Now, I’m not usually one to sing the praises of large companies who tend to dominate the market. Elsewhere among my posts, I’ve moaned about the lack of choice in the soya yoghurt department. Alpro have not always been high on my list of favoured companies. However, they have recently introduced both chilled and long life versions of these two “milks” and I love them! I’m now using both in my coffee and it’s infinitely better than putting soya in it. Do you remember the craze a few years ago (OK probably more than a few now I stop to think about it!) for using flavoured syrups in real coffee? Well, these create a very similar effect. I think they’re delicious. I will even drink them neat, straight from a glass with nothing to disguise the taste and I don’t do that very often!! There are no overtones of damp cardboard with which anyone forced to drink soya milk over the years has become far too familiar. Instead, they both have clean, clear nutty tastes which are different from each other (yes, I know they should be…but…be honest, how many times have you hoped for the best only to be disappointed?), but equally good.
In case you haven’t noticed…I’m a fan!!
Hazelnut Milk
This has a smooth silky texture and is pale gold in colour. It also has a distinct and very good flavour of hazelnuts. You do need to remember to shake it every time you use it, as otherwise you’ll be left with quite a lot of sludge at the bottom and since this is the really flavourful bit, it’s much better off distributed through the milk than left to go to waste. I really like it in coffee. It adds a touch of luxury to the taste and feel of a simple instant coffee and it definitely enhances the flavour. There is no nasty starchy backtaste as there always seems to be with soya milks and, so far, I’ve found it to be totally heat-stable.
It works excellently in my Fast and Fabulous Fruit Loaf, adding a nutty background to the flavour without adding “gritty bits” for those who object to that in fruit cakes. (Yes, I have one of those!) The only thing to remember is that you cannot use it for lunchbox cakes if, as so many schools are, yours is nut free. This is an allergenic substance and you can’t use it around nut allergics. However, for the rest of us… it’s delicious!
Almond Milk
This milk is paler than the hazelnut one and has a more delicate flavour. It is also lighter and thinner in texture. It is pale cream to look at and has a smooth feel on the tongue. Again, I will drink this in its undisguised form and it is a faintly sweet, refreshing drink. It makes delicious custard without any hint of curdling/splitting. It is lovely to have a choice of “milks” available which actually taste good! I’ve used this in my Fast and Fabulous Fruit Loaf and it worked well, although the flavour of the milk doesn’t really come through as it is rather too delicate for that. I prefer the effect of the hazelnut one. As with the hazelnut milk, you should avoid using this if you’re taking the end result somewhere that is nut-free. While almonds are strictly speaking seeds rather than true nuts, most nut-free areas will not want almonds taken in.
As usual with these reviews, I am putting this in the review section of our pages for reference. There you can compare these with other things which are on the market.
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