Coffee is one of the beverages you can enjoy with different types of milk. People who have a lactose allergy or don’t like the taste of it can use milk alternatives in their coffee.
These are usually nut or plant milks that can make coffee creamy, sweet, and flavorful, just like dairy milk.
A favorite plant milk often used in coffee beverages is almond milk. It is made by soaking almonds and then blending them with water to extract a milky liquid similar to dairy milk.
As we’ve described, you can buy almond milk at the grocery store or make some at home. Store-bought almond milk, especially that made with a high amount of almonds, has a better texture than homemade almond milk. However, any can do when making coffee.
Although it is pretty tasty, almond milk makes coffee lighter than dairy milk. Since it is such a delicious nut milk, coffee drinkers are always looking for ways to enhance its texture when making coffee.
Some think putting almond milk in a coffee maker during coffee brewing can improve its texture resulting in a velvety, delicious drink. Unfortunately this is not correct. Why is this?
Reasons You Should Not Put Almond Milk in A Coffee Maker
Adding almond milk to hot coffee can make a nice latte if you heat and froth it but you must do this seperately. Otherwise if you put almond milk in a coffee maker, it will curdle destroying the consistency and taste of the hot coffee.
However, some people decide to put almond milk in a coffee machine during coffee brewing to save time. This is because it seems easy to brew milk with coffee in a coffee maker and then froth it afterwards instead of heating the almond milk separately.
Unfortunately, this does not work well because any type of milk spoils coffee makers mainly because these machines are only made to brew coffee with water.
And because almond milk contains some sugar, any residue left in the coffee machine will only encourage the growth of bacteria and mold. This will make any other coffee beverages you brew in the machine taste funny and endanger your health.
The proteins in almond milk can also clog your coffee machine, slowing down the coffee brewing process. Therefore, you should always steam and froth almond milk separately when making almond coffee.
How do you froth almond milk? By using a milk frother, french press, or whisk after steaming it in a saucepan.
You may also decide to use the almond milk to make cold coffee drinks. This is because the texture and flavor of almond milk is better suited for cold drinks.
It’s also easy to thicken cold almond milk for almond coffee by shaking it in a French Press or any other milk frothing device. This will create a creamy cold almond milk coffee beverage with a velvety texture.
However, if you decide to make a hot almond milk coffee beverage, here is how to make it.
How to Make Hot Coffee with Almond Milk
- Brew your black coffee in the coffee maker and pour it into a glass. Make sure you leave enough space for the almond milk.
- Sweeten the coffee with a sweetener of your choice otherwise, doing it after adding the almond milk will interfere with the texture.
- Pour the almond milk into a saucepan and heat it under medium-high heat until it comes to a boil under medium-high heat.
- Lower the temperature and leave the milk to simmer for 1 -3 minutes.
- Pour the steamed milk in a gentle stream over your glass of hot coffee, creating a velvety foamy texture. The more milk you add, the creamier your beverage will become.
- Enjoy your hot almond milk coffee!
Conclusion
Now you know why you mustn’t put almond milk in a coffee maker. That doesn’t mean you can’t make a hot or cold almond milk coffee beverage.
Almond milk gives coffee a sweet and tasty consistency different from what you get from dairy milk. You should try it if you’ve never had coffee made with plant – based milk alternatives.
We’ve given you a simple almond coffee recipe to try. It is guaranteed to give you an amazing cup of hot almond milk coffee.
If you are looking for a cold almond coffee option try making an iced almond latte with cold almond milk.
Whichever option you choose, it will be great to have an alternative to dairy milk the next time you want to make an interesting coffee beverage.
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