Plant milk

I am the least qualified person to review plant milks given I haven’t had coffee in fifteen years because it gave me the shakes so severely I’d have a panic attack. And recently I’ve gone off (decaf) tea which I’d only have a dash of milk in anyway to add a bit of colour so I didn’t care which I used. But what’s more fun than giving my opinion on a shed loads of milks anyway and spoiler alert, being bitterly disappointed by the majority of them? 

I realise people use milk for all sorts of different reasons. The majority of milk I use is primarily to make my breakfast wet and to add extra protein to the shake I force myself to drink every morning, because I’m old, pregnant, and need the energy.

There is so much choice. I don’t remember there being this much choice when I first ditched cow’s milk, something that always repulsed me anyway. But choice is a good thing so let’s get into it, we’ve got thirteen cartons to get through. 

Firstly the flavour options out there are outstanding and there’s something for everyone’s needs. Ever considered the milk of a tiger nut? No me neither, I don’t even know what one looks like. Someone suggested it but I couldn’t find it so I’m still on the hunt. I tried a variety of options including organic, non-organic barista and chilled. All the non-organic milks had extra ingredients added, with some brands also adding minerals and supplements. It seems in some cases to emulsify the milks and for additional creaminess we also get to consume rapeseed or sunflower oil and pay for the privilege. To thicken the milks some have guar or gellan gum added which the internet promises us is harmless in small quantities but what is classed as a small quantity if you use it every day? I tried various flavours and was both pleasantly surprised and horrified at the taste. 

The concept of a long life milk is puzzling to me. These drinks are marketed as long life but most don’t last unopened beyond six months and once opened need to be used within 3-5 days. So if you’re hoarding for the apocalypse, we’re going to need the apocalypse to be over pretty quickly.

A note on chilled options, of which I bought a few. The only difference between chilled and non-chilled versions of milk was that the exact same product had just been, I dunno, put in the fridge. In one brand’s case it had a sign on saying ‘keep me chilled’. Ridiculous. Other than that there was no difference to the ingredients or price so if you’re desperate for pre-chilled milk, most shops have you covered.

On barista milks, Barista seems to just mean it’s got coconut milk added for extra creaminess. Those versions I tried were delicious but couldn’t the brands just use more of the actual flavour in without all the additional nonsense?

Organic milks don’t have any oils, emulsifiers or vitamins or minerals in, so if you’re looking for an additional supplement hit, it’s best to get that elsewhere.   

All the prices vary from shop to shop. I bought the majority of these milks from Sainsbury’s with a couple bought from my local shop which tends to be a bit more expensive than the high street. If you buy in bulk, like most things it works out cheaper.

Yes I could make my own but I don’t because if I made my own everything I would never leave the kitchen and sometimes I like to sit down.

Lastly, I copied and pasted the ingredients list from supermarket websites just so you can see how much shite is actually in some of these drinks. 

After promising we’d get into it I went off on a tangent. But now, finally, here we go…

Sainsbury’s

Price: 99p for 1L

USP: An unsweetened alternative to dairy milk.

Flavour: Unsweetened almond

Ingredients: Water, Almond Paste (2.0%), Maltodextrin, Tri-calcium Phosphate, Sea Salt, Stabiliser: Carob Gum, Gellan Gum; Emulsifier: Sunflower Lecithin; Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2, Vitamin D2. Basically the kitchen sink for under a quid.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: <0.5g/<0.5g (as expected given there’s only 2.0% of almond PASTE in it).

Thoughts: Insipid, tastes like the inside of the carton and like a single almond only looked in its direction.

Rating: 0/5

Would I buy it again? As punishment? Sure.

KOKO Original

Price: £1.80 for 1L

USP: It’s ‘Like Milk’. No dairy, no soy.

Flavour: Coconut

Ingredients: Water, Coconut Milk (11%), Concentrated Apple Juice, Tricalcium Phosphate, Emulsifier (Sucrose Esters of Fatty Acids), Stabilisers (Guar Gum, Gellan Gum), Sea Salt, Vitamin D2, Vitamin B12, Colour (Carotene).

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 1.2ml/0.9g

Thoughts: A faint hint of coconut. Creamy and sweet thanks to the apple juice. A disgrace.

Rating: 0/5

Would I buy it again? I don’t want apple juice in my coconut milk so no. 

Alpro

Price: £2.00 for 1L

USP: Organic, no sugars

Flavour: Soy

Ingredients: Water & hulled soya beans.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 3.3g/0g

Thoughts: There’s nothing particularly interesting about this milk and while the taste is relatively neutral I’m not a huge fan of the flavour. But it has the fewest ingredients of all the milks I tried, it’s organic, packed with protein and best of all? There’s no sugar.

Rating: 4/5

Would I buy it again? It’s the only milk I buy and after this review it’s unlikely I’ll be deviating.

Oatly Barista

Price: £2.10 for 1L

USP: Foamable with added vitamins and minerals.

Flavour: Oat

Ingredients: Again, the kitchen sink - Water, Oats 10%, Rapeseed Oil, Acidity Regulator (Dipotassium Phosphate), Minerals (Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Iodide), Salt, Vitamins (D2, Riboflavin and B12). 

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 1.1g/3.4g (natural sugars from the oats).

Thoughts: Great flavour, creamy and very oaty. I assume it would be great in coffee. The most flavoursome of all the milks I’ve tried so far.

Rating: 3/5

Would I buy it again? I mean, possibly. It tasted good but it’s not gluten free and I don’t like the fact there’s oil in it. 

Alpro

Price: £2.10 for 750ml/£2.67 per 1L

USP: It’s apparently ‘packed with protein’ at 38g per CARTON. Who’s drinking a whole carton in one go because I’m not doing the maths. It also comes chilled.

Flavour: Soy

Ingredients: Soya Base (97%) (Water, Hulled Soya Beans (8.7%), Sugar, Acidity Regulators (Potassium Phosphates), Calcium (Calcium Carbonate), Sea Salt, Stabiliser (Gellan Gum), Natural Flavouring, Potassium Iodide, Vitamins B2, B12, D2. 

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 3.3g/2.5g

Thoughts: Advertised as high protein soy but not any higher than the organic soy without all the additional crap in it and the overwhelming taste of this version is sugar. I hate the misleading ingredient of the ‘soya base’ being 97% when the amount of actual soy beans is only 8%. 

Rating: 1/5

Would I buy it again? It’s more expensive than the organic version, has more shite in it, and you get less milk. What. No.

Califa

Price: £2.10 for 1L

USP: Original, with added vitamins and minerals. It also apparently steams remarkably.

Flavour: Oat

Ingredients: Oat Drink (Water, Oats (10%), Rapeseed Oil, Acidity Regulator (Dipotassium Phosphate), Calcium Carbonate, Tricalcium Phosphate, Sea Salt.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 0.8g/2.8g

Thoughts: Smooth, pretty creamy though I wasn’t a huge amount of flavour. But it’s not terrible.

Rating: 3/5

Would I buy it again? If Oatly Barista (if I was ever to buy that again) was out of stock.

Alpro

Price: £2.20 for 1L

USP: It’s rich and indulgent.

Flavour: Hazelnut

Ingredients: Water, Sugar, Hazelnuts [2.8%], Calcium [Tri-Calcium Phosphate], Sea Salt, Stabilisers [Locust Bean Gum, Gellan Gum], Emulsifier [Lecithins], Vitamins B2, B12, D2, E.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 0.4g/3.2g

Thoughts: This dark brown milk smells more like hazelnuts than it tastes. The fact sugar is the second ingredient above said 2.8% of hazelnuts is reason alone to never buy it again. 

Rating: 0/5

Would I buy it again? Only 2.8% of hazelnuts in a hazelnut flavour drink with sugar as the second ingredient priced at £2.20 for a litre is an insult.

Plenish

Price: £2.25 for 1L

USP: Organic and won a great taste award in 2019. It’s also gluten free.

Flavour: Oat Barista

Ingredients: Water, Gluten Free organic Oats 11%, organic coconut Cream, Salt.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 0.3g/2.6g

Thoughts: Slightly watery (I may not have shaken it enough because there’s a whole percentage point more oats than oatly) but the oats are gluten free and it’s organic.

Rating: 4/5

Would I buy it again? If I was to deviate from soy and return to oat then this would be what I’d buy. Even though the sugar content is reasonably high, it tasted nice enough (probably not as flavoursome as Oatly Barista) but the fact the oats are gluten free would be reason enough to sway me. And best of all here’s no oil.

Plenish chilled

Price: AS ABOVE BUT COLD

USP: AS ABOVE BUT COLD

Flavour: AS ABOVE BUT COLD

Ingredients: AS ABOVE BUT COLD

Protein/Sugar per100ml: AS ABOVE BUT COLD

Thoughts: AS ABOVE BUT COLD

Rating: AS ABOVE BUT COLD

Would I buy it again? AS ABOVE BUT COLD

Rude Health

Price: £2.30 for 1L

USP: Gluten free/No added sugar and won a great taste award in 2021.

Flavour: Coconut

Ingredients: Water, organic rice, Organic coconut milk, sea salt.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: <0.5g/4.1g (sugars naturally occurring from the rice and coconut).

Thoughts: The taste was subtle but delicious but there is more rice than coconut. If rice is an ingredient above coconut, in my opinion, it’s rice milk. Tut.

Rating: 2/5

Would I buy it again? No. There’s basically no protein in it but a shit load of sugar. I don’t care that said sugars are naturally occurring.  

Rude Health 

Price: £2.30 for 1L

USP: Organic, with rice (which I’m not actually convinced is a USP). Another great taste award winner. Who is reviewing these things?!

Flavour: Almond

Ingredients: Spring Water (no less), Organic Rice, Organic Italian Almonds (1%), Organic Cold-Pressed Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: <0.5g/4.7g

Thoughts: Insipid. 1% of almonds being the third ingredient in a drink called almond milk is ridiculous and an irritating reminder of why I stopped buying it years ago. The fact this is supposed to be organic almond flavour but there is a greater quantity of rice makes the mind boggle. Cheats.

Rating: 0/5

Would I buy it again? For the overwhelming amount of sugar and the fact there’s only 1% of almonds, no. Plus almond milk is one of the least sustainable alternative milks. 

Rude Health

Price: £2.89 for 1L

USP: Organic and won a great taste award in 2021.

Flavour: Brown Rice

Ingredients: Spring Water, Organic Brown Rice (17%), Organic Cold-pressed Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: <0.5g/5.0g - naturally occurring sugars from the rice. BUT STILL.

Thoughts: There are no minerals added so the oil seems unnecessary. The taste is delicious, sweet despite no sugar being added and nothing like I expected rice milk to taste like. There’s also 17% of rice, the highest quantity of any of the flavours. If it wasn’t so expensive I’d buy it again. 

Rating: 3/5 It tastes great but that’s probably down to the fact it’s overwhelmingly sweet. 

Would I buy it again? Sadly not at that price. 

Minor Figures

Price: £2.69 for 1L

USP: None stated which is bold and something I respect them for.

Flavour: Barista Oat

Ingredients: Water, Oats (10%), Low Erucic Acid Rapeseed Oil, Minerals (Tricalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate), Salt.

Protein/Sugar per100ml: 0.3g/3.1g

Thoughts: Tastes fine. Oaty. But not as strong as Oatly Barista and has the lowest percentage of oats. 

Rating: 2/5 

Would I buy it again? If there were no other options and I was happy to have low oat content and drink more oil and consume gluten.

Thoughts: 

Well that was disappointing. 

I’ve never really given much thought to plant milks and had up until recently just bought oat milk because we were guilt tripped about using almond, the flavour I preferred. But after realising I could get an easy protein hit with soy milk I switched and haven’t looked back, even though I can take or leave the flavour. I do like the idea of plant milks being fortified though. I sometimes worry my daughter isn’t getting enough nutrients and this would be an easy win, but with those nutrients come a whole heap of additional ingredients that I would rather we all avoided. I don’t know what’s worse, having a gum or oil added to my milk to get some calcium intake or swallowing a dissolvable capsule every day made from (hopefully) cellulose. And for my daughter, just winging it in the hopes she’s getting enough through her diet. 

There are loads of other options I didn’t try. I considered buying cashew milk but that could taste like nectar of the gods but for £3.99 and all the same additional crap added it seemed like a waste of money. Plus cashews ain’t all that.

Alpro is as reliable as Linda McCartney sausages and has stood the test of time. I’m not particularly enthralled by the taste but I’ll get the flavour and enjoyment from whatever I’m drowning in white water. One thing to note is that Alpro do kids versions of their soy milk supposedly for 1-3year olds which have Maltodextrin as well as raw cane sugar, fructose AND sunflower oil. Then the additional minerals and vitamins plus vague ‘flavourings’. This is absolutely despicable and in my opinion should be avoided at all costs. 

In my opinion the only Alpro milk worth drinking is organic soy.  

Many of the milks were a much of a muchness and the popularity of each brand seems to depend on their design team and marketing spend. Because the taste doesn’t vary that greatly with most of them but they all have questionable ingredients and lower quantities of the actual flavour which isn’t reflected in the cost. Case in point Rude Health’s almond milk. 

A quick summary and purely my opinion…

Best for flavour: Rude Health Rice. But that could be because it’s so sweet. It’s also one of the most costly.

Best for protein content: Alpro Organic Soy.

Best for coeliacs: Plenish Oat Barista.

Best for coffee (at a guess): Oatly Barista.

What I learnt from this review is that many of the milks taste a lot worse than anticipated so I’ll stick to soy.

I’d love to know which milks you drink and why. Let me know in the comments!