Has anyone used kefir grains to make non-dairy kefir?

[IttyBittyKitty]

I've read that kefir grains "work" with soy or almond milk as well, so I'm trying this out right now. I'm really curious how it will turn out and wondering if anyone has experiences to share? If it was successful, what did the end product taste like?

[teta]

Yes I have with Koko coconut milk and yesterday with Alpro Soya milk. The non/dairy Kefir seem to ferment very quickly. I only do one ferment and then place back in dairy milk. The most I’ve done is two ferments. The grains will die unless fed by diary.
The soya milk didn’t taste brilliant on its own so I used a hand held purée wand to mix in a third of a banana and a spoon of peanut butter plus a third of a teaspoon of Stevia.
It tasted fantastic.

[IttyBittyKitty]

Oh, thanks for the tip! Banana and peanut butter sounds like a great idea!

I tried to make kefir with a small amount of soy milk with grains I separated from my regular lot, and it did thicken really fast, but I missed the tangy taste. It never occurred to me that it would be possible to use the same lot of kefir grains for non-dairy milk and then go back to cow's milk since I read that milk kefir grains, once "converted" to water kefir, can't be used for milk kefir again — so I assumed this would be similar. I discarded the grains once the soy kefir was finished (that stuff grows like weeds anyway :)).

I'm trying coconut milk next. What does yours taste like? Do you get the tangy taste?

[teta]

Coconut milk is the mildest and sweetest Kefir. It’s also really runny and tends to separate out in the fridge. It does taste tangy and ferments in just a few hours. I’ve never tried making it with a tin of coconut milk. I suspect that would be rich and creamy.