Trying New Things: Almond Milk

I went grocery shopping last night, and on a whim, I bought a thing of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

I have tried almond milk in the past, but back then, I added it to a slow cooker steel cut pumpkin oatmeal recipe and could not tell the difference. (Looking back, I shamefully let the rest of that almond milk go to waste, I think.) This time, I thought I'd add it to my coffee just to see.

Why did I buy this product instead of my usual? I don't know, really. I was never a milk drinker, could not stand the stuff as a kid, and I still never pour a glass just to chug it down (shudder). But now, I don't mind it at all in cereal, and I add it to my coffee and lattes daily. I got in the habit of buying fat free milk, since around the time I started buying my own groceries, I was also a member of Weight Watchers (yeah, I've been at this for a while), and the program then leaned heavily toward low-fat or fat free dairy. So I still buy fat free cow milk, almost always organic, and I don't really think twice about it.

But I felt somehow pushed by a social wave to try almond milk, partly for its trend factor, and it's animal free, and I like almonds a lot, and partly (this is the bigger part) because it's half the calories of the cow milk.

So I poured out about 3/4 of a cup of it, warmed it up, stuck a lid on it and shook it til it foamed. Then I added a little more vanilla, dumped it in a mug, and poured in two shots of my beloved Nespresso espresso. This quick latte (with cow milk) is a treat that I enjoy on mornings when I have time for it. This time, with the almond milk, it was... too vanilla-y. Too chalky. Too weird. In short, it was kinda gross.

Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk Verdict: Thumbs Down.

After doing 2 minutes of internet reading, I have determined that the benefits of almond milk do not outweigh the benefits of regular old cow milk, and I think it's okay for me to return to the latter. In the meantime, what can I do with an almost full thing of almond milk? Pumpkin oatmeal for everybody?