermenting culture, I am using water kefir.  Many people use the grains to ferment, but the water kefir itself is a good culture!  And, you don't have to filter out the grains when you are done... this drink has a lot of pulp, so it would be practically impossible to recover kefir grains anyway.

The final product tastes a lot like the black sapote bread that a friend of ours gave to us... a nice citrus flavor with a delicate chocolate, fruity aftertaste.  I would even make this with lemon peel!  The choice is yours.

Ingredients:
Meat of 1 medium-sized black zapote (chocolate pudding fruit)
1/4 c natural sweetener (I used unrefined cane sugar)
3-4 strips of orange (or lemon) peel, sliced with vegetable peeler
1/4 cup water kefir (NOT the grains)
Filtered, non-chlorinated water- to top off jar

All ingredients are mixed and ready to ferment!

Directions:

• Put all ingredients into a quart-sized jar, leaving a bit of head space.  Cap tightly.
• Shake jar to incorporate sweetener and fruit.
• Leave on counter for 2-3 days, "burping" container daily to remove excess gas.
• Filter and bottle. (You can do a second ferment here, if taste is too sweet) Chill before consuming. 
• Enjoy!

Look at all that carbonation... after only 24 hours.

(I ended up bottling after 36 hours, but it was still too sweet for me.  So, I let it sit on the counter, overnight before chilling...)