The Best Nut Milk Makers
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I’m really sick and tired of all the additives in my food. After switching from cow’s milk to oat and almond milk for the better part of the past decade, I’ve slowly started to mix OG dairy back into my diet. It’s primarily because the preservatives in many of the popular plant milk brands are counteractive to any other benefits they may otherwise provide.
Don’t get me wrong. I still love my plant milks, mainly because I like the flavor of them. Nothing goes better with a matcha latte than some frothed oat milk.
But are these nut milks even healthier? Are they even helping the environment? If you have a lactose or dairy issue, then obviously these alternatives are necessary. But many of the leading brands in the space process their liquids in ways that add a long list of ingredients with hard-to-pronounce words. It’s why they last so long in the fridge. When it comes to almond milk in particular, the environmental argument is basically thrown out the window, given the extreme amounts of water needed to produce it.
I’m not one to be an artisan, so making the milks on my own to avoid these issues really hadn’t been something I thought would be practical. But there are an increasing number of nut and plant milk makers that do all the work for you, giving you supremely fresh, additive-free plant milk. I’ve really been enjoying incorporating these fresh plant milks into my coffee—they add a fresh nuttiness that I really never got from the store-bought ones.
Be sure to visit some of our other buying guides for kitchen gear, including the Best Gear for Small Kitchens, the Best Electric Kettles, the Best Coffee Grinders, and the Best Tea Accessories.
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How We Tested
I tested these by making three types of milk with each. For almond milk I used Blue Diamond Whole Natural unroasted, unsalted almonds. For cashew, I used 365-brand unroasted, unsalted cashews. For macadamia, I used Mauna Loa dry roasted, unsalted macadamia nuts. I also used filtered water from a Zero Water filter as the liquid in each machine. In terms of the machines themselves, I was looking for a well-engineered product that I could trust would last me a long time.
I also considered the length of time it took to produce the milk, as well as the simplicity of using the product and ease of cleaning it. In terms of the milk the machines yield, I examined the taste and smoothness in relation to each other as well as store-bought milks. I also tested adding additional ingredients like sweeteners to see how well they made additional recipes aside from the most basic of milks.
These freshly made milks are all going to have a shorter shelf life than plant milks you buy at the store (typically about five days) because of the lack of added preservatives, so shelf life was not a factor I considered. All in all, I really didn’t want these machines to just be glorified blenders with a filter built in. I wanted them to be specifically curated for making the best plant milk possible.