British tea drinkers milk subs?

Fit_Happens_2021
Fit_Happens_2021 Posts: 303 Member
edited January 2021 in Food and Nutrition
Question about British-style tea to anyone anywhere - if you drink your tea in that way.
(not chai or anything fancy, just regular old black tea with milk)

Looking to substitute the milk in my hot tea with something nondairy.
What has worked well for you?
Which has the taste that is closest to milk in tea?
I would like to keep at least some protein, calcium, and Vit D, but if I can't find one that has all that, and that tastes right I would find other ways to get them.
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Replies

  • Fit_Happens_2021
    Fit_Happens_2021 Posts: 303 Member
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Oat milk is the best thing I've found to put in my black tea. If you're in the UK, I don't know what options you might have there. In the US, I get Oatly unsweetened.
    I am currently living in the US, I haven't tried oat milk, I will give it a go thank you!
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
    I use silk organic unsweetened soy.
  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    edited January 2021
    There are non-dairy "creamers" that are meant for hot drinks (but many can replace cream in recipes too).

    I'm also an oat fan for this (a lot of the other products I've tried over the years break up with the heat).

    Earth's Own Culinary Edition is oat-based.

    http://earthsown.com

    I'm in Canada (and this is produced here) so not sure of its availability in the States. Surely, there's bound to be many similar alternatives in urban/highly populated areas near you.

  • MaltedTea
    MaltedTea Posts: 6,286 Member
    edited January 2021
    See above for a simple ETA lol
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    I also found oat much better than soy. Rice milks was ok but very thin, and I didn't like almond at all. Depending on whether you are avoiding dairy as such or just lactose, my preference is to get a lactose free cow's milk, as that is the closest in taste and texture.
  • freda666
    freda666 Posts: 338 Member
    I just drink my tea and coffee without milk. Took a bit of getting used to but I'd now never go back.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
    Amanda_Brit_Expat wrote: »
    Question about British-style tea to anyone anywhere - if you drink your tea in that way.
    (not chai or anything fancy, just regular old black tea with milk)

    Looking to substitute the milk in my hot tea with something nondairy.
    What has worked well for you?
    Which has the taste that is closest to milk in tea?
    I would like to keep at least some protein, calcium, and Vit D, but if I can't find one that has all that, and that tastes right I would find other ways to get them.

    I haven't found any of the non dairy milks to be very good...I just use 2% milk. Is there a particular reason you are avoiding dairy?

    Nutritionally speaking, I'd say oat milk is probably has the best overall profile after dairy milk. I have found the other substitutes to be rather lacking in regards to a well rounded nutritional profile...but IMO, dairy still has the best overall profile.
  • cbihatt
    cbihatt Posts: 319 Member
    I use almond coffee creamer. It’s not bad, but it did take some getting used to.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    edited January 2021
    janejellyroll wrote: »
    Oat milk is the best thing I've found to put in my black tea. If you're in the UK, I don't know what options you might have there. In the US, I get Oatly unsweetened.

    I second this. Im based in the US, and I occasionally put Planet Oat Extra Creamy oat milk in my coffee and it's sooo good (look out on those calories, though! 150 per cup!). I haven't put it in tea, but I have put regular oat milk in tea, so I'm thinking it would be amazing.

    Runner up would be cashew milk.

    (I hate the taste of regular milk so always exploring the alternatives)
  • Fit_Happens_2021
    Fit_Happens_2021 Posts: 303 Member
    Thank you for all the suggestions, I will try the oat milk, I have tried cashew before and found it to be the closest to real milk in tea, but not close enough to stick with. Anything creamy doesn't work well at all in tea.
  • Fit_Happens_2021
    Fit_Happens_2021 Posts: 303 Member
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Amanda_Brit_Expat wrote: »
    Question about British-style tea to anyone anywhere - if you drink your tea in that way.
    (not chai or anything fancy, just regular old black tea with milk)

    Looking to substitute the milk in my hot tea with something nondairy.
    What has worked well for you?
    Which has the taste that is closest to milk in tea?
    I would like to keep at least some protein, calcium, and Vit D, but if I can't find one that has all that, and that tastes right I would find other ways to get them.

    I haven't found any of the non dairy milks to be very good...I just use 2% milk. Is there a particular reason you are avoiding dairy?

    Nutritionally speaking, I'd say oat milk is probably has the best overall profile after dairy milk. I have found the other substitutes to be rather lacking in regards to a well rounded nutritional profile...but IMO, dairy still has the best overall profile.

    I agree, but this is something I return to every couple of years to see if there have been any new developments in milk subs that might make any of them palatable and nutritious in my tea. I'm lactose intolerant, but I do just fine on lactose-free milk. I try to replace animal products where I can just because, well... why wouldn't I - given the amount of animal suffering going on. I'm not vegan, or even vegetarian, I just do bits here and there where I can to reduce my consumption of animal-based products.
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,820 Member
    I decided to give up dairy for Lent one year. I tried all the non-dairy substitutions: soy, oat, cashew, almond, rice, and hemp, but I couldn't get used to any of them. I ended up drinking my coffee black (which I still do), and just totally stopped drinking tea till Lent ended ☹
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    ridiculous59 wrote: »
    I decided to give up dairy for Lent one year. I tried all the non-dairy substitutions: soy, oat, cashew, almond, rice, and hemp, but I couldn't get used to any of them. I ended up drinking my coffee black (which I still do), and just totally stopped drinking tea till Lent ended ☹

    Yeah, I've moved to black coffee and like it now, but I simply cannot get used to tea without milk.
  • tinkerbellang83
    tinkerbellang83 Posts: 9,129 Member
    Another vote for Oat Milk, I only occasionally use it in hot drinks, but I use it in cereal a lot and I'd say it's the closest to milk taste for me (I get reflux with dairy but love cheese so I cut out where I can lol), a vegan friend of mine is a massive tea drinker and oat is his preferred choice for a cuppa also.

    I like Alpro's Unsweetened version. I guess just try a couple and find what you like, I tried a couple of own brand oat milks and they were hit and miss.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 873 Member
    Another vote for oat milk, simply because I think the texture and sweetness level are similar to dairy milk.

    Just know though that the texture is achieved through the addition of fat. But as long as it fits in your calorie goal, no worries.
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 978 Member
    Good luck in finding something you like. I've tried soya, almond, oat and rice and I didn't like any - it just didn't taste like tea. Perhaps if I'd persevered for long enough I might have got used to it, in the same way that I now drink my coffee black, but I didn't.

    As I'm intolerant to dairy, not allergic, I now just buy small cartons and decant into 100ml bottles (the sort you can pickup in packs of 4 in Poundland for taking toiletries on holiday) and freeze them. I don't use cow's milk in anything else (I settled on almond milk for my porridge / cereal) and don't drink enough cups of tea a week to use a carton of milk before it goes off, but 100ml will do me for a few days if I'm going to be at home.

    I'd be interested in hearing an update after a trial period.
  • GrizzledSquirrel
    GrizzledSquirrel Posts: 120 Member
    Something probably REALLY obvious but I hadn’t thought about properly before it was pointed out to me on a tea plantation is how different teas are better with and without milk. In the UK (I am also a Brit, but now living abroad), we traditionally favour quite strong teas (e.g. English breakfast or “builders’ tea). This suits milk (and at least in parts of the world where it isn’t as “shameful”) spoonfuls of sugar. However, lighter teas such as Darjeeling, Earl Grey etc - are nicer (or at least more palatable) without milk (or minimal milk).

    Just might be worth an experiment.

    I tend to find with any food “substitutions” - it will always tend to fall short as we are naturally prone to compare them to the original.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,974 Member
    edited January 2021
    I've never had any milk (or sugar) w/tea. I gather this is an English custom but is it really necessary or just a "habit?"

    I drink really strong English and Chinese tea and all of my tea (and coffee) "black" and I think they taste better that way but to each "their own."
  • Strudders67
    Strudders67 Posts: 978 Member
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    I've never had any milk (or sugar) w/tea. I gather this is an English custom but is it really necessary or just a "habit?"

    I drink really strong English and Chinese tea and all of my tea (and coffee) "black" and I think they taste better that way but to each "their own."

    It probably is just a case of what you're accustomed to. I've adapted to black coffee but, for some reason, no milk in tea isn't right. GrizzledSquirrel could be right about the stronger teas though. I don't like mine particularly strong (a few stirs and get the teabag out) but still find it quite bitter with no milk. I don't like Earl Grey but maybe I'll try others to see if it makes a difference. Still interested in whether perseverance with a milk substitution gets better with time, or not.

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