Best dairy-free milk to go with tea?

Hello, I'm sorry if this has already been discussed before but I've browsed some of the threads tackling this same issue but none had the answer I was looking for.

SO my question is, in your experience, which dairy-free milk goes best with tea? I'm looking for a specific brand of a specific type of dairy-free milk. My favourite tea is Yorkshire Tea (for hard water) and it's been so challenging to find any alternative that goes well with it. I've tried Tesco's Unsweetened soy milk and that was gross. I also tried Alpro's Unsweetened Light soy milk and that was a complete disaster. The only one that slightly worked was Blue Diamond ALmond milk but I had to use a different tea bag, less potent and of an inferior quality to Yorkshire tea.

This might all sound trivial but I LOVE my tea and I desperately need to find a better alternative to make this vegan journey work. I refuse to be defeated by something perceived to be small. If anyone here has been a long time vegan and/or has extensively experimented with dairy-free milk, I would really appreciate your input!

When I first went vegan I drank green tea as I didn't like non-dairy milk in black tea (I had already started drinking milk-free tea a few months before I went vegan because I had the realisation that I was basicly subsisting on dairy as a vegetarian) but after a while I got used to soya milk and now drink black tea with sweetened or unsweetened soya milk.

Soya milk just takes some getting used to. If you were suddenly given cows milk as an adult and hadn't had it before you would think it tasted awful.

In the cafe we give people the choice of soya, oat or rice milk. I personally prefer soya but oat is quite popular. Rice is too sweet if you don't take sugar in your tea. I'd say just put in a small amount and increase it as you get used to it. We use sojade milks. A friend of mine is also fond of the coconut milk in tea.

I'd recommend trying Oatly oat milk - it's my favourite for tea. My partner, mum and a colleague (all non- vegans) happily have it on occasion and say it's quite creamy and doesn't taint the tea like some other alternatives. The bf in particular hates soya but is fine with the oat milk. I tried a different brand recently and found it slightly odd in comparison, so I guess it's all personal taste. It does tend to seperate /curdle more easily than soya, so it's best not pour straight into a very hot cuppa (the 'enriched' version seems less prone to this than the organic.)

As has been said, rice milk is okay but rather sweet for tea, plus it can be a bit thin.

Good luck in the hunt! :-)

Thanks everyone for your help! I don't mind the taste of soy milk on its own; in fact I quite enjoy its creaminess. It's the way it interacts with tea that I'm not too keen on. The soya milk is not strong enough to mask or counter the harshness of the tea. I always used to have my tea with a lot of milk and no sugar. Now, even if I have a third of a mug of soy milk with my tea, it's still not enough to counter the bitterness. It's bizarrely thin yet creamy in taste which really puts me off. Am I able to find Oatly in the UK? So far, on my vegan journey, this has been my only grave challenge. Other than that, Im enjoying food more than ever. I just need to be aware that everything that's vegetarian (ie quorn) is NOT necessarily vegan. I was distraught to find out that quorn wasn't vegan. I love that stuff, prefer the quorn mince to real mince! Ah well! Thanks again, I'll keep looking. Do you recommend the fresh alternative or UHT stuff? Might give the latter a go, see how that goes.

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hab506

Am I able to find Oatly in the UK?.

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Sainsbury's, Morrison's and Waitrose all definitely sell it, plus H&B. At Sainsbury's it's with the other UHT and dairy free milks (and was on offer at £1 when I was last in) and I think Morrison's keep it in the Free From section.

I hope you find something that works for you, even the oat milk doesn't :-)

Have you tried Alpro Simply Mild? After years of using their ordinary sweetened soya I've switched to that as it has a very nice, mild flavour and works well with tea (a few years ago Alpro brought out a soya milk specifically formulated for tea but it didn't catch on). I occasionally drink oat and rice milks but I find they both curdle in tea, as do almond and hazelnut milks unless you use loads. My advice is give all the available types and brands of milk a go as they all differ quite a lot. It'll be a slow and costly process but hopefully you'll find one that suits you.

Hi Hab506, I like using Tesco sweetened soya milk. Leave the tea to cool slightly before adding soya milk and then it won't curdle. As to finding one that suits your taste, I think you will have to just experiment with ALL the different milks until you find one that you like best.
I didn't like the taste of milk in coffee and now just drink it black..............it's much nicer and you can actually taste the coffee!
Anyway, all the best with your search for the perfect soya milk, let us know if you find one you like. :)

Oh my god, we've got a winner!! Oatly Oat Milk (calcium and vitamin enriched) which I bought from a small deli. I left the tea to cool a bit and then added the milk. And it was delicious!! I think I might even prefer it to real milk! Thank you so much for everyone's help. I am so happy I found something that works!

Hooray! Glad to hear it.

I just had a yummy cup of Assam with Oatly :D

Glad to hear you've found one you like Hab506! :)

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hab506

I also tried Alpro's Unsweetened Light soy milk and that was a complete disaster. The only one that slightly worked was Blue Diamond ALmond milk !

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I originally drank both tea and coffee black because I really do not like the taste of Soya milk either in drinks or on cereals. CG drinks Almond milk and I must admit I have started to add this to my tea . Black coffee is fine but I think that tea needs milk !!!!!:D

So glad to read you found one you like! I was going to suggest trying your tea with a slice of lemon if you had no joy but I see that's unnecessary now. :)

Provamel red. All day. Your mileage may vary.

I only drink Alpro UHT unsweetened Almond milk because almond milk is just yummy and healthier than soy, it's completely replaced soya milk for me. I use almond milk in coffee and it tastes fine but it does split a lot if you don't keep stirring it constantly, and doesn't have that rich creamy taste.
So instead, I actually really like alpro UHT soya cream, I like a very milky coffee and the cream doesn't really split at all, and gives a much milkier full fat taste in comparison to almond/soya milk which have a much more watery taste!
Even my omni partner who is used to drinking full fat cow milk in his coffee, really likes coffee with alpro UHT cream.

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Eileen Dover

I originally drank both tea and coffee black because I really do not like the taste of Soya milk either in drinks or on cereals. CG drinks Almond milk and I must admit I have started to add this to my tea . Black coffee is fine but I think that tea needs milk !!!!!:D

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Indeedy!

Almond milk is lactated from the silky soft breasts of virgin Angels.

Quite frankly I'm amazed that they don't have to declare that on the list of ingredients.

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horselesspaul

Provamel red. All day. Your mileage may vary.

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Mileage varies wildly, Paul.

Provamel tastes like pus extracted directly from the boils on Beelzebub's own bottom.

For anyone who is still looking for the right substitute:
I love tea and coffee, and I love tea and coffee with loads of milk. When I first became vegan, I wasn't sure wether I could make it and keep going since I hate soya milk. Urrgh!
But then I popped into holland and Barrett and found "Kara dairy free", which is made of water and coconut milk and some additional stuff that I don't know. and, hey!, it doesn't have a weird taste to it. Tastes almost like real milk. I'll be vegan for life!!

I use this one: http://www.abelandcole.co.uk/soya-mi...sojade-1-litre

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hab506

Hello, I'm sorry if this has already been discussed before but I've browsed some of the threads tackling this same issue but none had the answer I was looking for.

SO my question is, in your experience, which dairy-free milk goes best with tea? I'm looking for a specific brand of a specific type of dairy-free milk. My favourite tea is Yorkshire Tea (for hard water) and it's been so challenging to find any alternative that goes well with it. I've tried Tesco's Unsweetened soy milk and that was gross. I also tried Alpro's Unsweetened Light soy milk and that was a complete disaster. The only one that slightly worked was Blue Diamond ALmond milk but I had to use a different tea bag, less potent and of an inferior quality to Yorkshire tea.

This might all sound trivial but I LOVE my tea and I desperately need to find a better alternative to make this vegan journey work. I refuse to be defeated by something perceived to be small. If anyone here has been a long time vegan and/or has extensively experimented with dairy-free milk, I would really appreciate your input!

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Hi Hab,
No, you're not being trivial at all, I usually drink weak black earl grey but am away from home at my husband's family's home for the last couple of weeks and i thought i'd take milk for a change. I love tea, it's my fave drink. I've been using alpro, it's horrid, have now switched to
Co-op organic uht sweetened soya milk. Still quite rough but way better than alpro. They're all a bit chalky though. Xx

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hab506

Oh my god, we've got a winner!! Oatly Oat Milk (calcium and vitamin enriched) which I bought from a small deli. I left the tea to cool a bit and then added the milk. And it was delicious!! I think I might even prefer it to real milk! Thank you so much for everyone's help. I am so happy I found something that works!

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Excellent Hab, you've done me a favour, it sounds like the one. I have the oatly creem in my cupboard back at home but haven't tried it yet. I'm looking for a recipe for a peppercorn sauce at the moment - i think I'll try it out. If the milk is good for tea the creem could be good in a sauce maybe ?? Any ideas folks?