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Disclosure: I am not going to recommend you which milk you should be drinking with your coffee. I will gladly share that I am using plain soy milk (with no added sugar or salt) for my coffee, but that’s not the issue here.
There are multiple types of plant based milks one could choose from: There’s soy milk, almond milk, coconut milk, chia milk, hemp milk, rice milk, oatmeal milk, hazelnut milk, and probably many more I am not even aware of. you could either buy them or make them at home. Which one of them is the tastiest is real a personal preference in my mind (some people cannot stand the taste of soy milk ,and others maybe allergic to almonds, etc.). So when the question of which milk is best suited for coffee comes up, and it comes up pretty often in some vegan forums, I think the answer is not about which milk to recommend to the person asking, rather how to do the move to a plant based milk in the first place. I can share from my own experience here and home it will help some of you.
I don’t believe in drastic changes. I believe any drastic change would lead to either a change in the opposite direction, or to a very not happy person. What I do believe is working, and is working well from my own experience, is following a decision I truly believe is right, telling myself I am able to stick with it, and making small gradual changes, every day. I read somewhere that you could adopt any habit if you stick with it for 21 days (same goes if you want to get rid of a bad habit). For example, they say that if you want to make a habit of exercising for 30 minutes every morning, if you stick with it for 21 days, the beginning might be very challenging , but towards the end of the 21 days it will become a habit that your body just asks for.
In this context, I can share from my own experience, that when I wanted to start running a few years back, and I tried to run with friends a few times, I used to crack after about 2 kilometers, and even this was quite an achievement for me. I assume it was this way since I didn’t take it very seriously. It was only after my first child was born, when I was motivated to go back to my figure and decided that I will run every day, that I saw some improvements. At first it was real hard, and just getting myself to go out and run was a challenge of its own, but I stuck with it, and saw small gradual improvements with each run, and a year later I was able to finish my first half marathon. And although I did see several turtles passing me by during the run, I didn’t really care. I stuck with it and was gradual about it, and I managed to create the change that I wanted.
Same goes about coffee. I’m very picky about the coffee I drink. I only like cappuccino style coffee with frothed milk. It would have been much easier if I liked the more available types of coffee, It would definitely save me some of the lack of caffeine caused migraines I have when I am abroad or hiking. That’s why I put of the milk in my coffee issue to pretty much the last step towards veganism. The truth is that cow’s milk is tastier than vegan milk to most people, or at least we think it is. We are exposed to un-proportional amounts of cow’s milk from childhood, so our taste buds have just gone used to it. So when I tasted my coffee with soy milk in it for the first time it was not so tasty to me, to say the least. But I decided to give it my due diligence and try for 21 days. I can happily report that today, even the smell of cow’s milk makes me feel bad, and I enjoy my soy milk based cappuccino very much. I guess my taste buds have grown accustomed to it. I by the way chose soy milk due to it being the only plant based milk that can create a fine froth for my cappuccino, and I made experiments with a bunch of other kinds. I found that it serves my purpose, and I chose the one that has only soy beans and water, as most of the others are full of added sugars (which are tasty but i don’t want to consume them on a daily basis).
So for those of you wishing to switch to a plant based milk for your coffee, and if you are reading this I assume you are already into it and are motivated, I suggest to first set on which type of milk you are going to use (and here you should really think what is important for you, perhaps almond milk as it is considered to be more nutrient full and a bit on the sweeter side, perhaps rice milk as it is cheaper, or perhaps soy milk due to its frothing capabilities, etc.), and then stick with it and use it for (at least) 21 days. In most cases, if you already believe what you do is right for you and you are motivated to change, after 21 days it will taste good to you.
Changes are a fact of life. When I was little I thought it must be hard to change, but today I understand that everything changes all the time, and it is stupid to think we can’t change, the fact of the matter is, we actually can’t stay the same. When you have small kids it is more obvious, they change daily, but I found that grown ups change and improve themselves all the time as well: my dad, who I always looked at as a tough guy, can be caught now playing with 5 chatty granddaughters and enjoying himself, my mom, who is a talented self thought cook that have always been cooking very un-healthy dishes is slowly moving to healthy and conscious nutrition. My sister, who has always been the artistic one in the family, is building a successful career in a high-tech company. My brother, who spent years in the army, then in the dining business in a big city, has now decided he wants to be a farmer and live the simple life. My husband, who did not grow up next to dogs and thus didn’t understand when I wanted us to get one, is now the number one friend and admirer of our dog and has become a doggy fan altogether. And me? If you were to tell me 5 years ago that i’d be writing this post in this vegan healthy recipes blog I would lough and say you went out of your mind. If you were to tell me that 15 years ago I assume I wouldn’t even listen as I were too busy eating my McDonald’s burger, with the accompanying cup of coke and a cigarette following it. And that’s why I truly believe we change all the time, slowly. So raise your cup of coffee, and here’s to positive changes :)!
