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Oh wow. So very glad I wasn't around for this taste test. Any milk-like beverage with flecks of anything in it sounds horrible.

i just cant wrap my head around the concept of hemp milk. ugh.

@redfish - Some people can't tolerate milk (I'm lactose intolerant) and some just don't like the idea of drinking the cow equivalent of breast milk.

The Almond Breeze chocolate milk tastes exactly like cow chocolate milk. It's so good!

I understand that some people can't (I am one of them) drink milk, and others won't drink milk for ethical reasons, but why must you drink a product that is not milk yet is kind of like milk?

Do you get milk cravings?

Why not just say goodbye to the entire milk and milk-like product universe?

Then what will you put on cereal? :)

The only time I ever use a non-milk-yet-milk-like substance is soy milk, and only with cereal ... anything else, and it is too weird. Soy milk on cereal gives it a kind of extra nuttiness. If you LIKE the milk left over in the bowl after the milk-cereal infusion, then its great!

What? Not even an attempt to try home made versions? Home made soy milk is ridiculously easy and its so much cheaper than Silk or any other brand. Tastes raw and a bit grassy, but you specifically tried vanilla flavored "milk-ternatives", so a direct comparison is a bit skewed. But still!

I don't like drinking straight-up cow juice (except for raw...which I've only had once, but was really good; had this nice slightly sweet flavor) so I probably prefer these "alternatives" because they don't taste like milk. Except for the flecky hemp milk. I'm a big fan of almond milk and most vanilla flavored things.

@msilva - Almond milk and coconut milk have always been called milks ... just like nuts are sometimes called "nut meats." The English language has never restricted "milk" to exclusively mean mammalian breast milk.

I love almond milk. I like it better than regular milk. It's referenced in many medieval cookbooks--it's not a new thing. I like its flavor and eat it alone. Some people like these types of milks. If you don't, don't drink them. You could say that they're not so much weirder than squeezing the liquid from a cow's udders and drinking it.

You guys need to go to a Chinese supermarket and buy some Vitasoy. I grew up on that stuff. It actually tastes of soy milk, as opposed to Silk, which tries vaguely to taste of dairy milk and just ends up tasting odd.

I like the Vitasoy line of soy milks, especially the unsweetened one -- I find most non-dairy milks are way too sweet.

But that Almond Breeze is my favourite, except for coffee. I can't stand rice or oat milk, haven't tried hemp. While I like the goat milk, I can't find a situation in which I'd use liquid chèvre, but that's just because I don't cook much with milk.

I'm surprised you didn't try any of the plain varieties of the milks- just vanilla. I don't have any problems with cow dairy, but I love using cold plain rice milk on my cereal. Plain almond milk also graces my kitchen for substituting for regular milk in baked goods.

There's also a huge difference between refrigerated cartons and the aseptic packaging. Rice Dreams in the refrigerated section is delicious- aseptic, meh.

And oh, I am so, so sorry that you subjected yourselves to that horrendous oat milk. Gah, I tried it once and it was one of the worst things I've ever tried to consume

another goat milk user here. i'm quite fond of it, actually. i was advised by a medical intuitive to reduce my intake of cow, so i switched a few years ago. i buy the meyerenberg when there's no other choice but i try to stick with the local coach farms or another goat dairy whose name i can't recall out of vermont.

I like the Silk brand as well. I also did a goat milk taste test (many people who can't digest cow milk find it goes down just fine) and I have to say that if I had to choose between soy, rice or almond based 'milk' I'd do goat for sure.

http://danamccauley.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/discovering-goat-milk/

LOL .. i tried hemp dream the other day, i threw the bowl of cereal out and started a new one PLAIN. that stuff is truly not meant for consumption.

It must be nice to live in a world that allows some of you people to be so judgmental--of milks--that OTHER people are drinking! I believe someone already said if you don't want to, don't drink it!

"I don't want my food to taste 'the least offensive'! I want my food to be delicious and, if at all possible, nutritious."

Some of us don't necessarily have that choice. My top priority for my kid is nutritious. He needs the nutrients to grow and develop properly. Yeah, to you privileged people with no food allergies who have been consuming cow's milk for 30 years who try these things on a whim, they might be nasty and something you can just chuck.
I would give both my arms if my kid's food could be nutritious AND delicious. And in fact, I'm a good enough cook that the majority of the time, it is. Sometimes it's what you "norms" would consider disgusting, but he's grown up with it, and to him it IS delicious.
To be fair, he's not a huge fan of the fake milks, because he only lost milk last year, but he still wants bowls of cereal occasionally, and I insist on him having a glass of "milk" every day. And baked goods desperately need a "milk" of some kind, and in spite of the fact that it is nasty to drink, hemp milk makes a fantastic milk sub for baked goods of every kind.

@ skythe: that cheerio's story is hilarious.
i found this taste test thread quite amusing, but man-i had no idea that people were so impassioned one way or another until the comments!
holy offended soymilk fans, batman.

Carey: Ahahahhaha! What I would give for a picture of Ed drinking hemp milk. Hemp milk? Really? SO Santa Cruz.

Even better (by a bazillion million times) than Vitasoy is house-made soymilk that you can get at small dim sum shops. Mmm...when it's hot and you dunk in with one of those long fry-breads...there's nothing better. I grew up on the stuff so I have a really, really hard time drinking Silk, which I think is gross. Oh, and Wildwood makes amazing, amazing chocolate soy milk.

Wow! You didn't even mention the best-tasting milk alternative available: So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverages. These are seriously tasty straight from the carton and in everything from coffee to cereal to baked goods.

@skizziks - VitaSoy, as good as it is, is planning to discontinue its soy milk line. I think TJ's and the 365 brand are pretty good. Silk is probably the favorite among people who still drink cow's milk.

Personally, I prefer Blue Diamond Almond Milk, Pacific Food's Hazelnut Milk or the So Delicious Coconut Milk (unsweetened, the vanilla tastes like melted ice cream so it's far too sweet for me). I always buy unsweetened nondairy milk.

Ever since I was about six, cow's milk has disgusted me. My parents begged and pleaded, but I simply was unable to gag the wretched stuff down. Later in life I learned the truth about the cow's milk which has become so standard in our society:
Basically humans are not meant to consume the milk of a cow. Cow's milk is the perfect food for baby cows, just like bat milk is the perfect food for baby bats, cat milk is the perfect food for baby cats, and giraffe milk is the perfect food for baby giraffes. While one in ten Americans are lactose intolerant, even more (an estimated 75%) are allergic to the milk protein, casein, a clear sign that human bodies are not designed to consume cow's milk. And while pasteurization kills bacteria, a researcher named Annand discovered a correlation between the rise in coronary heart disease which began in the 1920s with laws requiring milk pasteurization.

In addition, the excessive saturated fat and cholesterol are linked to obesity, upper respiratory infections, asthma, breast and prostate cancer, diabetes, and yes, osteoporosis. Dairy turns to an acid in the body; therefore, in order for blood to maintain a neutral ph, calcium is leeched from the bones. The reason so many in America today are afflicted with osteoporosis is not because they don't drink enough milk- Americans drink exponentially more milk than any other culture. This disease is actually a result of the constant acidic environment we create in our bodies with foods like dairy. If we chose to obtain our calcium from alkaline sources such as alternative milks, our bodies would actually be able to retain the calcium we consumed. It's evident that milk does not do any body any good (unless of course, it's a baby calf's body). And with all of this going against it, it is clear that dairy is not a healthy food choice.

Now I'm not trying to suggest how others should live their lives, but personally I believe that milk is not at all beneficial to health (lucky for me I've always despised it anyways). I love almond milk- especially the aforementioned almond breeze; however, this brand can get quite pricey when you're using 3-4 cups a day (on cereal, over fresh berries, as a refreshing drink with meals, in smoothies, etc.). Almond dream is a bit cheaper and tastes like almond paste, but is a bit watery to me. Often I buy a quart each of a sweetened alternative milk and the unsweetened variety and mix them as I often find the sweetened too sweet. I'm a fan of some soy, rice, and hazelnut milks as well. I agree hemp and oat are quite nasty, but hey, to each his own. One milk I haven't tried is the SO coconut milk- I;m excited to seek it out.

When will people get it through their heads that these products ARE NOT MILK of anything! Geez! Why do they call it milk? Cuz they couldn't sell it if it was called Soy Juice, which is what it really is.

@missstimp - Koala bears are not bears. Beefsteak tomatoes are not made out of beef. Killer whales are not whales. Sea cucumers are not cucumbers. Processed cheese food is not cheese. Chilean sea bass is not bass. Ambergris is not amber colored nor does it come from trees. They are linguistic quirks. Deal with them.

I personally love Hemp Milk -- but I didn't try the brand that you guys reviewed.

Good hemp milk tastes rich, nutty, and has a nice and creamy mouthfeel. Like it'd make an amazing ice cream. Perhaps you guys should give other brands another shot?

@professorchaos, Rocky Mountain Oysters are not seafood. Hard to believe, eh?

@jay27, the argument that people shouldn't drink cow's milk because it's meant for cows (etc.) is an interesting one. And many people who use that argument go on to say that people are the only animals who drink milk from other creatures, which makes it somehow wrong or unnatural. You didn't go that far, but it's a common enough argument.

But we eat a whole lot of things that fit in that same category. Honey isn't made by bees for human consumption, it's meant to feed the bees. Other animals don't cook their food, plant crops, or pickle or preserve foods. The substance in a chicken egg is meant to feed the growing chicken. When we eat a bean or nut or some other seed, that wasn't meant to be eaten, it was meant to feed the growing seed until it could take nourishment from the soil. Because something has another biological purpose does not mean that it shouldn't be used as a food product.

@Erin, this taste test was interesting. I was pondering the non-dairy milks the other day. Not because I'm lactose intolerant, but because they are readily-available ingredients that I'm not familiar with. I'm always eager to try a new vegetable or grain when I see one, and I figured it was about time that I experimented with these ingredients to see how they might fit into my recipes. Right now, I'm thinking that the almond milk might make a good ice cream.

@dbcurrie I was simply pointing that out because so many view alternative milks as strange and cows milk as "normal." BTW a couple weeks ago I made an UTTERLY DIVINE fig-almond gelato using almond milk.
Simmer one pound very ripe (bordering on overripe)black mission figs with 1/4 cup each of lemon juice and excellent quality raw honey and the zest of a lemon until thick and jammy.
Puree with a dash of almond extract, 3-4 tablespoons creme de cassis, and 1/3-1/2 cup vanilla almond milk. Freeze in an icecream maker and serve topped with raspberries and toasted almond slivers.

Goats milk sounds awesome, I will have to try it sometime. My favorite non-milk milk-like substance is definitely horchata (cinnamon rice milk). I always order some when I go to my favorite Mexican taqueria. I've tried whatever boxed brand they have at Whole Foods, which wasn't bad, but I haven't gone on a real hunt for the best brand to buy.

@redfish: Because people like to put milk in their coffee and on cereal.

@trialbyfood: Homemade nut milk is ridiculously easy too. Step 1: Soak nuts in water overnight. Step 2: Drain. Step 3: Put nuts in blender with more water. Step 4: Blend. Step 5: Strain.

Not all hemp milks are created equal. Most of bad but some are good (see @alicemeichi's comment). My favourite rice milk is Ryza, which I see that @judie thought was terrible. Unlike other rice milks, it doesn't contain oil. I like that in concept and I like the taste.

Most people seem to favour Silk soy milk but I've never liked it. When Starbucks switched to that brand I stopped liking the soy chai lattes.

Coconut milk is tasty and really good for you but people still think of it as an ingredient to cook with rather than drink. Coconut water is rising in popularity as a beverage (the milk, I believe, has some of the nut blended in rather than simply being the contents of the nut).

I think that it all comes down to individual taste and while these taste test posts offer good guidance, one should try for themselves.

I've been drinking Blue Diamond Almond Breeze Original for years now, and I don't miss "real" milk at all (except when I'm baking). The flavor isn't entirely er, almond-y, but it has a great creamy consistency with just enough sweetness to drink on its own. But it is very delicious, and has a longer shelf life. I've turned a lot of my friends onto this product already!

Imagine that - A variety of opinions here. Okay, so here's one more. I don't like dairy milk much, sometimes it's tolerable on cereal. I do prefer soy milk nut milk and even really like good hemp milk. On the other hand, I don't like the sweet ones or the vanilla or obviously flavored ones. I also don't cook with milk so, pretty much my primary use is on cereal and alternatives of many forms are always (for me) preferable to cowjuice.

But much of the polemic here is hilarious so keep it up folks; such virulence over liquid substances!! Howbout we try this, let's forget about the "substitution" concept and just let people enjoy what they enjoy. I don't want a substitute - I want an alternative; cow's milk is nasty and generally unhealthy anyway. Why not just take things on their own terms?

I'm vegan, by ethical choice, so I've tried many un-milks... Most non-vegans I know who have tried soymilk prefer Silk for its milk-like texture, very smooth. I like it too but it's expensive so I usually buy President's Choice Organics, which is fine. Almost everyone I know quite likes any kind of chocolate soymilk. And pretty much any plain or vanilla soymilk is good on cereal. Almond Breeze is good, particularly for baking, as are many other varieties of un-milks... I have only ever used oatmilk in baking. I have never tried hemp milk due to my experience with hemp "icecream" (Cool Hemp), which is completely disgusting. Rice Dream is good, it is like skim milk, but the nutritional value of rice milk is no where near that of soymilk, so I stick with that. In any case, it is completely bizarre for human beings to be drinking the milk of other animals... so whatever un-milk you choose, you are better off --both nutritionally and psychologically!

Whoever tasted soy milk don't know real soy milk. Edensoy is the REAL soy milk in the market in US. The rest of them taste like water to me. Silk is made to American's taste!! I wish you could taste much better soy milk sold in Japan. You'll change your mind.

Hemp milk is obtained from the commercial hemp plant. It is most eco-friendly option. It is good for children. It is rich in omega 3 and 6. It has many health benefits like it has inflammation reducing properties, it is useful for people with sun damaged skin, diabetic person, it maintains ideal blood sugar levels in the body etc. For more details on hemp milk, refer Hemp milk