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Coffee with Non-Dairy Frothy Goodness

I Now Love Dairy Free Coffee!  WHAT?! 

Crazy, right?  However, it's not.  Let me give you some background and you'll understand how I got here.  And know that you can get there too! (Haha, I sound like an informercial).

I'm an ever evolving health freak.  I've come a long way. It has been a slow, but steady process.  I will not go into how healthy foods cured me of an "incurable illness" or how a complete overhaul of how my family eats has transformed our health.  I will save that for a future post.

My first few attempts at giving up dairy were not very successful because I failed to plan properly and I didn't have many recipes on hand to replace my favorite foods or drinks.  However, I was forced to give it up completely when I realized that my youngest baby was allergic to it.  This was very hard, but a blessing in disguise.  I am now healthier because of it.  I must admit, that now that my baby is a toddler who no longer relies solely on my milk for complete nourishment, I have cheated. I can tell you this, after being without it for so long, things don't taste the same to me and I no longer enjoy them like I use to. To my complete astonishment, I no longer enjoy dairy with my coffee!  WHAT??!!! Anyone who knows me, would be floored by this.  I am half Puerto Rican.  I love my cafe con leche, well, at least I use to.  You must be skeptical because in your effort to give up dairy, you have found that your coffee tastes like poop.  Well, there is hope!  There are non-dairy milks out there that taste absolutely delicious with coffee.  Let my trials and errors help you along your journey.  Of course, everyone has different tastes and so we may disagree on some things, but know this, don't give up.  Try everything that is out there because you will be surprise to find a few that you like.

Store Bought Creamers 

I can only comment on almond and coconut creamers because I stay clear of soy, unless it is from a very clean, organic, and a reliable source, which is rare in the USA.  Okay, here is what I have found with creamers: 1) They are expensive 2) They taste good, but are super sweet! 3) The ones that have no added sweetness don't taste as good (and this is coming from a person who doesn't drink sweet coffee anymore.)  So because the unsweetened ones are just, eh, I didn't want to shell out the mulah for it.  The pay off wasn't enough, so I moved on.

Non-Dairy Refrigerated Milks 

These are the milks in the cold section, not the ones in the little cartons in the aisles, I'll get to those.  So, I tried all of these too.  I tried almond, (regular, vanilla, and unsweetened) and none of them tasted good in my coffee at the time.  It was too strong of a flavor.  I tried cashew (regular, vanilla, unsweetened) and got the same result.  Coconut milk was okay in the vanilla version, but again, the flavor overpowered the coffee and left a weird bitterness toward the end. Rice milk was mild in flavor and was enjoyable to a certain extent, but was way too watery for me.  I went through all the non-dairy milks in the refrigerated section and didn't like any of them with my coffee.

Non-Dairy Milks in the Aisles

You know the ones that come in the little boxes/cartons... Yeah, those.  Well, I had success here.  I tried hemp and nooooooo!  I didn't like it with my coffee.  The rice milk in the carton was the same as the one in the refrigerated section - okay, but watery.  I then tried hazelnut milk and yum!  It was very tasty, but was also kinda strong, so I left it as a possibility.  I then tried oat milk and the heavens parted and angels sung!  It was so good!  I loved it and still do.  It's mild and has no after taste.  At $1.99 a carton it beat the almost $5 creamers.  One day I decided to mix the hazelnut and oat milk and it happened!!! It was like that scene out of When Harry Met Sally!  Yes, yes, yesssss!!!!!  I had found my drink.  This is how I now have my coffee every morning.  

Frothy Non-Dairy Milks

As much as I enjoy my oat/hazelnut milk combo with my coffee, I found something negative about it - it will not froth!  Every now and then this girl needs some frothy goodness. With cow's milk I would heat it to the boiling point and use my little nifty ikea whisk to froth it up.  I tried this with my milk combo and it was a huge FAIL.  I even tried running it through the blender and it fell flat.  Well, everything changed when my husband took me on a date and ordered me a Flat White with coconut milk from Starbucks. Betcha didn't know that they have coconut milk.  Well, yup, they sure do. My very evolved nineteen-year-old son told me that he asked what type of dairy alternatives they have and coconut milk was one of them.  Anywhooo, back to date night... THAT. FLAT. WHITE. WAS. AH.MAAA.ZING!!! So, the wheels in my brain began to turn and I revisited the refrigerator milk section.  I grabbed some unsweetened almond milk and some unsweetened coconut milk and got to experimenting.  This was my finding: they don't taste bitter or odd when frothed!!!!  They both work equally well and they both taste good.  All I do is warm it up in a small pot while I brew my coffee.  Once it begins to boil, I use my special whisk (pictured below) and I whisk it until it's nice and frothy.  I then pour over my coffee.  HOWEVER, I get the best results by brewing my coffee and dumping that with the milk in my Vitamin and running it on high for about 30 seconds.  OMGEE, the best frothy coffee EVAH!!!

I am now back to enjoying delicious coffee without missing dairy.  Just the other day, a friend bought me a Starbucks Flat White and surprised me at home.  I sipped it and it grossed me out.  I couldn't believe it.  The cow milk literally made me feel like puking.  I was very polite and took a few sips.  I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but then I discreetly got rid of it.  I felt guilty, and called her up later on that evening and fessed up.  She totally understood and didn't feel bad.  She said from now on she will surprise me with coconut milk lattes instead :)

SO NON DAIRY COFFEE DRINKERS EVERYWHERE REJOICE!!! YOUR CUP'A JOE WILL TASTE YUMMY ONCE AGAIN!!! 



I purchased this whisk at Ikea. 







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