And the Winner is...

As you may of read in one of my previous review posts about 'Rice Dream' I have been on the look-out for the ideal milk alternative. Over the past few weeks I have tried and tested three more cartons and have finally reached my verdict. I shall start with 'Oatly' oat drink. This milk is made with oats, Swedish oats to be precise and contains a nutritional balance of protein, carbs, fibers and healthy fat. Although it states on the website that you can use this drink in the same way as "old school milk," when I poured it into tea it curdled quite badly. Unfortunately I decided to tip my tea away and give in to cows milk yet again. This was disappointing because it tastes great on cereal.

The next time I went shopping I decided to go for 'Good Hemp' which is described as "creamy, nutty and tastes delicious" on their website. Correct me if I'm wrong but I didn't recognise any of these qualities. I didn't like the taste of it very much on both my cereal and in my tea. However,it's a good source of Omega 3 but I won't be purchasing it again.

So now this brings me to my third and final choice and the winner of my taste buds... 'Almond Breeze' Original by 'Blue Diamond Almonds.' 'Almond Breeze' is a natural source of calcium and is low in saturated fat. It's great on cereal but it will take a little more getting used to in tea but it works well and doesn't curdle. I will be sticking to this brand in the future.

All three of these milk alternatives are soya free and can be purchase in 'Tesco' where they provide a wide range of brands to choose from, Do you have a favourite?

Review: Rice Dream

As part of my diet I would like to consume less dairy products for ethical reasons. I began this by exploring milk substitutes. I have never been that keen on 'Alpro', maybe because of the consistency or texture although I have recently taken a liking to 'Alpro' vanilla but I couldn't quite see myself pouring it on my breakfast cereal as it's quite sweet.

When I was in 'Waitrose' the other day I decided to try a different brand and picked up 'Rice Dream'. It contains less sugar than 'Alpro' (only containing natural occurring sugars). Other benefits are that it contains calcium with vitamins D2 and B12, it's low in fat and has all natural ingredients with no stabilisers or emulsifiers. It is gluten free and can be used in baking (recipes on their website).

The first thing I did when I got it home was a taste test. I shook it first (always shake) and poured it into a glass. My first initial thought was 'yuck' but I put aside the watery appearance and the little white bits and drank it. I could definitely distinguish the rice taste (probably because it's made with rice haha). I could tell that I preferred it to Alpro but I wasn't entirely sure I had come to the end of my quest to find a milk substitute that I love.

It was great on my cereal but in my tea I wasn't convinced. It turned it dark brown but it was drinkable (but I don't want to settle with drinkable). So before I consider returning to 'Rice Dream' (winner of superior taste award 2012) I will continue to try other brands. Wish me luck!