How to Pair Plant Based Milk with your Morning Coffee

How to Pair Plant Based Milk with your Morning Cup of Coffee

Some people love their coffee on the lighter side, but can’t drink milk for one reason or another. In the past, they’d just have to learn to love the coffee black. But these days, there are so many milk alternatives, there’s bound to be one that works for everybody.  Here’s what we’ve uncovered with plant based milk, so you can find the right one for your morning cup of coffee.

Oat Milk

In our experience, oat milk gives the closest approximation of cow’s milk. It blends well with coffee and certain varieties can even be frothed, steamed and used for coffee art. Oat milk also is a good source of fiber and protein, but at the expense of being higher in calories than most of the other milk alternatives. One big positive is that Oat Milk is produced in a way that has less of an environmental impact than the other plant milks and way, way less than cow’s milk.

Final verdict: Best milk replacement for consistency and taste.

Soy Milk

There’s a reason soy milk has been a staple in this category for years. The taste of soy milk is on the sweeter side, helping its flavor better mimic that of cow’s milk. It combines pretty well with coffee, though it’s not as convincing as oat or cow’s milk. It’s about half the calories of whole milk, so it’s also a good option if you’re watching weight. Nutritionally, it’s very close to milk, but soy is a common allergen, so that’s something to be aware of.

Final verdict: Best nutritional replacement for milk and fewer calories.

Nut Milk

There are a lot of milks in this category: almond, macadamia, hazelnut, cashew, walnut and peanut. We’re lumping them together here because they share similar properties. One of the largest drawbacks to this category seems to be the mixing. These milks often do not combine with coffee in a pleasant or convincing way. They also tend to be lower in protein. However, they’re also the lowest calorie plant based milk listed here.

Final verdict: Not the best creamer substitute, but the lowest calorically.

Coconut Milk

This plant milk is great for achieving a creamy consistency and blends well with coffee. It also maintains the second lowest calorie count of the options here, however is somewhat offset by being the highest in saturated fats. Farming coconuts is fairly low-impact ecologically, so they outperform many other milks in this regard. The biggest drawback with coconut milk is the unmistakable taste. There will be hints of coconut in your coffee, but some people may not mind.

Final verdict: A low calorie, fatty replacement for milk… that comes with a coconut taste.

Rice Milk

This type of plant milk tends to mix well with coffee, but does not add much in the way of flavor. It has the benefit of being less likely to cause allergic reactions as it contains no nuts or soy. Some rice milks are also fortified with additional vitamins, which is a nice plus. However, rice milk is up there with oat milk in terms of calories. It’s as caloric as 1% cow’s milk, so it is not the best option if you’re switching milks to try to trim some pounds.

Final verdict: A little on the thin side, might as well opt for oat milk that has the same calories.

So which one works best for you? If you do your own taste test, let us know what is your favorite, especially if it’s not on this list. And happy (lighter) coffee drinking!