Soyed Out

I've mentioned previously that I have grown tired of soy milk due to overconsumption. Slow witted as I am, I forgot there are alternatives to soy that I wasn't touching upon. I thought I might review a couple of them to get a little variety into my diet.

The first is almond milk. More properly, almond milk beverage. Some soy based drinks attach this word to their product as well instead of milk. I am grossed out by this. That's because it implies it is a totally artificial beverage, like those real cheap fruit drinks and cocktails that are really just flavored sugar water with no nutritional content whatsoever. I opted for the chocolate flavour, since the last time I had almond milk it was the original flavor and it was absolutely awful. It tasted like just like you would expect, water and ground up almonds.

The chocolate flavor was actually not bad, and quite enjoyable. The appearance leaves a lot to be desired however. As my girlfriend so delicately put it, when you're pouring it into the glass it looks like someone horked a loogie into a glass of chocolate soy. It separates as it pours into a weirdly oily fluid and milky one. I realize I make it sound utterly unappealing, but the truth of it is I downed it quickly. It tastes very comparable to chocolate soy, although a bit weaker in flavor. I finished the liter package in about a day and a half, so that's saying something. Plus, they fortify it with calcium so it still has all the soy benefits.

Not so with option two. Another milk replacement, this drink is hailed as "coconut non-dairy beverage" (there's that word again). Again, I went with the chocolate option, fearing the worst of the original. I was right to be concerned, this one is awful. It has a very weak flavor, and what you do taste is a weird mix of chocolate and a watery texture, like you mixed chocolate powder and water. Worse of all, it has almost no health benefits, is high in saturated fats and has no calcium OR vitamin C (coconuts are very high in vitamin C naturally so I can't even imagine what's in this drink!) I would strongly suggesting avoiding this one. I had high expectations, since I love coconut milk and coconut water. But I was VERY let down.

Next I'll try fortified rice beverages and see how they taste. Hopefully, more like a milk and less like a "beverage".