Non-dairy milks taste-tasted
As you have seen, the choice of non-dairy milks these days is extensive, and widely available. In a nutshell, you have soya longlife, soya fresh, oat, almond, rice and now coconut based milks on sale – with the vast majority on the shelves of major supermarkets.
You will of course find out which ones you prefer. Bear in mind that some are sweeter than others (especially almond, and some soya milks are sweetened on purpose), which makes them less versatile for cooking. And some – notably longlife UHT soya – need a bit more care when adding to coffee or else they curdle.
On a simple trip to Tesco Haverfordwest, we found twenty varieties of non-dairy milk – not even including the flavoured ones. Clearly demand is booming for healthier and cruelty-free drinking.
Our milk reviews
The main uses of milks are just as a drink, on cereals, in beverages, and in both savoury and sweet cooking. So we have rated them out of five according to the following:
- Taste (for raw drinking and cereal) – quite simply, does it taste nice?
- Tea and coffee – do they dominate too much in a brew? And do they curdle?
- Versatility – all round usefulness score, incorporating some of the above. Marks lost e.g. if too sweet for savoury dishes, although this is very much horses for courses – some milks are great for desserts
We’ll also give a rough idea of price, although this will no be exhaustive.
1. Kara Dairy Free
http://www.karadairyfree.com/
This is a relative newcomer. It’s basically a calcium-fortified, watered down version of the thicker coconut milk used for cooking.
Taste – 4/5 – as you’d expect, a bit coconutty and a bit sweet, though not overpoweringly so. Pleasant stuff, especially on cereals.
Tea and Coffee – 3/5 - made the drinks ever so slightly sweet. No curdling
Versatility - 4/5 – scores on all uses except certain savoury dishes – a bit too coconutty if you need a largish quantity.
Price - £1.29 for a litre from Tescos (Haverfordwest Branch)
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Story posted by on 2010-07-03 17:31:45.
Story last updated by on 2010-07-03 17:51:43.
