Tea

[splodge]

Okay, my vegetarian mum is a definate potential vegan, and has virtually given up eggs and reduced her dairy intake, but she can't give up milk in her tea. Thus, she feels there's no point in giving up cheese on her jacket potatoes, or resisting chocolates etc etc.

I've suggested she goes entirely vegan except her tea, and I frequently inform her of farmers getting sperm out of animals to make her think of the other "white stuff", but I feel the best way forward is simply to find a nice, vegan way of drinking tea.

I've never drank tea, so I wouldn't know, but she said that it tastes disgusting with soya milk and "just not like tea." She tried rice milk and didn't like it. She says coconut milk would be too sweet.

Has anyone here found a way of enjoying a milky tea?

[Gwydion]

Which brands of soya milk have you tried? I find some of the Alpro stuff very inoffensive in tea.

Whereas some brands are a tad terrible.

[veganosie]

alpro's sweetened original version is absolutely lovely in tea, however if she likes tea to be sweeter oat milk is also passable. i think you just have to get used to the difference in taste, but i honestly can't remember what tea with cows milk tastes like any more, soya milk has definitely taken its place.

[Firestorm]

I would say try different brands of soy milk, they can all taste quite different so she may find one that she likes

[splodge]

Thanks for all your replies

She's only tried the sweetened original version, which must have been ages ago, like 5 or 6 years ago, when I first went vegan, because I hate that stuff. Therefore, my mum has been making excuses. She said it curdled, and tasted like evaporated dairy milk. We always thought Alpro Original was waaay too sweet, so I'm hoping we'll have more success with Alpro Light. I've just googled it and you're meant to add the tea to the soya milk, not the milk to the tea which is what my mum did, to prevent curdling.

What do you think about adding a little coconut cream or milk, to mimic the fat in dairy milk? Tea+milk seems to compliment the taste of deserts, so i would have thought coconut would be great.
(As I was typing this I was telling my mum, and she said she's been having 1% fat milk for the past year, which means her body is re-learning its instinctive repulsion towards animal fat! )

Plus she once had tea at a vegan fair which tasted of cheese - what the hell was that?!

[Blueberries]

Try Kara coconut milk, its not sweet at all and its a bit like semi-skimmed. You just need to put a bit more in than you normally would.

[Firestorm]

^^With regards to the Alpro, it really has really improved in the last 5 years, it tastes better and no longer curdles (especially the uht one). What I also quite like is Alpro soya cream in coffee/tea.

[splodge]

Thanks for the info people!

Interesting! Me and my mum should probably be more open-minded. Every time I've tried a shit milk replacement, we tarred them all with the same "overly sweet" brush. I also tried a Wot No Dairy? plain yoghurt and it tasted a bit chemically, so I assumed any creamy type of dairy replacement would be not very nice.

The Alpro custard used to be criminally sweet, but we had it last night and it was almost normal It could still do with losing a widdly bit of sugar though. My mum said she wrote to them about 9 months ago to complain about the horrendous sweetness of Alpro's yoghurts and custard, so maybe that's why they've changed

She will definately be trying these tomorrow Maybe this will be the catalyst for her to go vegan

[Ananas]

Alpro definitely puts way to much sugar in their products... which is why i only buy the plain yoghurt (and find that very sweet already) and their unsweetened soy milk.

By the way, i find that it helps to warm up the soy milk a bit in the microwave, then add coffee to it (or tea, i guess). There's no curdling at all that way.

[Mary]

Have you tried almond milk? There are so many different nut milks now. Make sure to get unsweetened and unflavored. I don't know how many times I've facepalmed myself for arriving home with the vanilla flavored soy. eck. I do not like it.

[Mary]

Also, you can make nut milks at home too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIgzbQi9kTM

[splodge]

Since the day after I started this thread my mum has been having Alpro light in her tea with one sugar, and she gives it 6/10 compared to cow milk. She says it gives her a film in her mouth but I suspect that's the sugar (she shouldn't need that now anyway. It was probably only to disguise the taste of cows milk, but she only wants to change one variable at a time). Anyway she says at least it resembles tea. When she gets used to it she'll probably learn to enjoy it as a drink in its own right rather than comparing it all the time.

We've also brought coconut milk to try soon.

Ananas and Mary, thank you for the input, I will tell her your suggestions

[splodge]

I thought my mum had mentally "clicked" and made a post about her turning vegan, but she's just said she's really not enjoying the tea - coconut or soya - and might be vegan apart from cow's milk in her tea For her it's still an issue of willpower, which shows that she's not hade the psychological change that definaes a vegan. Today she had warm Ribena instead of tea.

But there is still hope we haven't tried the nut milks or rice milk yet.

[harpy]

If your mum tries being vegan in every other respect but milk in her tea, the psychological change may happen a bit later - some people do it that way.

[happysunshine]

Try "Blue Diamond" Almond Milk. It comes in original and vanilla in unsweeted and original and vanilla in sweetened (with a tiny bit of sugar cane juice).

No soy at all (and it's lactose free). ...Just the pure juice squeezed from fresh almonds.

I've had it in all sorts of teas. It's delish!!

[Daffodil]

Alpro soya milk is my fav... we drink loads of tea at work and cause i always make the tea then i put it in everyone else's too (omni's) and they like it. (i also force my defaf organic tea bags on them too hehe)

[Mymblesdaughter]

All the vegans I know use soya milk in tea and they all seem to like Alpro unsweetened longlife milk. I've changed recently to sainsbury's own as I'm skint and am pretty happy with that as well.

My Mum and Dad have been drinking soya milk for over a year now. My Dad who is the most traditional person you could meet regarding food, told me he found it pretty easy to change to soya milk in his tea he's been trying for about 10 years to give up the teaspoon of sugar though.

I think soya milk is the way to go personally the other milks change the taste of the tea too much. I think you maybe also need to adjust the amount, don't put too much in, I hate the taste of tea when the soya milk flavor is overpowering.

[tjay10]

I only have one cup of tea a day when I first get up and love the kara coconut milk, I never have sugar and cannot stand sweet drinks but this tastes good in tea and doesn't curdle at all. Tesco Sunrise soya doesn't curdle either.

[AaronM]

Oh dear god that was a horrible moment when I saw this thread. The thought that tea wasn't vegan for some strange reason, you can't scare a Yorkshireman with something like that!

[tjay10]

Oh dear god that was a horrible moment when I saw this thread. The thought that tea wasn't vegan for some strange reason, you can't scare a Yorkshireman with something like that!

lol, yes I can see that would be a shocker!

[splodge]

Unfortunately my mum failed. She didn't enjoy any of the milk replacements enough. She evades the question whenever I talk about it. For month or two she had hot Ribena, but then she lapsed. I don't understand why it has such a pull over her, tea isn't particularly delicious. And it smelt exactly the same no matter what milk she put in it!

[Mymblesdaughter]

Is she just using the milk in her tea or has she gone back to using dairy generally? I would personally try to get her to stop using dairy in other things and let her carry on in the tea for now. You might find that she will stop that but it will take a little while. Some people go vegan overnight others like myself do it gradually. Although cows milk for soya milk was one of the first things I changed.

[splodge]

Yes, she's given up everything else. I went vegan slowly too, and the little things I loved and couldn't give up, started to seem silly and insignificant and I realised I didn't want them any more. Hopefully my mum will be the same, I think she will

[Puska17]

I was the same with Tea, it was the last/only dairy I had for a couple of weeks before completing my journey. Once I decided to stop I drank fruit infusions for a few days and then tried probably each and every type of other milk, also coming around to not thinking of it as a substitute.
I've settled on fresh Alpro light. I think one of the key things is not to use as much as you maybe were of dairy. If I use too much it can leave an after taste but I think that I've got used to it now. Another bonus is I can get this from the supermarket, neither my local H & B or Health Store sell the fresh one.

[happysunshine]

I've run across this situation with a few of my friends and rellies. It seems (according to my sister's doctor) that the psychological hold of dairy on a person (or a specific food like ice cream, milk in tea, etc.) is connected with a traumatic event in that person's life. It's difficult for that person to "give it up" because there's a subconscious healing that has to occur first.

In my sister's case, she was "addicted" to ice cream. It's not that she overate it, it's that she couldn't live with not having "real" ice cream every week for the rest of her life. Come to find out during a hypnosis session, she was traumatised by being deprived of ice cream at her 4th birthday party. Right after that, our dad died and her favourite kitty was given to a friend as a permanent pet.

Her subconscious somehow interpreted her deprivation of ice cream at her party as the "cause" of other disasters in her life and wouldn't let her even think of not having ice cream whenever she wanted it.

I'm not sure if that makes sense. I just thought I'd share it to maybe shed some light on why your mum is having such a dinger of a time letting go of milk in her tea.

By the way, almond milk in tea tastes MUCH better to me than cow's milk, anyway.

As someone mentioned above, you can also get other nut milks (hazelnut milk, hemp milk, etc.). They're all yummy alternatives.

I hope this helps in some small way ...

Warm Blessings to you, splodge!

[Marrers]

Milk alternatives have improved immensely since I first went vegan 20 years ago but I must admit I stopped drinking tea completely when I went vegan as I couldn't stand the taste with soya milk. I'd never really enjoyed coffee before that but took to drinking black coffee instead of tea. Periodically I'd try tea again hoping enough time had elapsed and I'd have forgotten how it used to taste but I was always disappointed.

Eventually I started drinking tea again - at first only when there was cake or biscuits to eat with it, but since fresh Alpro light came out a few years back I've finally been able to enjoy tea by itself again.

I really enjoyed kara coconut milk when I was camping in a soft water area but back home with hard water I find it isn't as good so I think your water can make a difference too.

[Andy_T]

Oh dear god that was a horrible moment when I saw this thread. The thought that tea wasn't vegan for some strange reason, you can't scare a Yorkshireman with something like that!

Well, Lipton's were doing rather horrible animal tests for some of their teas: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/foo...n-animals.html

Luckily, they have stopped that by now.

Best regards,
Andy

[JaneSky]

This thread is tugging on my heart-strings! As a vegetarian, I always said that there were three reasons I couldn't go vegan... Chocolate, cheese, and tea. Now I've opened my eyes and realised that I cannot condone or consume dairy products any more (what a shock, I was utterly duped by the pro-dairy 'propaganda' ), I've discovered that I actually like vegan chocolate better than milk chocolate, and I miss pizza and cheese far less than I had thought I would, but I do miss tea. Alpro soya is fine in coffee, on cereal or on it's own (I tend to mix the original with the light for my own semi-skimmed version!, but I have not aquired the taste for it (or any other substitute) in tea.

I will try again at intervals, maybe the taste will come... As for your mum splodge, although the ideal would be for her to go vegan, for now, I would focus on the positives, every bottle of milk she's not buying for cereal/cooking, every block of cheese she's not buying etc etc etc is reducing demand.

[splodge]

Thank you all for your replies! My mum now eats no animal products apart from milk in her tea.

The thing about being mentally attached to dairy is interesting, since milk is for infants it makes sense that it's a comfort/attachment thing.

We never got round to trying the nut milks, but my mum's interested in them now, so we're just looking at buying almond milk right now! And then we'll try cashew, hemp etc.

JaneSky - chocolate is so much nicer without the dairy! Milk chocolate is so greasy and sickly. I couldn't eat more than one bar. The cheese thing was harder for me and scuppered my first attempt at going vegan. But when I started eating cheese again, it wasn't as amazing as I remembered. I don't care about it at all now, I'm not even interested in the alternatives! It's all seems like nut milk is the way forward.

[happysunshine]

You're welcome, splodge!

Quick update: My sister (and all her friends) are now crazy in love with almond milk (and she can semi-freeze it to make a sort of slushy almond milk "ice cream"). Almond milk goes well in porridge, tea, and all manner of things I used to use dairy for.

I've also tried hemp seed milk. Delish!!

So I think you're onto something and I wish you all the best!

P.S. I also use a teaspoon of coconut oil in my tea which gives it a sweet and comfy flavour. (Coconut oil also helps the body metabolise calories.) Just an extra tip ...

[Sadasius]

I cannot understand why you would want milk in teas. I have my cups of green tea just as they are. No sugar, no milk. I am particularily fond of Clipper Green Tea with ginseng and raspberry.

[Mymblesdaughter]

Because some of us are British and drinking a good cup of tea is part of our culture. I enjoy green tea and jasmine tea etc but there's nothing like a good strong cup of english breakfast tea with milk(soya in my case). What would we do in a crisis if we couldn't make a cuppa.

[Firestorm]

What would we do in a crisis if we couldn't make a cuppa.

Vodka?

[Sadasius]

Vodka sounds good...

[harpy]

Tea with any kind of milk always made me retch. I can't be a real British person

[Muvesz]

There is a coconut creamer that (in my opinion) tastes almost exactly like dairy creamer (from what I remember), as long as you don't use too much of it.
I can't understand why someone would ruin the deliciousness of tea with any creamer, though =/

[Mymblesdaughter]

Yeah vodka is always helpful. Harpy what do you do in a crisis? Offer to make tea for everyone else?

I think english breakfast type teas are too bitter without milk. I love really good teas without milk though and as you say Muvesz you would ruin a good tea with milk. If you like good teas this is a great site I've ordered from you can get assorted packs so you can try lots of different types. http://jingtea.com/tea

[harpy]

I gnash my teeth - perhaps tea would be better I only tend to drink the ones that people don't normally put milk in, such as green.

[Firestorm]

I think english breakfast type teas are too bitter without milk.

I have to agree about the tea (I go for Vodka in a crisis, coffee most the time normally, herbal teas when I'm off coffee), but when I have English tea its always with soy milk. And biscuits or scones

[happysunshine]

When I'm in a crisis, I go for phytoessences (nature's healers). I use combinations of them that support the situation at hand.


No sense in destroying one's body cells with alcohol. That only makes things worse (even though one may be temporarily desensitised to the situation).


Calming teas can also clear the mind and balance the body so that one can move through the crisis with ease and proceed in clarity.


That's why a "cuppa" at a time of anxiety became so popular in the first place. The original teas used were of the clarifying and calming variety (while at the same time producing lots of health benefits).


One can't say that of vodka or other alcohols. Reaching for a "bottle" (alcohol) as a remedy isn't a path to healing and harmony; quite the opposite.

[Lilystein]

The first couple of times I tried going vegan I gave up for lack of nice dairy alternatives. Soya tasted awful so I couldn't have tea or cereal. Now a few years later I am madly in love with Alpro soya light, SO nice!! It's great in tea, great with cereal. I also adore Alpros new Almond milk, a bit too sweet to have regularly (for me anyway) but it's very nice indeed. I've also started drinking more herbal teas, as I don't need to use sugar in them.

[hedgehoglovely]

My favourite has to be rice milk in tea. If I'm having earl grey I'll have it black. I went through a phase of having my coffee black as I couldn't get any milk to stop curdling. Now I like to think I have mastered the art.

[Blueberries]

I used to drink black tea w/cow's milk back in the day but I switched to green tea when I wanted to reduce my dairy intake 4 years ago (which was just a few months before I went vegan). Only recently have I started having the occasional black tea w/soya milk.
I would defo recommend Alpro. I used to always get Tesco shelf-stable soya milk, because I'm cheap, but while its good on cereal and in baking it leaves a bitter aftertaste in tea. I'm not sure about the Tesco refridgerated soya milk, I'll have to give it a go.
Is there a huge difference between shelf-stable & refridgerated soya milk in anyone's opinion?

[Aurore]

This is a problem i have never encountered as drinking milk in your tea is an english custom, and not all black teas are made to be drunk that way. I drink mine pure, plus i drink green tea only so it would ruin my tea if i put milk in it.
However, back when i was a big fan of chai, i used to put soy milk in it, but the most natural kind, i usually buy the one enriched with calcium but all the brands i've tried with calcium added in it also add a lot of sugar, so it does taste weird in tea. Rice milk i think is the most neutral milk you can find in terms of taste, but they suffer from the same problem. I'm not suggesting brands because i'm pretty sure they're not sold overseas.
My best suggestion is almond milk, which is not too sweet, but again it varies from brand to brand. She can try making her own with a blender, after all it's just almonds and water, but she will have to do it 10 by 10 seconds or the motor will die. Another option is to use soy or rice cream, the liquid kind.