We decided to try different kinds of milk at our most recent meeting. All of us bar one regularly drinks cow’s milk, either semi-skimmed or skimmed. We were interested in trying out some of the many alternatives available today. Our research had led us to conclude that the various types claimed all sorts of benefits such as acting as an antioxidant, reducing cholesterol and preventing cancer. Many boasted a range of vitamins and some were fortified with added vitamins. In addition to this, of course, they are lactose free and provide a good alternative to those who either cannot or do not wish to consume dairy products. The few negatives were around being highly processed and not containing as much protein as dairy milk.
We were interested to learn that animal milk and alternatives (particularly almond milk) were in use many millennia in the past in different parts of the world.
Each of us tried a small taste of the milks our group had provided. This is what we thought:
Soya milk with no added sugar: it didn’t smell of anything. The taste was creamy and some thought it had a strong flavour whereas others did not.
Almond milk (Alpro – no added sugar): this had a distinctive smell that we associated with nuts and it did taste of almond nuts. We felt it was not as creamy as the soya milk and it had an after taste of salt.
Almond milk (M & S – no added sugar): this tasted very similar to the Alpro but we all felt it was creamier.
Oat milk (Barista): this had no smell and it looked a slightly dirty cream colour. We thought it was sweeter than the other milks and had a bit of a malty flavour to it. All found this to be more palatable than the other milks.
We unanimously voted for oat milk as the preferred alternative and would enjoy drinking it in coffee or hot chocolate but definitely not in tea! We could see ourselves having it with cereal or porridge or cooking with it.