Non-Dairy Milk In Tea: Pacific Natural Foods Hazelnut Milk in English Breakfast Tea

Twenty-five years ago a cousin was diagnosed with a dairy allergy. This was no mere lactose intolerance, but a full-blown allergy to any and all milk products: Even trace amounts of dairy in otherwise innocuous prepared foods could threaten little JR’s life. He was regulated to “soy juice” (infant formula) that was used for drinking, pouring on cereal, and cooking. It was the only widely available non-dairy “milk” around.

But times have changed, and so has awareness about allergies, food intolerance, veganism, Kosher diets, and other ways of eating that restrict or eliminate the use of dairy products. When I recently mentioned drinking “proper” English Breakfast tea (with sugar and milk) to my vegan friend, John Plummer, he began to ponder which non-dairy milk might taste best in English Breakfast tea.

Thus, an idea for a series of blog posts was born.

In each of these posts John and I will be sampling various seed, nut, and grain milks in Choice English Breakfast Tea and will be reporting on what we discover. Enjoy!

The Milk: Pacific Natural Foods Hazelnut Beverage (I guess they can’t technically call it “milk”.)

John’s Take: John describes the milk as “. . .rich, medium-thick, and somewhat sweet”. . .with “. . .a background hazelnut flavor, which is quite pleasant, and not overly strong.”

Lainie’s Take: I am a milk drinker (though I have a problem with modern pasturized/homogenized milks) and I’m suspicious of “fake” milk.  So I was amazed when I tried Pacific Natural Food’s hazelnut milk: The consistency was like that of. . .um. . whole milk!  As John said, there was a taste of hazelnuts (or filberts, as I like to call them), but it wasn’t too strong, did not taste in any way artificial, and was hardly unwelcome. In fact, I drank almost the whole quart before remembering that I needed some of it for my tea!

The Tea:

John’s Take:  “The tea is, as the package says, robust, in the best sense.  It has a strong, clear flavor, and is totally classic English Breakfast.”

Lainie’s Take: My review of Choice Organic English Breakfast Tea is here. Suffice it to say that I think it is a tasty, well-rounded English Breakfast blend.

The Milk in the Tea:

John’s Take: John says that he was “pleased with the combination”: “The milk sweetens the tea slightly, and mellows it.  The hazelnut flavor blends well.   Some plant based milks (especially soy) will curdle when added cold to a hot beverage.  I tried heating a small amount hazelnut milk for a few seconds in the microwave before adding – and also added it cold.  It worked fine both ways.”

“In a cup that sat for a few minutes, a few drops of nut oil rose to the surface, and there was a slight sediment at the bottom of the cup, but no breaking or curdling, and nothing that a quick swish of a spoon couldn’t fix.”

Lainie’s Take: As John mentioned, the milk blended well with the tea. There was a bit of oil, as well as some sediment, but this was indeed easily remedied with a swirl of the spoon. While the milk on its own had a slight sweetness, I did not find this sweetness imparted to the tea. There was a slight backdrop of hazelnut flavor, but it went well with the tea. If I wasn’t paying attention, I might not have noticed it.

The only “criticism” that I have is that the hazelnut milk smoothed out the tea too much: I like my tea to have a bit of a kick. Choice Organic English Breakfast is a smooth, well-rounded tea to begin with, so the addition of the rich, nutty milk just increased its mellowness.  I suggest that readers who are interested try it for themselves and see what they like.

Lainie’s Extra Tastings: I decided to try the hazelnut milk in two other types of tea:  Assam (a strong, brisk, malty brew that is often part of English Breakfast tea blends), and chai (a spiced black tea). (The Assam was Teaosophy’s Assam and the Chai was Two Leaves and a Bud Mountain High Chai.)

I actually preferred the hazelnut milk in both the Assam and the Chai. I find that Assams, in general, can be very strong, and the nuttiness of milk was great at smoothing it out (while also meshing beautifully with the Assam’s malty notes). Likewise the nuttiness also complemented the warm spiciness of the Chai.

Affiliate Links in this Post?: Yes.

Tagged as: allergies, allergy, assam, dairy allergy, dairy products, English Breakfast Tea, hazelnut milk, hazelnuts, hot beverage, India, John Plummer, kosher, lactose intolerance, lainie petersen, milk products, non-dairy, nut oil, Pacific Natural Foods, tea, tea reviews, vegan