Oat Milk: the dairy alternative to top them all

Hong Kong people love their coffee. Unfortunately, most of us are also lactose intolerant. This means we can’t digest dairy and our milky favourites like lattes, flat whites, caps and mochas are all going to cause gut distress. In fact, the prevalence for lactose intolerance in East Asian communities is as high as 90%!

The awareness regarding lactose intolerance is much improved in recent years, creating a demand for dairy alternatives. However, it isn’t the only reason people are cutting back on dairy. Other reasons include health concerns, such as the added hormones and antibiotics in commercial milk, as well as ethical apprehensions regarding the treatment of dairy cows.

However, dairy-free milk alternatives are already at large with options including soy, almond, rice, coconut and almost any other nut! So why oat milk?

Photo credit - bettysliu.com

1. Taste

No matter how committed we are to going dairy-free, no one wants their dairy alternative to overpower or ruin the taste of their beverage. Thankfully, oat milk has an extremely neutral and slightly sweet taste from natural sugars in the oats. Unlike stronger milk alternatives like soy and coconut, it allows you to experience the full flavours of your coffee beans or tea leaves.

2. Texture

Due to the acidic nature of coffee, many dairy-free milks will split in a cup of coffee. This creates a highly unpleasant appearance and mouth feel for the drinker. Not only does oat milk maintain its integrity, its texture is less watery than almond milk and very similar to low-fat milk. Our oat milk is formulated by baristas for baristas and creates a silky micro-foam for beautiful latte art. Insta-worthy dairy-free lattes here we come!

Photo credit - Hortuscuisine.com

3. Environmentally-Friendly

Going dairy-free may seem environmentally-friendly but it may not necessarily be the case. Dairy-free milk production can use an incredible amount of water and produce many greenhouse gases. Oat milk uses 85-90% less water than used to make almond milk and produces roughly 35% less greenhouse gases than other dairy alternatives. Compared to cow’s milk the greenhouse gas emissions are 80% less. That’s what we call a win-win!

4. Simple Non-Fuss Ingredients

Turns out, oat milk is naturally tasty. We chose the simplest oat milk we could find, with only 6 ingredients starting with water and oats. There are no artificial colours, artificial flavours, acidity regulators, and very importantly, no added sugars or sweeteners. Unless unsweetened, rice and nut milks can have up to 10g of added sugar while cow’s milk contains more than double the amount of natural sugars than the oat milk we use.

Photo is provided by Minor Figures

Here are our top 4 reasons why Minor Figure’s Oat Milk is our dairy alternative of choice. But don’t take our word for it! Stop by any of our cafes to enjoy a delicious oat milk latte and taste the difference.

For the month of February, there will be a free upgrade of oat milk when you purchase a latte from The Cakery.

Article is written by Rachel Erwin, Registered Nutritionist.