SIX NATIONAL BRAND ALMOND MILKS REVIEWED

Review of 6 national brands of Almond Milk www.thevgnway.com

Almonds are packed with protein and healthy fats. But is almond milk....healthy? This one’s no cold case. Almond milk is a worthy addition to your fridge, according to ⅘ nutrition experts.
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WHAT IS THE BEST TASTING ALMOND MILK

For many if not most of the recipes we've made, Almond milk has been our go to plant milk of choice. Cakes, cookies, tea and sauces are just a few places where almond milk brings it all together. But while all almonds are delicious, not all almond milks are equal in that same regard. And certain brands can give your recipe or even your morning coffee a kick or a clunk. We have used several almond milks in our test kitchen adventures; sweetened, unsweetened, vanilla, chocolate, coconut and banana (you read that correctly several brands make one lol).

For this review we're stripping all the flavors and added sugars away to get to the core of what these milks are made of and how they taste. We even learned a few things like Elmhurst was a cow dairy run by the same family from 1925 until it closed in the growing unsustainable climate of 2016. But amazingly they were reborn from the ashes of their former selves rebranded and transformed into a sustainable, plant based milk manufacturer.

The best milk alternatives

Elmhurst: Fiber: 0g Calories:130 Protein:5g Fat:11g
- (vegan/gluten-free/soy-free/dairy free)
- Taste: It has a pronounced taste. More reminiscent to pea protein than almonds. When we poured it into our glasses for the test we noticed it had a consistency closer to rice milk than what you might imagine almond milk to pour like.
- Texture: Once on the tongue; we could really tell it had 11 grams of fat which you may not like for drinking but we think will be perfect for baking. When we did our mouth feel tests; the thickness of it was very apparent and while it looked very smooth in the glass it has a chalky and light grit to it.
- Froth: The high fat content that we mentioned earlier actually served a good purpose when it came to our frothing test. Elmhurst froths excellently and convinced us that it would be good for cream or perfect as a whipped topping if you add a little sugar and vanilla.

Pacific: Fiber: 1g Calories:40 Protein:1g Fat:3g
- (vegan/gluten-free/soy-free/dairy free)
- Taste: It’s very distinct and almondy but not in a bad way; it’s strong but good. It’s as if the almonds were deep roasted before they were put through the milking process. There's a slight after taste but it doesn’t make it hard to drink and won’t disturb the flavor of baked goods like cookies and cake.
- Texture: It has a light texture, a little thin but hardly as noticeable as the roasted almond flavor.
- Froth: When put to the froth test it actually has a good head to body ratio, frothing most of the milk to a thick consistency that would definitely be good for coffee, tea or matcha.

Califia: Fiber: 1g Calories:35 Protein: 1g Fat:3g
- (vegan/gluten-free/soy-free/dairy free)
- Taste: Califa was a curious experience when we tasted it; we immediately had a flowery aroma hit our palettes. It creates a light sweetness that gave it a mild fragrant note.
- Texture: It has a smooth texture that's light and creamy and not too thick. We ultimately agreed it probably a good milk for cereal both hot and cold like oatmeals or southern style grits.
- Froth: Califa makes creating low sugar milk alternatives a part of their plan and in the case of froth you need the sugar/fat content to be higher in order to get a nice foam. Unfortunately when we did our froth test we got no foam at all but surprisingly the flowery fragrance became more potent.

365 (Whole Foods Brand): Fiber: 1g Calories:40 Protein:1g Fat:3g
- (vegan/gluten-free/soy-free/dairy free)
- Taste: We enjoyed the lightly roasted nutty flavor of this milk which was thick but not overwhelming. We did have issues with it separating much more than all the other brands after sitting overnight in the refrigerator. So, with this one you have to remember shake well or you’ll end up with something that looks more like dirty water.
- Texture: It has a mild smoothness with a slight chalky feel when it sits in the mouth for too long.
- Froth: When we put it through the froth test it separated almost completely half froth and half liquid. It also lost it’s light nutty taste in the process.

Blue Diamond: Fiber: 1g Calories:30 Protein: 1g Fat:2.5g
- (vegan/gluten-free/soy-free/dairy free)
- Taste: Blue Diamond has been working with almonds longer than any other brand on our list; they’re almond milk is more so a middle of the road taste in contrast. It hits a very high note of nuttiness with a slightly salted aftertaste. It’s not bad but it is very noticable when you have other brands to test it against.
- Texture: As far as pouring and mouth feel it has a very smooth consistency to it.
- Froth: Unfortunately in our froth test it performed poorly creating no froth at all, although it retains it’s nutty flavor and may still be a good compliment to coffee.

Silk: Fiber: 1g Calories:25 Protein:1g Fat:2g
- (vegan/gluten-free/soy-free/dairy free)
- Taste: Silk was surprising, as with all of the brands being unsweetened original flavors; it was the only one that still had a mild sweetness to it and a light nutty note. We instantly thought it was probably the best tasting in its natural state and might work very well in baked goods recipes.
- Texture: As per its name; it had a very smooth consistency and didn’t leave any chalkiness or aftertaste.
- Froth: In the froth test it performed well. Giving a light foamy head but also whipping the remaining milk into a thicker medium heavy cream that also loses its sweetness.

At the end of the day we definitely tried our best to stay unbiased; as each of us had our own almond milk go to and like many this tends to be your unflinching go to.

However, what we discovered was different almond milks were good or even perfect for different recipes and food combinations and can’t really be scored on a graded scale. We enjoy the high fat content of Elmhurst for some of our recipes that require things like creamy sauces. Blue Diamond’s smooth light nuttiness for our baked goods.

We hope that you found this article informative; if so, comment and let us know what brand is your go to and what you use it for.

Be sure to check out our other plant-based milk reviews below:

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