A Non-Dairy Milk Review

by Zaninka Ntagungira

Title photo from Canva by Natalia Klenova

Hi friends! So sorry for the tease with this infamous nut milk review. But here it is finally, the review no one asked for until I started talking about it incessantly 😉
Disclaimer: I refuse to write it ‘mylk’. If it triggers you, sue me :p 

Why?

Many of us are already aware of the impact of the dairy and meat industry on the planet. I’m talking about large-scale deforestation, soil degradation, biodiversity loss and of course, its negative impacts on our health associated with pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. Yeah. Anyway, I don’t want this to sound like doctrine, spewing figures that are redundant, that may depress some of you, or even turn a skeptic away (stayy, skeptic!). I just want to talk about the delicious and ecological option of non-dairy milk, a choice that you can make for the planet, for animal welfare, for your health, for taste or for all the above 🙂  

What?

I reviewed different brands of non-dairy milks, almost exclusively oat milks (I realized this when finally writing the review. Sorry, almond milk lovers). Oat milk is not only my favorite, but I have also found that it is the most ecologically friendly. Almond milk, for example, uses way too much water and basically contracts out already endangered bees to pollinate the plant, and soy is grown in massive quantities that require deforestation, endangering populations and the planet (although soy production destined for human consumption is a small percentage). Anyway, so much more could be said about all the different options, but for now, I’m happy to share with you these goodies I drank, their sweet flavors, their foamability for homemade lattes and creaminess for a delicious hot chocolate. Truth be told, this is Geneva so this experiment was expensive. But, I obviously care too much about your milk needs and it was fun 🙂

Where?

I got these milks at different shops in Geneva, which I will specify in each individual milk review. It ranges from Coop to Le Marché de Vie, a little bio store in Eaux-Vives. I tried to include the popular and obvious choices at each store and some obscure alternatives for my anti-system, anti-big corp folks 😉

Enough chit chat girl, get to reviewing

Below I rate each milk from 1 to 5 using the following categories:
Body: 1 means it is super watery and 5 means it is super creamy

Foamability: 1 means that it was a massive fail in the electric foamer (thank you Luise) and 5 means you can make latte art and basically call yourself a barista

Sweetness: 1 means it doesn’t have any sweet flavor and 5 means it is as sweet as can be (note that rice and oat milks are naturally sweet, which I think is magic because, how sway). 

THE REVIEW!

Rude Health Oat (@Bio c’ Bon, in Eaux-Vives) 3.95 CHF

• Body: 3
• Foamability: 3
• Sweetness: 3
• It tastes good. Like a simple oat milk, not too sweet but not too special either.
  Some extras: It’s organic. Rude Health is a London-based food and drinks company that started with mueslis and porridges. Pepsi-Co owns a small minority, make of that what you will

Alpro Oat Milk (@Coop, any) 3.50 CHF

• Body: 5
• Foamability: absolute fail 
• Sweetness: 2
• It tastes okay and it’s surprisingly creamy which helps. Some extras: It’s not organic. It has more ingredients; vitamins including b12, sunflower oil, fibres de chicorée, calcium but also gomme gellane which might be what makes it creamier.

Lima Oat Milk (@Le Marché de Vie, in Eaux-Vives)

• Body: 2
• Foamability: never found out but don’t expect greatness
• Sweetness: 2
• It’s okay, but it’s kind of boring and on the watery side. Some extras: It’s organic. It’s a Belgian company, founded by two pals, a Belgian and a Japanese guy. They produced Europe’s first rice milk in 1991 and their product range includes Japanese products like miso and tamari. They helped set out the basis for the first EU organic regulation.  

Coop Oat Barista (@Coop, because it’s a Coop brand) 2.95 CHF

• Body: 3
• Foamability: 4 (great foaming, but becomes very airy quickly)
• Sweetness: 3
• Basic oat milk flavor, don’t have much else to say here. Some extras: There’s an organic one that’s 3.50 CHF. I don’t think it tasted very good with coffee to be honest. Their non-barista oat milk is also okay.  

Vly Protein Milk “Creamy” (@Bio c’ Bon, in Eaux-Vives): 6 CHF

• Body: 3
• Foamability: 5 (great foam, but also doesn’t last very long)
• Sweetness: 2
• My first impression was “I don’t like this”. It’s made of pea protein and other stuff probably to MAKE IT COST 6 FREAKING FRANCS. It kind of tastes like soy milk, so if that flavor doesn’t bother you and you’re after the protein, you could like this. Some extras: It could taste good with sweet drinks like a sweet chai or hot chocolate. The brand has really aesthetic packaging, and they got me there. but never again. 

Provamel Barista Oat (@Bio c’ Bon, in Eaux-Vives) 3.95 CHF

• Body: 3
• Foamability: 3
• Sweetness: 3
• It’s organic. It tastes a little of something else than just oat, probably because there’s some pea protein and agave fibre in there (not agave syrup, it has no added sugars). But I liked it in general. 

Voelkel Oat Drink (@Le Nid, near Stand) 2.70 CHF

• Body: 5 
• Foamability: 3
• Sweetness: 2
• It’s super creamy and looks so homemade and it’s also in a glass bottle which is very cool. You can also return the bottle to Le Nid. It tastes okay alone, but a small dash is really good in coffee or in black tea. 

Ener Bio Hafer (Oat) Drink Natur (@Denner, any) 1.90 CHF

• Body: 3 
• Foamability: fail 
• Sweetness: 4 
• THIS IS JUST THE BEST! As you can see first of all, this is the cheapest one. And omg, it’s also the most delectable one. It only has four ingredients; oats, water, salt and some sunflower oil. And it tastes really good with iced coffee and hot chocolate. Even though it’s sweet, I’ve put it in a spinach quiche, and it didn’t make the quiche sweet at all. I’m gonna stop, I could talk about this forever. 

Notable mentions:

• Bio Oat Drink (@Lidl): This one got added later to the list when the author was in quarantine and could not be picky about the milk that would be bought for her. She then realized she liked it a lot, despite having dissed it in the initial review? Was it a wrong memory or did they change the recipe? So now the review is: It does taste really good and is cheeeap (1.89CHF)

• Ener Bio Reis (Rice) Drink (@Denner): Alternative for when the oat one is sold out.  
• Source Végétale Boisson au Riz Bio (@Bio c’ Bon)
• Isola Bio Hafer Original (@Bio c’ Bon I think, or Marché de Vie)
• Rude Health Turmeric Latte (@Bio c’ Bon): not milk but it’s good!

Notes:

• Bio c’ Bon has a massive selection. Visit any of their stores and try their soys, almonds or whatever is normally your fave. 
• Sorry there aren’t any soy reviews here. I really don’t like it. This was an experiment, but not torture. 

You know how humans are 60% water? After this experiment, I think I’m now 60% oat milk (which is like 90% percent water anyway). Also, I realize now that this is basically just an oat milk review, so sorry if the title is misleading haha. But still, this review took months of me changing my bodily composition for the greater good so I hope that you liked it, that you’re curious enough to try to stop drinking dairy milk or that I at least convinced you to only drink Ener Bio’s oat milk. 

P.S. If someone wants to take one for the team and do a review of vegan cheeses in Geneva, please do so. That would be a great public service. 

Okay, bye! Please treat yourselves, others and this beautiful planet with kindness ❤

Zani