# Soya



## Threeracers (Nov 13, 2015)

Does Soya milk not work?

I bought some soya milk for a vegan friend but her flat white has an almost curdled crust on top of it!

I steamed using a hand on the bottom of the jug rather than a thermometer as normal and went to the same temp feel as for normal milk.

TIA

Mark


----------



## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

It curdles at a stupid low temp and looks horrible. I use almond milk for dairy free but if you're careful/good you can steam soy


----------



## Threeracers (Nov 13, 2015)

Thanks jeebsy, I treated it like normal milk so temperature was probably the issue. I didn't know it was so temperature sensitive so I ended up with a third espresso, a third milk and a third soya custard......

Mark


----------



## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

My other half can't have dairy or soy (thyroid related - Hashimotos..) so she can no longer have her cups of tea or my flat whites. We've tried all the others but they are awful. (rice milk is too thin, hazelnut milk doesn't foam and tastes funny in coffee, oat milk... well, leave that for oat based porridge I think... Almond milk? tried it but not struck, though there is a more subtle one I think. Also we've got coconut milk, but in coffee? erm.. Don't even go there with Hemp milk


----------



## Grahamg (Oct 24, 2013)

Decent soya milk a must imo- I get alpro purely for coffee use as the Tesco value I have for everything else curdles just sitting next to a coffee. Stale beans, over-extraction, temperature, all seem to have a bearing too.


----------



## Jaspers (Mar 4, 2013)

Alpro Professional can be steamed as normal milk


----------



## vietnamcoffee (Feb 19, 2016)

In Vietnam, many local coffee roasters mix burnt soya beans into roasted coffee beans to make a low-cost coffee product. Is it a helpful infor?


----------



## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

It's probably the reason Vietnamese coffee is unpopular over here. And this thread is about using soy as milk substitute, not bulking out robusta to make cheap horrible robustasoyaccino.


----------



## JKK (Feb 19, 2014)

Threeracers said:


> Does Soya milk not work?
> 
> I bought some soya milk for a vegan friend but her flat white has an almost curdled crust on top of it!
> 
> ...


I have puzzuled with this too, tried a few things, then gave up !

But not before making some observations:

- all the decent cafes that offer a soya option use Bonsoy [Japanese soy milk marketed by AUZ company especially for baristas]

- when I have watched baristas making soy/espresso drinks, they pour the espresso into the

milk [soy] jug, mix it about, and then pour into the cup, rather then pouring the soy into the espresso.

This seems the most effective "anti coagulation" technique.

- soy curdles more often with lighter roasts in the 3rd wave fruity style, less so with darker roasts

- lower temperature helps

-JKK


----------



## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

It is possible.

i use Aldis soya milk.the bonus is its only 59p! UHT works significantly better than fresh, and sweetened better than fresh.

Organic curdles if you breathe on it after drinking coffee.

Alpro has just brought out coconut and rice, which will foam but not microfoam.

Sainsburys own own brand tastes vile, as does tesco value, tescos in the blue carton is useable at a push.

Keep the the heat down Too.


----------



## the coffee table (Mar 13, 2016)

Alpro is well known but the best soya milk on the market is bonsoy, more expensive but definitely worth it for all the soya lovers.

Steam to just below as you would for regular milk and shouldn't curdle, if you are v.careful! - there is a fine line before it starts to curdle if over heated.

Another trick you can do is steam it together - no latte art obv - but doesn't curdle and still taste great!

- good luck!


----------



## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

How does it taste?



the coffee table said:


> Alpro is well known but the best soya milk on the market is bonsoy, more expensive but definitely worth it for all the soya lovers.
> 
> Steam to just below as you would for regular milk and shouldn't curdle, if you are v.careful! - there is a fine line before it starts to curdle if over heated.
> 
> ...


----------



## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

I steam bonsoy to less than 55°c and can smash out latte art with it.


----------



## risky (May 11, 2015)

Rhys said:


> My other half can't have dairy or soy (thyroid related - Hashimotos..) so she can no longer have her cups of tea or my flat whites. We've tried all the others but they are awful. (rice milk is too thin, hazelnut milk doesn't foam and tastes funny in coffee, oat milk... well, leave that for oat based porridge I think... Almond milk? tried it but not struck, though there is a more subtle one I think. Also we've got coconut milk, but in coffee? erm.. Don't even go there with Hemp milk


Have you tried the oatly oat milk? @Glenn says it tastes nice and there is a barista version which is steam able.


----------



## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

It's like drinking liquid porridge.


----------



## brilliantball (Mar 21, 2016)

I reckon the vegan should stick to an expresso...no bad thing


----------



## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

brilliantball said:


> I reckon the vegan should stick to an expresso...no bad thing


What about those of us allergic to cows milk?! I think people who don't know what they are on about should stick to keeping their opinions to themselves. But we can't always get what we want.


----------



## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

risky said:


> Have you tried the oatly oat milk? @Glenn says it tastes nice and there is a barista version which is steam able.





Missy said:


> What about those of us allergic to cows milk?! I think people who don't know what they are on about should stick to keeping their opinions to themselves. But we can't always get what we want.












This stuff is the best we've tried. I can't get it to steam as well as normal milk, but it tastes good in coffee so that's all that matters.


----------



## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

Interesting you should say that. It's what's in my cupboard right now. That's good latte art for it.

The hazelnut seems to steam better but is quite strongly flavoured.


----------



## risky (May 11, 2015)

Rhys said:


> This stuff is the best we've tried. I can't get it to steam as well as normal milk, but it tastes good in coffee so that's all that matters.


Got some of the Oatly tonight. Tastes really nice. Quite thick and very sweet. Almost floury in a way. Not the obvious odd flavour of other dairy alternatives I've tried.

I don't really drink milk based coffees but I'll give it a shot once I've finished servicing my machine. But this isn't the barista version so might not be steam able.


----------



## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

Let us know how it goes! Though today I had a revelation that I can make an espresso that makes me want to drink it straight!


----------



## FullBloomCoffee (Mar 19, 2015)

when I'm making dairy free drinks I use either Oatly Barista Oat Milk or Alpro Soya (was using original and have now swapped to Pro)

I never had an issue with using the normal shop bought soya milk, the method i use is to heat the soya to the same temp as milk, perhaps slightly lower (hand on side of jug until you feel a sharp heat) although i pour a small amount of cold milk into the coffee shot and swirl, then add the heated soya milk.

I've found this works well as it seems to lower the PH of the coffee which seems to cause the curdling issues with certain coffee.

the Pro soya seems to be fine when treated as per normal milk, and the Oatly is the same.


----------



## Missy (Mar 9, 2016)

So where would a mere mortal pick up the pro stuff? I'm intrigued to try the oatly as people seem to rate it, it's a few years since I've tried it and soya milk has changed immensely in that time, so I guess oat milk may have done too.


----------



## FullBloomCoffee (Mar 19, 2015)

Missy said:


> So where would a mere mortal pick up the pro stuff? I'm intrigued to try the oatly as people seem to rate it, it's a few years since I've tried it and soya milk has changed immensely in that time, so I guess oat milk may have done too.


I order my Oatly Barista and Soya Pro from Coffee Creations


----------



## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

Missy said:


> Interesting you should say that. It's what's in my cupboard right now. That's good latte art for it.
> 
> The hazelnut seems to steam better but is quite strongly flavoured.


Which almond one do you have, there are two. This is the subtle roasted one - the other has a stronger taste.


----------

