Making milk

The day before writing this article, my flatmates and I received a six-pack of Oatly, Barista Edition obviously, from Amazon, so I feel a bit cheeky asking you to try and make your own plant milk, but here we go.

My journey with plant milk began a couple of years ago after deciding that cow milk tastes weird. I threw myself into researching which brand and which plant or nut produced the best non-dairy milk. I experimented with Rude Health, which proved too expensive, Alpro, too watery and sweet, Minor Figures, which sadly refused to froth, all while trying a variety of different ingredients — almond, cashew, hazelnut, tiger nut and coconut — before settling on, what is now the love of my life, Oatly. My obsession with oat milk began, and I now drink it with everything. In the morning, I drink milky coffee for the sole purpose of experiencing the creamy, frothy goodness that is Oatly. 

I was utterly devastated upon learning of Oatly’s disappointing behaviour: selling shares to the Trump-linked private equity firm, Blackstone, which has also been accused of contributing to the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. After experiencing the creaminess of Oatly, I just couldn’t go back to one of the other lame nut milks, so I tried to make my own at home: less waste, guilt, and cheaper. But, crucially, would it froth?

Oat milk:

Of course, I began my experiment with oat milk. The oats do not need to be soaked overnight, unlike some nuts. This typically seems to make them slimy rather than creamy. A nut milk bag helps, which you can buy from any health or eco shop for a few euros. A cheesecloth or a T-shirt works well too.

Attempt #1:

This attempt consisted of blending oats, water, and a pinch of salt together with a ratio of 1:3 cups of oats to water. After blending, pour the mixture through your strainer of choice. My high expectations were obliterated — it tasted too much like porridge, was not sweet enough and had a noticeable grainy texture. 3/10.

Attempt #2:

I edited the recipe with this next attempt by blending oats, water, the ratio of oats to water is 1:3 again, with a pinch of salt, half a date, and 1 Tbsp rapeseed oil together, and then double straining the mixture through a nut milk bag once it had been fully blended. I hoped the addition of rapeseed oil would make the milk froth – this did not happen but it did make it creamier! This was considerably better. 6/10. 

Attempt #3:

This time I just attempted to adjust the flavour, blending oats, water, the ratio of oats to water is 1:2, then add a pinch of salt, honey instead of date, 1 tsp of rapeseed oil and double straining again. Adding honey works just as well but is not vegan. I ended up preferring the 1:3 ratio of oats to water as it had the best texture. 5/10

I was pleased with my attempts yet remained unconvinced that I could produce a homemade version of oat milk that could rival Oatly’s. The factor that makes homemade oat milk preferable to store-bought oat milk is the price difference. I bought a 1 kg bag of Irish oats for €4.50. 200g of these oats made 1 litre of oat milk for 90c, whereas buying 1 litre of oat milk is €2.50, so it is considerably cheaper to make it at home.

Almond milk:

In the past, I have been dubious and dismissive of almond milk because I’ve always found it to be too sweet, watery, and bad for the environment, and so generally it has been a milk I’ve avoided. I soaked the almonds overnight in the fridge, but otherwise my method here remained the same as with the oat milk. Blend a ratio of 1:2 cups of almond to water, then add a pinch of salt and half a date. This tasted really good, it had much more of a subtle sweet taste than shop-bought almond milks I’ve tried. It also kind of frothed, which was a much welcomed surprise. I really enjoyed this one, which, to me, is a success and didn’t warrant any more attempts. 7/10.

Cashew milk:

I soaked the cashews overnight in the fridge as well and proceeded to blend a ratio of 1:2 of cashews to water, then added a pinch of salt, half a date, and only a single strain — nut pulp doesn’t go through the nut milk bag as easily as the oat pulp does, so a double strain wasn’t needed. I also didn’t add rapeseed oil to the almond nor the cashew milk, as I thought they would make creamy enough milks on their own. The result was much creamier and tastier than the homemade oat milk, frothed beautifully, and had a perfect level of sweetness. The problem I seem to be encountering so far has been the pricing difference. 200g of cashews was €5, the same as 200g of almonds, and this goes to 1 litre of cashew milk. However, buying 1 litre of cashew milk is €2.50, so this is not very cost effective. This can be somewhat altered by making a mixture of oat and cashew milk – this was a good combination of flavours, it frothed, and it was cheaper to mix these ingredients rather than using pure cashews as these are not very economical, especially for students. I was happy with the outcome and made no further attempts. 8/10.

You could take my experimentation further by using different ingredients such as hazelnut — I imagine this being incredible in hot chocolate — macadamia, coconut, rice, hemp or a mixture of these. You can also use alternative methods to strain — I have come across people online using a french press to separate the pulp from the milk. Ultimately, if you can make a successful oat milk at home, I seriously commend you because I found it really difficult. However, if one of your main priorities is having milk that froths, for coffee for example, making homemade plant milk might not be the option for you.

The next morning when I opened the fridge, I stretched straight past my jar of cashew milk, instead opting for the carton of Oatly. It was delicious.