Non-Dairy Milks

I can consume cow’s milk in small quantities, though an 8-ounce glass would give me a stomach ache. Plus, I just don’t like it. In a pudding or a sauce, it’s fine, but that’s about it. The idea of drinking a glass of cow’s milk is disgusting to me. Besides knowing it would give me a stomach ache, I just don’t like the idea of it. Which is totally irrational I know, since I would eat it in a pudding or a sauce. Plus, I love cheese, sour cream, cream, and even cottage cheese. To be fair, I wouldn’t drink any of those either.

I don’t dunk my cookies in milk or use it as a chaser for sweets. I suppose I just gave up on it when I was in my 20s and started eating “coffee & cookies” or chasing brownies and cake with iced tea. To this day I still prefer coffee, tea or water with sweets. I had tried soy milk, but it was expensive, hard to come by and I didn’t care for the taste so I adapted and just never went back. Then suddenly there was Rice Dream.

I used to think that Rice Dream was “it” when it came to non-dairy milk, but my choices were still just that or soy milk. Having found suitable liquids to go with sweets I was satisfied with just not having much if any milk in my diet. But, every now and then I love to chug a glass of chocolate milk or eat a bowl of cold cereal without “paying the price” if you know what I mean. For years, Rice Dream was a great alternative for me and I also liked that I could keep the containers in the pantry so I only needed to make trips to the “hippy” store every few months.

Flash forward 20 years and every mainstream grocery store where I live has a dedicated section to non-dairy milk. From Soy and rice to coconut and nut, non-dairy milk is all the rage these days! Naturally, I tried them all, how could I not? I tried different sorts and different brands. I tried vanillas and plain. I tried sweetened and unsweetened. I tried the blends and the flavored. I tried them all several times and found that I preferred the unsweetened non-vanilla versions of most of most varieties.

Here is a list of my favorites, in order:

1. Silk Unsweetened Non-flavored Cashew Milk
2. Silk Unsweetened Non-flavored Coconut Milk
3. Silk Unsweetened Non-flavored Coconut/Almond Milk
4. Silk Unsweetened Non-flavored Almond Milk

Yup, I prefer the Silk brand across the board. I don’t buy what is on sale or store brands if I can help it.

The Silk Unsweetened Non-flavored Cashew Milk is hands down my favorite stuff. I find it is actually enjoyable to drink like a drink… and that’s quite something for me!