Non-dairy milk is non-negotiable when you’re aggressively lactose intolerant like me, but that doesn't mean it has to taste like cardboard water. I LOVE the taste of plain whole milk—with a cookie, with a big slice of pie, and most importantly, in my coffee—so when hunting for a milk alternative, I have high expectations.
In this definitive ranking of non-dairy milks, I blind-tasted nine and judged them for taste, texture, and how they hold up in a glass of iced coffee. Here they are, from worst to best:
9. Soy Milk - 0/10
I grew up on soy milk (against my will, but I came around to it) and don’t remember it being quite this nasty. Maybe this was just the particular brand we chose, but it tasted exactly like eating a bowl of cold peas, and it tasted even worse in coffee. Just an all-around no for me.
8. Coconut Milk - 2/10
No, no, no, no, no. The only reason this didn't get a zero is because coconut milk has plenty of other culinary uses besides drinking straight or adding to coffee (like coconut rice, coconut lime chicken, and coconut cream pie). And to be clear, I tried the coconut milk that comes in a box, not the can. By itself, coconut milk tastes like… well… coconuts. But not in a good way. The flavor is extremely concentrated, musty, and downright overwhelming. Adding some to iced coffee did mask some of the flavor, but this was still a no for me.
7. Almond Milk - 3/10
I drink almond milk almost every day, and I was FLOORED by how much I didn't like this one during the taste test. It was too thin, and the taste was just off. It was nowhere close to almond or milk. This is the one that reminded me the most of cardboard water.
6. Cashew Milk - 4/10
I can eat my weight in roasted cashews, so I was surprised to find I wasn't a huge fan of this one. It had a strong flavor that overpowered the taste of the coffee, which is difficult to do. Its only saving grace was that it had a lovely creamy texture that visually mimicked half and half in my coffee.
5. Hazelnut Milk - 6/10
Similar to cashew milk, hazelnut milk had a strong flavor, and at first, I was more inclined to mix this into a cocktail rather than add it to my morning cup of joe. But it holds its own, adding a complexity that agrees with the coffee rather than eclipsing it.
4. Rice Milk - 7/10
Rice milk is a solid non-dairy alternative all around, especially for folks with nut allergies. It’s on the thin side, so it tends to disappear into a cup of coffee, but it has a nice, mellow, slightly sweet flavor.
3. Pistachio Milk - 8/10
Pistachio is impossible to escape these days, and non-dairy milk is no exception. Luckily, the milk version of this popular flavor doesn’t disappoint. On its own, it just tastes like roasted pistachios, but when added to coffee, it’s just creamy enough to turn a black cup to a nice milky light brown shade, and the flavor doesn’t overwhelm the coffee.
2. Macadamia Nut Milk - 9/10
I LOVE macadamia nuts, so I wasn’t surprised that this one ranked high. Macadamia nuts are high in fat and mild in flavor, which translates to a delicious nut milk. It was creamy, with a hint of milky sweetness, and didn't detract from the flavor of the coffee. Full disclosure: This one was unsweetened, but it was flavored with vanilla, which could have contributed to why I liked it so much.
1. Oat Milk - 10/10
This one surprised me the most. The first time I tried oat milk, it tasted like someone wrung a wet dish towel into a glass, but that was almost a decade ago, and let me be the first to say: Oat milk has evolved. It has the same subtle sweetness that milk has, along with an almost identical texture. It’s creamy enough to show up in a cup of coffee, yet it doesn’t wrestle with the flavor of the coffee. I have unfairly maligned oat milk for almost 10 years, and now I feel like I owe oat milk an apology. Sorry, oat milk! I was a fool.
If you’re still searching for “the one,” keep experimenting. The world of non-dairy milk is bigger and tastier than ever.
