# What type of milk is usable with coffee - other than Cows?



## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

As per comment in LSOL.

MrsD is experimenting with various types of milk and so far they are all sh*te in coffee (my fall back if my espresso is not pukka is flat white-ish).

I only have darker beans at the moment... and they aren't setting my tastebuds alight as brewed...

So what "other" milk actually works with coffee?

a) Soy Milk - Curdles and looks foul

b) Coconut - Isn't milk... it just isn't. It is like adding dirty water it turns the colour but not quite.

c) Almond - Yuk

Heeeeeyyyyuuuuuulllllpppp!


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

I have heard Almond recommended, and obviously coffee shops do Soya, but neither of those seem to take your fancy!

Can I ask why you are experimenting or is it just out of curiosity?


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I've never tried steaming sheep's milk but I've tasted it and it's not too bad, unlike goats milk which tastes like some sort of satanic seepage, hideous aftertaste. One of my friends puts it in his tea. Bad.


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## Yes Row (Jan 23, 2013)

If your alternative milk quest is due to lactose intolerance have you tried "Lactofree" milk. Tesco sell it

If not, sorry I can't help


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## El Cabron (Nov 23, 2013)

My other half drinks soya milk and yes most will curdle, but the alpro slightly sweetened hasn't curdled. I've frothed it with hot chocolate and it does get a head of froth on it. Mostly i make americano with alpro and it doesn't curdle, but a cafe i know uses a different soya milk and their coffee looks like a cup of vomit. I've tried hemp milk my self but it didn't froth and didn't taste very nice in coffee.

I've had the odd 2 litres of duff semi skimmed milk that hasn't been good for frothing but i use mainly cravendale and that seems ok. The best milk i've had is from a farm, it's perfect glossy and silky creamy foam, and they sell whole milk, untreated, and that was brilliant too.


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

Yes Row said:


> If your alternative milk quest is due to lactose intolerance have you tried "Lactofree" milk. Tesco sell it
> 
> If not, sorry I can't help


That has actually been our "normal" milk for a while (with "real" milk as a sort of back up) but, for all sorts of complicated reasons that would warrant a whole other discussion, MrsD is looking into non-cow (and possibly non-animal) alternatives....


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

Dylan said:


> Can I ask why you are experimenting or is it just out of curiosity?


MrsD is exploring non-cow (possibly non-animal) alternatives...

We have been mainly using Lactofree for a while (dietary intolerance) which has been "OK".

For "other stuff" - Coconut seems to be pretty good... cereals, drinking neat.

But for me it just doesn't cut it in coffee.... 50/50ish with espresso it just looks like it has had a couple of drips....

Soy and Almond just taste 'orrid as milk (cereal etc) and worse in coffee (plus the curdling).

I might try Hemp......

Failing that I will probably just revert to getting real milk (just) for my coffee....

Actually MrsD has just mentioned that she has ordered me some "Farm Fresh Milk" that is proper milk (Pasteurised but NOT homogenised) along with some cheese from a "nice" farm (one of the reasons for non-cow is due to her views on animal welfare) - So I might be sorted!!


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

hotmetal said:


> I've never tried steaming sheep's milk but I've tasted it and it's not too bad, unlike goats milk which tastes like some sort of satanic seepage, hideous aftertaste. One of my friends puts it in his tea. Bad.


I actually quite like cheeses made from both Sheep & Goat milk, but not really for me as "milk" (Vomit of Satan)


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## Yes Row (Jan 23, 2013)

Sounds like her principals are going to cost you/her money


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## Daren (Jan 16, 2012)

Coffee mate - is the future!!

I'm joking


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## "coffee 4/1" (Sep 1, 2014)

(possibly non-animal) very long time since i tried but, "breast-milk"


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

Yes Row said:


> Sounds like her principals are going to cost *you*/her money


{Cough} Nothing new there!!

But seriously I don't mind paying for decent quality (or for principles to be fair) but not just for the sake of it....

An old mate of mine used to like cheap (gut rot cheap) red wine...

It was his actual preference from trying many wines over many years.

He bought wine in plastic jugs/demi-johns with screw top lids... about a fiver for 1/2 gallon.....

He didn't like any "decent" wine he had ever tried - so there was no point at all in spending money on anything that might pass as drinkable in human society!!


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## Drewster (Dec 1, 2013)

\ said:


> (possibly non-animal) very long time since i tried but, "breast-milk"


Last I checked ****-sapien was very firmly in the animal camp!


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Rice milk is popular. As is oat milk


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

There's a lot to be said for being a philistine when it comes to wine. While I'm not quite I the same camp as Drewster's mate who actually prefers cheap plonk, I quickly realised that if I started developing an educated palate for wine I would never enjoy another glass when out for a meal. Cheap wine is 5x the price in a restaurant so the good stuff will be unaffordable.


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## Pompeyexile (Dec 2, 2013)

Well my taste buds must be shot because I drink Goat's milk even have it on cereal and use it to make lattes and there is no 'aftertaste' to me and it certainly doesn't taste like vomit, Satan's or otherwise.

Rather that than Soya or rice milk which to me certainly has a disgusting taste.

Each to their own I guess.


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## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Camel milk can also be steamed. There was a recent introduction of it in the UK at Taylor Street Baristas

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/food/article-2552161/One-hump-two.html


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I suppose the taste of different milks is just what you get used to. I don't mind cheese made from goat or ewe, and have no probs with sheep milk but goat milk to my taste has a really strong 'twang' that I really dislike. But it's a known fact that some people actually do/don't taste certain things, quite apart from varying taste preferences.


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## Gerrard Burrard (May 7, 2014)

I stopped drinking cow's milk a few years ago now. I'm not vegan but I was cutting down on dairy and decided to try alternatives. I mainly drink my coffee black (filter or espresso) but when I fancy something different I'll generally choose soy. There's a big difference in the content and quality of a lot of soy milk. A lot of coffee shops seem to favour Bonsoy (who seem to have just settled an Aussie court case over alleged iodine poisoning) but it's quite expensive and it annoys me when I have to pay a soy surcharge!


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## grumpydaddy (Oct 20, 2014)

My understanding is that Alpro is the only readily available soya milk certified not to contain GM Soya beans....

So just to ensure you get your share of GM foods the big supermarkets allow livestock in their foodchain to be fed on it


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

A soycharge? It must feel like downtown Noo Yoick in your local cafe GB!


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## Mary (Nov 26, 2014)

I've enjoed rice milk. But generally the cow millk is more suitable for me.


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## johnnygee04 (Mar 16, 2015)

I haven't drunk cows milk for years; for reasons now forgotten I switched to rice milk. It has a mild nutty taste, but is very watery, so much so that I now begrudge paying £1.40 for a carton of water. Long story short, it worked well with medium roasts, but I've now switched to oat milk and Italian Job beans and can't drink enough of the stuff! Oat milk has the same consistency as ordinary semi skimmed and the flavour of the stronger roast cuts through perfectly. Must add that I have not attempted to steam either types, just nuked them in the mic.


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## aCapybara (Apr 1, 2015)

If the missus is experimenting anyway, there are also Hazelnut and Rice milks available in any large supermarket.

Rice I dunno, I've never had it myself. But Hazelnut is nice enough in a flat white if you like the very subtle flavour it adds - never as creamy as whole moo milk though.

My other half and I went through a long period of him getting goat (yukyukyuk), me getting cow's milk. Cow's milk freezes fine for a handful of weeks, though it can separate if left too long in the freezer.

Treat yourself to some of the gourmet cow's milk you've found from time-to-time, there are more expensive vices!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

Dylan said:


> I have heard Almond recommended, and obviously coffee shops do Soya, but neither of those seem to take your fancy!
> 
> Can I ask why you are experimenting or is it just out of curiosity?


I tried almond and macademia nut milk ....

It wasn't good


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## fooby (Apr 7, 2015)

Lactofree is pretty good, my girlfriend is lactose intolerant and I can hardly tell the difference, steams well also.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

I think Lactofree is just normal milk with a bit of lactase in it to make up for people who don't produce lactase naturally. Hence it's pretty much indistinguishable from normal cow's milk. We've tried it (although not in coffee) and it's fine. Although only as an experiment because I don't actually think either of us is lactose intolerant. Well, I think I would know by now if I was, given that I get through easily a pint or two a day.


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