When alternative milks first came on the scene, local cafes offered the lactose intolerant and crunchy granola-eating yogis two options: sickly sweet soy milk or watery rice sap. These days, there are so many plant-based milks or ‘mylks’ available it can make your head spin trying to keep up. You know times have changed when you can order an oat flat white at an airport McDonalds.
As it stands, soy milk is uncool, almond milk is #cancelled, coconut milk is a hot girl flex, hemp and hazelnut are the alty newcomers and then there’s oat - the current popular kid that has new brands milking its grainy teet for all it’s worth.
To help demystify the ever-expanding plant milk aisle, we decided to put 10 different store-bought brands (and one homemade milk) to a blind taste test, and rank them from best to worst.
Full disclosure: it was hard to find participants willing to chug back that much oat juice for the sake of very important journalism. Our tasting panel lacks diversity, with four out of five being Pākehā women in their late twenties (a key target market for posh plant milk...). There were differences in our milk-drinking preferences, however: we had a tea drinker, a cow’s milk drinker, a soy milk devotee and three discerning oat milk snobs.
The judging panel
Olivia, 28, journalist: "I usually drink cow’s milk - usually dark blue and whatever is cheaper, with coffee."
Ella, 29, designer and animator: "My first coffee of the day is usually black and the second is with oat milk - Boring Oat Milk is my favourite."
Hannah, 28, journalist: "I drink soy milk (made from soy protein - FODMAP friendly!) with my cups of tea, I'm not a coffee drinker."
Lara, 27, Ensemble publishing coordinator and makeup artist: "I drink oat milk - either Vitasoy (unsweetened) or Boring, with my coffee or matcha."
Rebecca, 46, Ensemble partnerships director: "I get an All Good Barista oat milk subscription, it’s great in coffee and I prefer my morning smoothie on the creamy side. While I occasionally have a sip of a nice creamy homemade hazelnut or cashew milk when I have it in the fridge and feel like something rich, I don’t ever really drink any kind of milk straight. My smoothie (compromising cacao, any number of mushrooms powders and adaptogens and honey) is the best barometer for whether I like a milk or not, and obviously I can’t make 11 smoothies so a little nervous with how this will go."
The method
So the panel wasn’t swayed by cute packaging or typography (looking at you, Palms) the tasting was done completely blind, with no clues to the type of milk.
In total we tested five varieties of oat milk - a mix of cheap, fancy, local and international brands - two coconut milks, one hemp seed milk, one soy, one store-bought cashew and for a curve-ball, one homemade cashew milk fresh from Rebecca Wadey’s Vitamix.
And since we're not serial killers who drink glasses of milk on their own, we also sampled them with a beverage of choice - Coffee Supreme plunger or tea.
The results (from worst to best)
Good Hemp seed milk, $5, for 1 litre from Countdown
“Reminds me of salty watered down milk. Still gross with coffee.” - Olivia
“No. Not for me. Reminds me of when I would accidentally put my paint brush in my water glass back in art class." - Ella
“Gross. Nasty initial and aftertaste, reminds me of dirty dishwater.” - Lara
"Absolutely disgusting. Takes like the inside of a UHT container. It was insipid and watery, yet absolutely vile at the same time. Like dirty bath water in a student flat. I had to really work myself up into tasting it again to be sure. Ugh." - Rebecca
So Good cashew milk, $5.10, for 1 litre from Countdown
“I don’t like that stuff. Watery texture, I still don’t like it in coffee.” - Olivia
“Tastes like yucky almond milk, watery texture so it didn’t add any creaminess to my coffee, made it taste like a bad airport coffee.” - Lara
“Slightly sour tasting? The aftertaste reminds me of hazelnuts, which I love, but not the taste itself.” - Hannah
Otis everyday oat milk, $5.50, for 1 litre from Countdown
“Not a fan. Reminds me of woody sour milk. Better with coffee but still tastes woody” - Olivia
“Tastes quite earthy, but also super sweet.” - Hannah
“Really sweet, sugary and watery. Tastes like marzipan, reminds me of watered down almond milk. Not good with coffee.” - Lara
Rebecca’s homemade cashew milk, $13 approx of organic cashews made 750ml milk
“Scary to look at - it looks thick and stressed me out a bit. Taste was fine actually, despite my apprehension!” - Hannah
“Looks very thick and frothy. I quite like this, not with coffee but it would be good with muesli, although the texture is a bit too thick.” - Ella
“Tastes like cashew butter in a milkshake texture. Too nutty tasting but it’s not bad, I would have this in a smoothie.” - Lara
"I’m biased because i made this one but I made it WAY too creamy - cashew nut milk is a lazy person's dream because you don’t need to strain the pulp the way you do with almond if you have a good blender. But I was so concerned about impressing the panel I should’ve added way more water. It was just a cup of raw organic cashews soaked in water overnight, strained and blended with two and a half cups of water (could easily have been 3 and a half), a dash of vanilla essence and a sprinkle of cinnamon." - Rebecca
Palms coconut milk, $6, for 1 litre from Farro
“Coconutty, I like it. It’s thicker than normal milk, but drinkable by itself. I actually don’t like it as much with coffee.” - Olivia
"I am pretty sure I recognise this as the Palms coconut milk I’ve tried at home. It’s richer and creamier than the Little Island and as much as I love a delicious satiating milk that coats the back of your mouth in fatty yumness I found it a bit too rich for my morning smoothie. BUT - I decided that it would be the perfect milk to make chia puddings with and that’s what I’ve been doing with it. So so delicious. 2T tablespoons chia seeds with ⅔ cup Palms coconut milk and a dash of vanilla and sprinkling of cinnamon, whisk and allow to set and top with any fruit in season." - Rebecca
Little Island coconut milk, $5.50, for 1 litre from Countdown
“This tastes yum, reminds me of a coconut dessert. But I still wouldn’t have it as an alternative to regular cow’s milk. I’d drink it as a novelty, not as a regular thing.” - Olivia
“Smell reminds me of medicine. Not for me, only because I don’t like coconut.” - Hannah
"I can totally recognise this as the Little Island coconut milk. I like it well enough in a smoothie. Not in coffee. Would buy it at home over UHT almond, rice or soy milk but still prefer oat as an all-rounder." - Rebecca
Macro organic soy milk, $2.80, for 1 litre from Countdown
“Tastes caramelly, like a flavoured sugary milk. Made my coffee sweet and creamy.” - Olivia
“A bit too sweet for me, but a nice creamy treat, Reminds me of leftover cereal milk.” - Ella
“SO SWEET. I wouldn’t rush back to it.” - Hannah
"This was super sweet which I found slightly off-putting. But it’s rich and creamy, which I like. Sticks on the back of the mouth." - Rebecca
All Good oat milk barista (tied runner-up), $5, for 1 litre from New World
“Tastes the most like milk so far, that’s pretty good in coffee.” - Olivia
“I enjoyed this one. Quite smooth and yum with tea!” - Hannah
“Has a slightly powdery feel but was good with coffee.” - Lara
“Texture’s a bit gritty and it looks like it’s separated. Taste’s inoffensive, could be good with coffee as the flavour is not too intense.” - Ella
Plant Projects No Ordinary oat milk (tied runner-up), $4, from PAK'nSAVE
“Tastes very nutty, I quite like this one, tastes better than the smell.” - Ella
“Tastes yummy! Mild and slightly sweet, reminds me of an oat latte. Texture is creamy and similar to normal milk, it was yum and creamy with coffee.” - Lara
“Reminds me of oats and porridge.” - Olivia
“Reminded me of soy a bit.” - Hannah
"Incredibly sweet." - Rebecca
Vitasoy unsweetened oat milk (tied winner), $3.40. for 1 litre from PAK'nSAVE
“Reminds me of Up & Go!” - Hannah
“Tastes very creamy, a little bit sweet and a little earthy. Reminds me of porridge. Texture is smooth and a little thicker than cow’s milk. Good with coffee.” - Ella
“Very vanilla tasting, yum but a bit artificial. Was quite good with coffee ‘cos it made it sweet, but I couldn’t have it everyday." - Lara (Note: Lara does in fact drink this everyday).
“Smells like soggy cornflake milk. So sweet! Reminds me of the milk left in the bottom of the cereal bowl.” - Rebecca
Boring oat milk - barista (tied winner), $4.50, for 1 litre from Countdown
“Almost like cows milk. It’s sweet and tasty, reminds me of Up & Go. Good texture and yum with coffee.” - Ella
“Tastes creamy and delicious. Not too sweet or too flavoured either. Reminds me of my normal favourite oat milk. Silky texture in coffee.” - Lara
“Smells somewhat fruity, I didn’t mind the taste but it’s quite sweet on its own.” - Hannah
“Has a smooth texture, tastes oaty and slightly woody in coffee.” - Olivia
In the end, there was less of a clear winner than there was a clear loser - hemp milk is still leaving a bad taste in our mouths - but a few consistent results proved that oat milk really does reign supreme, and you don’t have to buy the expensive stuff!
