I tried matcha with every milk that I could find and here are my thoughts PART 3
Hello, it's me again! I did a Part 1 and Part 2, and this is a continuation of my journey of finding dairy-free milks to pair with my daily matcha.
Thank you to everyone in Part 2 who gave me *even* more dairy-free milk recommendations! I'll get to them eventually lol.
As a recap, the reason I started this journey is because drinking cows milk everyday started giving me hives, so I went looking for other milks. The proportions I'm using are 2 scoops matcha with my chashaku, 1/4 cup water at 80°C, and 3/4 cup milk. I'm also using the Nichijo matcha from Den's Tea as a constant.
Let's dive in!
- Elmhurst unsweetened pistachio milk
- Trader Joe's unsweetened soy beverage
- Trader Joe's oat beverage
- Trader Joe's rice beverage
- Trader Joe's unsweetened coconut beverage
- Good Karma unsweetened flax milk
- Califa organic barista oat milk
Elmhurst unsweetened pistachio milk:
Iced: This is very good! Compared to the barista version that I tried in my previous post, it had the same subtle nuttiness that didn't overpower the matcha flavor. It had a less creamy texture though, so I think I prefer the barista version more.
Hot: This was great! Interestingly, the pistachio flavor was more subtle for me when hot. Also, someone in the comments recommended to froth my hot dairy-free milks, even if it's not the barista version. I have the Subminimal Nanofoamer at home, and I was very surprised to see this pistachio milk froth quite well. It wasn't enough to create any decent latte art, but I think it made the texture of my matcha better overall.
Trader Joe's unsweetened soy beverage:
Iced: Wow this was amazing! I think this has been the best soy milk I've tried with matcha so far. It tasted very clean, and the soy really let the matcha flavor move to the forefront. I ended up drinking all of this as iced matcha haha...
Trader Joe's oat beverage:
Iced: This one exceeded my expectations! I never really shopped at Trader Joe's much before, but now that I've tried a couple Trader Joe's milks, I can see why this brand has become a fan favorite. Upon my first pour, the oat milk looked very thin, but it was surprisingly very creamy with my matcha! The flavor was extremely clean and neutral. I love how it only has two ingredients.
Hot: The oat flavor was more obvious when hot, but it wasn't as overpowering as drinking hot Oat Malk with matcha (from my previous post). It was very pleasant!
Trader Joe's rice beverage:
Iced: I usually don't like rice milk, but this one took me by surprise. Maybe rice milk has come a long way since I first tried it years ago. My matcha was delicious! The rice milk is very neutral and surprisingly creamy.
Hot: I think this has now become my favorite dairy-free milk to drink with hot matcha. Heating up the rice milk made it smell and taste just like mochi! It was like a not-too-sweet dessert. Matcha and mochi is just *chefs kiss*
Trader Joe's unsweetened coconut beverage:
Iced: This was about as I expected. The coconut flavor is subtle and doesn't overpower the matcha. I'm a big fan! If I'm comparing it with Coconut Malk, I think I prefer the flavor of Coconut Malk more...but Coconut Malk is like $7-8 a bottle (USD) while Trader Joe's is like $2-3. While I like other coconut milks a little more, it's hard to beat Trader Joe's with that price, especially when I'm drinking matcha nearly every day.
Hot: This was just ok. My matcha ended up having a waxy, musky texture that I didn't quite like, but it was better than when I tried Coconut Malk when heated up which gave a coconut oil-y texture. Maybe coconut milk in general is not the way to go with hot matcha.
Good Karma unsweetened flax milk:
Iced: I didn't know what to expect from this one, but it was pretty good! The flax milk tasted very similar to a mild oat milk. There's also 5g of protein per serving, which is kinda nice.
Hot: This was interesting. The flax milk somehow had a gritty texture when heated. It was ok, but I'd rather not have the grittiness if I could help it.
Califa organic barista oat milk:
Iced: I think this brand is the most common oat milk that I see in cafes whenever they sell matcha (I'm in the US.) Drinking my matcha does give off that cafe experience, and it makes me feel like I have no reason to get matcha from cafes anymore. Califa is pretty solid! Can't complain.
Hot: No complaints again. Just a classic cafe-esque matcha and oat milk experience. I think I still have a preference for iced matcha, but this is not bad at all!
Overall verdict: It seems like you can't go wrong with dairy-free milks from Trader Joe's. They were all great! So far, I can't decide whether I like Coconut Malk or Trader Joe's rice milk as my top favorite. After I try all the dairy-free milks, maybe I need to do a tournament-style competition of my top favorites to figure out my official ranking...
This post is getting long again lol, but here's the rest of the dairy-free milks in my pantry that I still have yet to try. I was also able to find more from my local Asian market, and I'm adding those to the list too!
- Elmhurst unsweetened cashew milk
- Elmhurst unsweetened walnut milk
- Pecana unsweetened pecan milk
- Coconut Malk unsweetened creamer
- Maizly corn milk
- Binggrae Korean banana milk
- Kikkoman soy milk
- Chaokoh coconut milk