Cafe nuts out dairy substitute
A TOWNSVILLE cafe owner has launched his own line of almond milk.
Fed up with the alternative milk options available, Flying Turtle owner Asher Ariel took it upon himself to create his own dairy substitute.
“I made it my goal to produce the tastiest and creamiest almond milk Down Under,” Mr Ariel said. “I am confident I am providing quality.”
7th Heaven Almond Milk Delights launched on Tuesday after eight months of testing and comes in three flavours – pure almond, cool coconut and golden turmeric.
“The almond milk you get in the shops normally has a very, very low percentage of almonds – in the best of cases only 3 per cent – and is loaded with preservative and tasteenhancing additives,” Mr Ariel said.
“I’ve experimented for over a year with percentages and in order to get the creamy, silky smooth texture, I needed to increase the almonds fivefold – so 15 per cent.”
The drink is made in Mr Ariel’s Flinders St cafe and he says it is not a cheap operation.
“We invested so much in machinery, it is a very expensive and very heavy investment,” Mr Ariel said. “But if you can have a decent dairy alternative, why not?”
7th Heaven Almond Milk is sold at the Flying Turtle in one- litre bottles.
“We are going to switch to smaller bottles, a small 300mL bottle, until we gain a little bit of momentum and we feel confident,” he said.