Curdling soya milk

[Pansypuss]

I think I read something about this somewhere on this forum but don't know where! Why does my soya milk curdle in my coffee? I don't put it in really hot coffee but it still happens. I've tried the vanilla flavour and the fortified Ca so far. Any ideas?

[tabitha]

Some of it does and some of it doesnt. I just use Alpro or So Good and they only curdle if theyve gone "off" and I havent noticed.

[Cherry]

How are you making your coffee? Instant or real?

Here are my top tips:

1) Heat the milk
2) Add more milk - latte style

I could go on, but really those should do

[Mr Flibble]

As far as I know it isn't actually curdling; it's the protein in the soya milk separating out as a result of interaction with the tannic acids in coffee.

[Cherry]

That's what curdling is, isn't it!? Protein coagulating?

Aside from pedantry - you could also try making your coffee less strong, cooling before adding hot milk, using a whisk...

I still think the best thing to do is use more milk. Because it's soya milk it doesn't give it an overpowering 'milky' taste like you'd expect.

[Risker]

12. Why does So Good fortified soy beverage curdle in coffee/tea?
It is believed that the tannins found in coffee and tea react with the protein in So Good which causes curdling. Always stir well when adding So Good to reduce the curdling.

http://www.sogoodbeverage.com/englis...tml#question12

Why does Provamel curdle when added to tea or coffee.
Curdling is caused by the soya protein shrinking when it comes into contact with the hot liquid. This is influenced by a number of factors namely,
Temperature of the drink
Hardness of the water
pH (acidity) of the water
strength of brewing time of the drink
As we have no control over these factors it is difficult to say which one or combination is causing the problem. Ideally, the hot water should be allowed to cool slightly before pouring over the soya milk.
The most successful method we have found is to :
Pour the soya milk into the cup or mug
Then pour in the water (not boiling, and slightly cooled off)
Add the coffee granules, stirring vigorously as you do so.

http://www.alprosoya.co.uk/

[PlumsOfDoom]

Following on from the quotes posted by Risker, I've never had any trouble with my soya milk curdling in coffee so long as I:

Use more milk than would have done with dairy (and as others have said, it doesn't seem to taste all 'yucky milky' with soya, but then I didn't really like dairy milk all that much)

AND

put the milk in the mug first, then add the coffee to it.

No need to heat or anything (unless you want to).

I guess it works this way because you get a much lower proportion of acid to milk then if you did it the other way round [does that even make sense? ]

Plums

[Pob]

I put coffee granules in, then soya milk from fridge, then boiling water.

If the water in the kettle was straight from the tap it doesn't seperate.
If it was filtered first, then it does.

The water is fairly hard in my area.

[Tigerlily]

Like Cherry, I warm my soy milk up in my mug and then I add my coffee. I then stir it.

[archaeopteryx]

I find it best to use real coffee in a bodum.
I add the soy milk to the cups first and I don't make the coffee too strong.
It works everytime and tastes great. The boiling water cools slightly in the four or five minutes I let it brew. I have never enjoyed the taste of instant coffee with soy milk though I used to enjoy it with cow milk (eugh..).

[Pansypuss]

Wow, thanks for all the replies! I make real coffee as in the the last post (archaeopteryx) but perhaps it is a bit strong. Don't like instant much. I tried putting the milk in first but it didn't seem to help. I'll try putting more milk in.The water is very soft. I shall keep on experimenting. The curdling doesn't seem to affect the taste and though it looks 'gritty' it isn't, just looks VERY unattractive!

[archaeopteryx]

I've just remembered something else about this.
I use Alpro with Calcium + Vitamins. When using the Alpro Unsweetened Soy milk I found that my coffee curdled quite frequently - especially when strong.
Hope that helps!

[Pansypuss]

I have the Provamel with calcium. It has apple conc to sweeten it, I wondered if it was that? I'll try a few others milks. I love the oatly and rice dream. Haven't tried them in coffee though.

[sugarmouse]

I hate it when soy milk does this aswell...i have switched to soy cream...worse for me but doesnt have this problem..
try though, when pouring th soy milk,pouring it into the cup OVER an upturned spoon...so it touches the spoon and pours over before going into the cofee.that works, alot of the time.

[HarleyT]

I use filtered coffee using a cafetiere. My technique is to:

• Add the sugar and milk into the cup first.
• Once the kettle is boiled, pour into the cafetiere and once left for say 30 seconds, plunge.
• Pour about 'two fingers' of the coffee into the cup, whilst stiring vigorisly, and with a pause between each pour.

This can be applied to instant coffee by leaving the water to cool before pouring, stiring and pausing. Oooh the PSP method. I've coined the phrase first, don't let Playstation tell you otherwise!

[Yst]

I've generally drunk (locally produced) Chinese soy milk over the past while, and it just comes right out of solution in a hot beverage immediately, as it doesn't use artificial thickening/stabilising agents like most western soy milks do. Happily, I drink my coffee black and have since before I was a vegan.

All well and good that it keeps the soy milk in solution, but I've come to dislike the artificial thickening of western soy milk with chemicals which have no nutritional function. I prefer to see

Ingredients: Water, Soy Bean, Sugar

on my label.

[Pansypuss]

For the last few years of being vegetarian I was drinking black coffee 'cos I didn't like the sickly flavour of cow's milk. Then after I started going vegan someone gave me a coffee with soya milk and I loved it. Think I may go back to black and just have warm soya occasionally as that seemed to work.

[JenRnnrGrl]

Does anyone have a problem when they add Silk soymilk to their tea? I tried it for the first time yesterday, and the Silk looked as if it curdled when it came in contact with the tea. And the Silk was brand new and fresh.

Just wondering if it's only me!

[cedarblue]

i dont use silk soymilk, i almost prefer shop's own brand unsweetened.

sometimes you need to wait a minute before adding the milk to allow the tea in the cup a moment to come off the boil. are you making tea in a cup or a teapot?

if you use a teapot, the amount of time the tea brews in the pot allows it to be the right temperature for soymilk to be added to the cup befor pouring out the tea or for adding the milk after the tea has been poured.

cookie with that tea??

[fiamma]

cookie with that tea??

I'd rather have Johnny Maybe leaving the tea to cool, like cedar said, or making it less strong.

[Tigerlily]

I find soy creamer doesn't curdle and it tastes nicer than soy milk.

[MarkAnthony]

I've had this problem since I just started taking soya milk in my coffee. I use the long life fortified sweetened Alpro stuff and it always seems to curdle. When I was at my folks' house the other day my Dad bought me some brand that seemed to work a charm every time but I can't remember what it was. I do remember the only ingredients were water and soya beans though.

I was about to buy some creamer from Veganstore but it has hydrogenated fats in it, I think I'm just going to experiment with some techniques suggested here and different milk varieties.

[Spud Addict]

Alpro nearly always curdles when I make coffee, but now if I put the granules in mug, add soya milk and stir altogether for a while, then add the water from kettle (having let is stand for a minute or two after boiling) it is always fine now.

[Woolley]

So good soya is the best for not curddling. I have tried every trick in the book and every soya milk..Sainsbury's own, Morrisons own etc.. The best is easily So Good. or any soya milk in fresh coffee is fine!

[Pob]

I just found Sunrise Organic Soya Cafe Expert Non Curdle in Tesco. It has acidity regulators in it which are supposed to stop it curdling. Not tried it yet.

[Tigerlily]

You know what pisses me off?

When I got a coffee shop, get a coffee with soy milk, and it curdles. I bring it back to the worker and ask for another one, offering them advice on how to prevent it next time, and then they look at me like I have 2 heads. Ugh!

[Hemlock]

Soy cream works ok but to be honest I think any soy product added to coffee tastes chalky so I've learnt to enjoy coffee black and I just drink less of it. There are plenty of other hot drinks, tea, herbal products, marmite etc.

[vegantraveler]

I was told at one coffee shop that it happens when the coffee is to hot. I think sometimes their soy milk might be old. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. I've been drinking tea and coffee with silk soy for at least 5 years.

[Pob]

Asda do a fresh soya milk for 60p or so, that has potassium citrate in as an acidity regulator. Only tried it once, and it didn't curdle.

[kanopa]

I have used Alpro, Provamel, Joya and some strange Finnish soymilk in my tea or coffee and none of them curdled.