Giving up milk in my morning coffee left me sad.  I like my morning coffee to be creamy with a little sweetness.  I don’t add sugar to coffee but was able to get that sweetness from the milk.  Taking that away meant that I needed a substitute and the search for something suitable took me months.

I tried everything and was coming up short.

I tried bulletproof coffee and I tried coffee with just a little bit of coconut oil and a dash of coconut sugar.  All of this was fine but it wasn’t good.  I wanted good.

Morning coffee is one of my favorite routines and eases me into the day.  I’m not dependent on coffee and I don’t have withdrawals when I go without.  I really just enjoy the whole process of it.  Grinding the beans, that first smell of brewed coffee, and making a cup to take to my desk.

I love this whole thing about mornings.

So when looking for a replacement to milk, I didn’t want coffee to become this process and something that isn’t sustainable.

With bulletproof or coconut oil coffee, the blender was needed which meant another thing was dirty and needed washed.  Plus, how would I make this while traveling?  Too much of a process and not sustainable.

I started testing out non-dairy milks.  Most of the almond milks I tried ended up having a weird taste in coffee. Coconut milk from the dairy aisle tasted like a mess of chemicals.  None of those played well in coffee, the milk sank, separated, and never mixed unless I used the blender.   Vanilla almond milk + a pat of butter in the blender tasted like a latte but that became a whole process and I’m not looking for added fat in my coffee.  That might be a nice special treat but not daily.

Canned full fat coconut milk was awesome but not cost effective.  Even the cheapest can is $0.99 and that only lasts for about a day.

Finally, FINALLY, I found a good solution.  Califia Farms makes almond milk that plays nicely with coffee and you don’t have to bust out a blender either.

It is a little bit more pricy but worth it.  Their flavored milks have very little sugar which is nice especially if you’re trying to reduce your sugar intake.  I prefer the vanilla almond milk but have also used the toasted coconut as well and they both work well to make tasty coffee.

Yes there is an adjustment period going from milk to almond milk, but it doesn’t last long.  I heat the almond milk up slightly (don’t take it past a simmer or it starts to break down) and then pour the coffee right on top.  They blend together and I’m back to having creamy slightly sweet coffee in the mornings.

Not a big process since the blender is no longer needed.  Also sustainable because most coffee houses offer almond milk as an alternative to cream.

Does it taste like real milk? No, that’s why there is an adjustment period.

I can only find this brand at my local Whole Foods but since it brought back the joy of morning coffee, it’s worth it.

If you’re wondering, Scott is able to handle milk just fine so he uses 100% grass-fed milk in his coffee.  I also can only find that at Whole Foods.

It did take several months for me to find a good replacement but now I’m back to being a happy girl with her morning cup of coffee!

 

Disclaimer: This is NOT an ad for Califia Farms, they don’t even know I exist.  I really enjoy their almond milk and am sharing that with you.