Taste test

ALTERNATIVES TO DAIRY MILK

THERE are many alternatives to dairy milk, catering to the lactose-intolerant and others who would prefer to consume less dairy. Generally, almond ‘milk’ is the most expensive of the three with oat second and rice third. We chilled these samples, which are long-life products rather than the versions from the chilled section of the supermarket, and drank them straight. Bunalun Organic Unsweetened Oat Drink, 1 litre, €2.49, 9/10 This ‘oat drink’ is 100pc plantbased and has a pleasant, slightly-sweet taste. Our testers said that they would be happy to drink it on its own or use it on cereal or in coffee. It does contain sunflower oil and sea salt as well as water and oats, but not added sugar. 53 calories and 7.7g of sugar per 100ml. Alpro Roasted Almond Original, 1 litre, €3.25, 7/10 A pleasant consistency — not too thick, not too thin — and flavour that hints rather than shouts of almonds. Our testers found this very drinkable, but would have preferred a shorter list of ingredients — this contains stabilisers and emulsifiers, and added sugar. 22 calories and 2.4g of sugar per 100ml. Rude Health, Organic Brown Rice Drink, 1 litre, €3.49, 7/10 This pleasant drink actually tastes of brown rice, said our testers. Not one to choose if you don’t have a sweet tooth, as this is the sweetest tasting of the ‘milks’ that we tested. 60 calories and 4.8g of naturallyoccurring sugar per 100ml, contains vegetable oil.

Oatly Organic Oat Drink, 1 litre, €2.49, 5/10 “Like porridge water,” said one of our testers, and others agreed that they found it rather insipid. 40 calories and 4.1g of naturallyoccurring sugars per 100ml. Does not contain vegetable oil. Ecomil Organic Almond Chia Milk, 1 litre, €3.19, 5/10 This ‘milk’ smells and tastes like pure almond; our testers thought that while it might be great for baking, it was too strongly flavoured to drink neat. 36 calories and 0.3g of naturally occurring sugar per 100g.