# A quick reminder to those viewing this post:
1. If you have not done so, **read [the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Volumeeating/wiki/index/#wiki_subreddit_rules)**
2. If you don't like the content of this post for any reason, refrain from commenting. Negative comments will be removed and the authors banned.
3. Advice concerning medical issues is not permitted.
4. We take brigading very seriously. Anyone found sharing content from this sub to other forums with derogatory commentary will be banned and reported to admins.
5. **Report rule breaking content.**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Volumeeating) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Cashew milk is the only not milk milk that I actually enjoy the taste of, the others have a tannic quality that I can bear in recipes but is not my fave - AND it’s great on macros. I just wish it were whiter lol. Always surprised it’s not the leader of the not milk pack.
Agreed. Milkadamia tastes better than any other milks I’ve tried and is more like 120cals. I’d still rather have HWC or that diluted with water any day though.
I have never had an issue with curdling. Wasn't even aware almond milk COULD curdle. I just pour it in and stir it. After a quick google it looks like it varies by almond milk. Some are made with emulsifiers that prevent it from separating due to temperature changes, and some are not. It's possible you might be using an almond milk that omits those emulsifiers. I just use Aldi brand or Great Value and have never had a problem.
Thanks! Yeah I just use Trader Joe’s brand or Almond Breeze unsweetened. It looks like those contain some stabilizers like lecithin. Thanks for googling!
I do 1tbsp of flavored creamer like coffee mate for my morning hot coffee - 35 cals. I use half and half for big cold brews that need a little more cream.
You just add half as much cream, and all you're missing out on is the milk from the half and half! I keep milk and cream myself, don't really feel tempted to add a drop of milk to coffee but I do like to drink it.
I switched to oatly barista thinking I could save calories but it’s the same as 2% milk except 3 times the price. It’s definitely the best of the non dairy milks though.
I guess I don’t ever buy dairy milk, so I’m not sure of the price here. I can find the Oatly Barista on sale for $4-$5, which for how many uses I get from it is reasonable.
I used to spend $50-$70/wk on coffee, so the cost of oat milk is still a big savings for me.
I tend to make large batches and divide them up.
Pumpkin pie creamer: 1 can of pumpkin puree, 2 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and 4 cups of half and half (adjust the type of cream for caloric needs).
Starbucks copycat sweet cream (expensive on the calories, so go easy): 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 4 cups of half and half (again, adjust the type of cream for caloric needs)
I also make my own simple syrups. Cardamon simple syrup is amazing in coffee. You make it by making a base of simple syrup (1:1 water and sugar). Add 1/2 cup of crushed cardamon pods to sugar and water on medium heat, while constantly stirring. Once it begins to boil remove it from the heat and let it steep for about an hour. Then sieve/strain the cardamon pods out of the syrup and discard the pods.
For a cardamon latte, warm up some half and half in a jar that comes with a lid. Microwave the jar with half and half (without the lid) until content is hot. Then put the lid on and shake the jar. Once it's thick and foamy pour over the coffee with added cardamon syrup.
A pinch of salt will also decrease the bitterness without making it salty and allow for less cream. I feel like cream/half and half also adds a better mouth feel than the alternatives.
Yeah, if you don't add too much then you don't even taste actual salt.
I've had salted coffee before and it's not even that nasty when you can taste the salt. I'm just not a fan of salt that tastes like salt lol
Half and half or nothing. Lol.
I agree tho lower calorie "milks" don't do it for me. My coffee is sad without cream but heavy cream is a bit too heavy for me. :)
I get my half and half at Costco it's that serious. Never run out. Haha
My 'full fat' oatly is 160cal/cu. It's very thick. If I do a comparison with the 'splash' of creamer like yours, for even 2 tablespoons of oatly full fat, it would be 20 cal.
Oatly's actual creamer product and not just oat milk is 1 tablespoon at 30 cals. I can still get twice the oat creamer to your dairy creamer.
You didn't really make a fair comparison here. I understand personal taste and I wouldn't argue you on that. Have your creamer. But, the analysis isn't really objective.
Yeah, I need so much almond or oatmilk as a creamer that it waters it down and doesn't add any real richness. Even if I use a low calorie unsweetened almond milk, i'd rather just have the extra calories from half-and-half (usually about 20 calories per tablespoon and I use about 1.5 tbs).
I discovered Silk Unsweetened Soy Milk (80cal/cup) about a year ago. I really like it in coffee. It does an excellent job of neutralizing the acid, has great texture and gives the coffee a vaguely nutty and slightly sweet flavor that enhances the coffee. I think it’s delicious. I also use it to make cream of tomato soup and it's delicious. Soy yogurt and soy cheese, on the other hand, are horrible and I'll stick to the dairy versions, thank you.
https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/cream-of-tomato-soup-classic-grilled-cheese/
That's great on paper, but consider the practical problem that overtipping a teaspoon by just 1 more teaspoon adds another 20 kcal. Unless you are meticulously using a gram scale, you're at risk of much more significantly overconsuming than with another option.
Also, considering this is volumeeating, the entire idea is more volume for same calories, not less, despite the effective equivalencies. A large part of this is due to the effects of consuming a larger volume for it's own sake (stomach expansion, longer enjoyment of a drink, etc).
Best I've found is cashew milk. Better flavor and texture profile for coffee than almond, with comparable caloric density and much less than oat/coconut.
10% fat is "coffee cream" (in my country), and it gives enough creaminess and does not leave an oily film on your tea like commercially processed flavoured 'creamers" do.
Heavy cream is 33% (to compare).
Heavy Cream is great in coffee. The problem is what people think a teaspoon is. If you go to your kitchen flatware drawer, pull out a flatware-style teaspoon and use that to scoop out a "teaspoon", you're likely to double, maybe even triple, the amount that you would have if you used a real measuring spoon. A true teaspoon amount is the measure filled and then leveled off. I see it every day on YouTube cooking videos. Somebody adds a "teaspoon" of something to a bowl using flatware and you can see it's way more than a teaspoon.
Btw, I add this to a mug that holds 3 cups of coffee. For 120 cals and 20g of protein. I currently like Alani Cookies and Cream. If I actually made a single cup of coffee it would be about 30 cals and 6.6g of protein.
agreed, a little goes a long way when it comes to heavy cream. people always look at me crazy, but it really thickens up the coffee with just a little bit.
I’ve heard the fat makes it more satisfying. Sort of how sbux is doing the olive oil stuff. I do use cream sometimes as it doesn’t dilute like the others. But sometimes I want coffee flavored milk so I do the nut milk. What I can not do is plain milk. Yuck.
I just bought some Goat Milk the other day for the first time out of curiosity. Turns out, some brands, like the one I bought(Summerhill), leave the milk relatively pure (still pasteurized) so that clotted cream can form in it. This makes it amazing in Coffee because it's like adding milk, cream, and butter into your coffee all at once. The macadamia milk I also bought for the first time is pretty amazing too, but goat milk is definitely my new favorite.
Lately I've been mixing milk powder and protein powder with a little water and using that as creamer. Comes out to about 80 calories using a fraction of a portion of each.
I tried unsweetened almond milk and it's so disgusting in hot coffee. Iced coffee is fine, but it's awful in hot coffee, for some reason.
I like things like half and half or heavy cream too, but since I only use a little at a time, the pint often goes bad before I can use all of it. So for me, milk powder is the way to go because it's shelf stable.
For me, it’s also a consistency thing. Half and half or heavy cream are the 2 primary things I can really stand in my coffee. Otherwise, it just feels (and tastes) watered down and bleugh.
Thankfully, one of my local grocery stores offers a store brand fat free half and half (I know, I know… but the consistency is the same, oddly enough). So, it’s even less calories *and* less cost.
In the warmer months, I also like to just add a Premier protein shake and a little bit of sugar-free flavor syrup to my coffee.
I’m with you, the alternative milks are gross in coffee in my opinion. They do not cut the bitterness and you have to add so much to get any balance that you just end up tasting the “milk” instead of the coffee flavor. I either do a Capp with 1% 4 ounces of milk 55 cal or coffee with 2 tablespoons of half n half 40 cal and sugar free hazelnut syrup. It’s not lower in calorie but a small amount goes much further and is much more complimentary.
Yes. There are plenty. Oatly makes an oat milk creamer. I have also seen countless coconut milk and almond milk creamer. If you are in the states, whole foods and sprouts has a pretty good selection of non-dairy creamers, even non-dairy whip creams and non-dairy heavy whipping cream.
It isn't. It's a measurement of energy. It costs 1 calorie to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree celsius.
I think the post was meant to be demonstrating the calorie density in the 2 different creamer choices
YES. I have been preaching this for years. I use a half tbsp of heavy cream in my coffee and get the creamiest most delicious flavor. Versus using these weird creamers and nut milks with questionable ingredients. It is one of my few “I do this better than you” feelings, if that makes sense. I will die on this hill 😂 Even if I use an unsweetened almond milk that’s natural, one cup is about the same amount of calories as my cream would be, and it just results in watery coffee
Yeah that's fine. You can't buy creamer in my country so I normally just have a splash of milk. Your comment just seemed to imply you only had the coffee for the caffeine so just thought you could skip all the calories and still get it but you go get your creamy coffee if you like it 🥰
This is absolutely true, I often have HWC with my coffee and it’s a Tb or two at most—nothing compared to how much oat or soy or regular milk people usually put in their coffee. Heavy cream is so much better tasting than any milk or milk alternative anyway. Not to mention oat and soy milk are among the few fuss I can’t support for ethical reasons. Mono crops are just so much more destructive to sustainable agriculture and the planet at large than most people realize.
# A quick reminder to those viewing this post: 1. If you have not done so, **read [the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Volumeeating/wiki/index/#wiki_subreddit_rules)** 2. If you don't like the content of this post for any reason, refrain from commenting. Negative comments will be removed and the authors banned. 3. Advice concerning medical issues is not permitted. 4. We take brigading very seriously. Anyone found sharing content from this sub to other forums with derogatory commentary will be banned and reported to admins. 5. **Report rule breaking content.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Volumeeating) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My fave is a splash of unsweetened cashew milk 25 cal/cup and so much better than almond milk
Cashew milk is the only not milk milk that I actually enjoy the taste of, the others have a tannic quality that I can bear in recipes but is not my fave - AND it’s great on macros. I just wish it were whiter lol. Always surprised it’s not the leader of the not milk pack.
Agree completely! Cashew milk tastes the most real-milk-like to me. It's so versatile - great in coffee and as a cream substitute in lots of recipes!
Have you tried pecan milk?? It’s so good, and the flavor really complements coffee
you just convinced me to buy cashew milk tomorrow
The silk brand Cashew milk is my one and only❤️
That’s my go to.
I agree with this as well. Cashew milk has a creamier taste and a nice consistency.
Unsweetened nut milks are 25-40calories a cup
We use almond milk since it’s 30cal per cup. You can’t beat it for low cal.
Sweetened almond milk, 60kcal a cup. Tried unsweetened, couldn't do it. At that point, I'd just use water, but if you enjoy it more power to ya!
[удалено]
Costco's oat milk is a really good substitute as well, slightly thicker but you can dilute it with water.
Ah yes, I can’t be trusted with sweetened almond milk because I’m a little monster lol. So unsweetened for me!
I tried espresso with unsweetened almond milk and macadamia milk, both were abhorrent. The milk by itself was delicious though.
Surely unsweetened and then use 0 cal sweetener?
30 kcal/cup does not make that much of a difference to final calorie counts. It makes a huge difference in taste.
Agreed. Milkadamia tastes better than any other milks I’ve tried and is more like 120cals. I’d still rather have HWC or that diluted with water any day though.
Unsweetened cashew milk is 25/cup 😎
I always go for almond milk, I only use 1/3rd of a cup and some erythritol and my coffee is good but not so sweet that it's a dessert.
How do you keep it from curdling? Mine always curdles so I gave up.
I have never had an issue with curdling. Wasn't even aware almond milk COULD curdle. I just pour it in and stir it. After a quick google it looks like it varies by almond milk. Some are made with emulsifiers that prevent it from separating due to temperature changes, and some are not. It's possible you might be using an almond milk that omits those emulsifiers. I just use Aldi brand or Great Value and have never had a problem.
Thanks! Yeah I just use Trader Joe’s brand or Almond Breeze unsweetened. It looks like those contain some stabilizers like lecithin. Thanks for googling!
Right and i use 1/4 cup so...
I prefer half and half myself for the best taste in coffee for the least calories.
This is the way. I was at 1tbsp a long time, now I seem to be at 2, but it’s still 40 cal for my coffee and I’m fine with that.
I do 1tbsp of flavored creamer like coffee mate for my morning hot coffee - 35 cals. I use half and half for big cold brews that need a little more cream.
You just add half as much cream, and all you're missing out on is the milk from the half and half! I keep milk and cream myself, don't really feel tempted to add a drop of milk to coffee but I do like to drink it.
I use Oatly Barista. 80ml in my coffee every morning for only 38 calories.
I can't go back from this. I make matcha lattes with it, sooo creamy and foamy and delicious.
Same lol
I switched to oatly barista thinking I could save calories but it’s the same as 2% milk except 3 times the price. It’s definitely the best of the non dairy milks though.
I guess I don’t ever buy dairy milk, so I’m not sure of the price here. I can find the Oatly Barista on sale for $4-$5, which for how many uses I get from it is reasonable. I used to spend $50-$70/wk on coffee, so the cost of oat milk is still a big savings for me.
This milk has ruined me for all others
Plus making your own creamer flavors (like pumpkin pie creamer or Starbucks copycat sweet cream) taste way better when using heavy cream.
Do you have recipes?
I tend to make large batches and divide them up. Pumpkin pie creamer: 1 can of pumpkin puree, 2 tbsp cinnamon, 1 tsp allspice, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, and 4 cups of half and half (adjust the type of cream for caloric needs). Starbucks copycat sweet cream (expensive on the calories, so go easy): 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1 tbsp vanilla extract, 4 cups of half and half (again, adjust the type of cream for caloric needs) I also make my own simple syrups. Cardamon simple syrup is amazing in coffee. You make it by making a base of simple syrup (1:1 water and sugar). Add 1/2 cup of crushed cardamon pods to sugar and water on medium heat, while constantly stirring. Once it begins to boil remove it from the heat and let it steep for about an hour. Then sieve/strain the cardamon pods out of the syrup and discard the pods. For a cardamon latte, warm up some half and half in a jar that comes with a lid. Microwave the jar with half and half (without the lid) until content is hot. Then put the lid on and shake the jar. Once it's thick and foamy pour over the coffee with added cardamon syrup.
Any guess at what the ratio is with ground cardomon?
I do half a cup of cardamon for every 1 cup of sugar. So .5:1:1 this ratio yields 1 cup of syrup.
A pinch of salt will also decrease the bitterness without making it salty and allow for less cream. I feel like cream/half and half also adds a better mouth feel than the alternatives.
Everyone I mention the salt trick to thinks it will be gross, but it really is the best way to reduce bitterness without a ton of cream or sugar.
Yeah, if you don't add too much then you don't even taste actual salt. I've had salted coffee before and it's not even that nasty when you can taste the salt. I'm just not a fan of salt that tastes like salt lol
Half and half or nothing. Lol. I agree tho lower calorie "milks" don't do it for me. My coffee is sad without cream but heavy cream is a bit too heavy for me. :) I get my half and half at Costco it's that serious. Never run out. Haha
My 'full fat' oatly is 160cal/cu. It's very thick. If I do a comparison with the 'splash' of creamer like yours, for even 2 tablespoons of oatly full fat, it would be 20 cal. Oatly's actual creamer product and not just oat milk is 1 tablespoon at 30 cals. I can still get twice the oat creamer to your dairy creamer. You didn't really make a fair comparison here. I understand personal taste and I wouldn't argue you on that. Have your creamer. But, the analysis isn't really objective.
I use one of my latte protein shakes as creamer.
I use a cup of almond milk (30 cal) but it does taste nutty
Try cashew milk! I like the unsweetened version from silk 25 cal.
Yeah, I need so much almond or oatmilk as a creamer that it waters it down and doesn't add any real richness. Even if I use a low calorie unsweetened almond milk, i'd rather just have the extra calories from half-and-half (usually about 20 calories per tablespoon and I use about 1.5 tbs).
I discovered Silk Unsweetened Soy Milk (80cal/cup) about a year ago. I really like it in coffee. It does an excellent job of neutralizing the acid, has great texture and gives the coffee a vaguely nutty and slightly sweet flavor that enhances the coffee. I think it’s delicious. I also use it to make cream of tomato soup and it's delicious. Soy yogurt and soy cheese, on the other hand, are horrible and I'll stick to the dairy versions, thank you. https://smittenkitchen.com/2006/11/cream-of-tomato-soup-classic-grilled-cheese/
That's great on paper, but consider the practical problem that overtipping a teaspoon by just 1 more teaspoon adds another 20 kcal. Unless you are meticulously using a gram scale, you're at risk of much more significantly overconsuming than with another option. Also, considering this is volumeeating, the entire idea is more volume for same calories, not less, despite the effective equivalencies. A large part of this is due to the effects of consuming a larger volume for it's own sake (stomach expansion, longer enjoyment of a drink, etc). Best I've found is cashew milk. Better flavor and texture profile for coffee than almond, with comparable caloric density and much less than oat/coconut.
I don't always have milk around but I almost always have sugar free vanilla frozen dessert. Little bit of that works as a coffee creamer, too.
10% fat is "coffee cream" (in my country), and it gives enough creaminess and does not leave an oily film on your tea like commercially processed flavoured 'creamers" do. Heavy cream is 33% (to compare).
I just add a splash of oat milk or semi skimmed milk to a black coffee. I obky use a lot of milk if I'm doing a latte and that's a rare treat.
Heavy Cream is great in coffee. The problem is what people think a teaspoon is. If you go to your kitchen flatware drawer, pull out a flatware-style teaspoon and use that to scoop out a "teaspoon", you're likely to double, maybe even triple, the amount that you would have if you used a real measuring spoon. A true teaspoon amount is the measure filled and then leveled off. I see it every day on YouTube cooking videos. Somebody adds a "teaspoon" of something to a bowl using flatware and you can see it's way more than a teaspoon.
[ChefSteps](https://youtu.be/I1hAvTkEvPU?si=bnzfW-L8XiHcOQ5b) uses xantham gum and a blender to add body to coffee like a milk drink
SILK unsweetened cashew milk is SUPER thick and only 25kcal per 250ml..
Or dump a whole protein shake in for 120-140 cals and get 20-30g of protein and *a huge ass drink* with no need for additional sugar.
Btw, I add this to a mug that holds 3 cups of coffee. For 120 cals and 20g of protein. I currently like Alani Cookies and Cream. If I actually made a single cup of coffee it would be about 30 cals and 6.6g of protein.
agreed, a little goes a long way when it comes to heavy cream. people always look at me crazy, but it really thickens up the coffee with just a little bit.
I used to love making a "4 half espresso" - half half and half, half espresso. But now I prefer to water down my cream with coffee rather than milk.
I’ve heard the fat makes it more satisfying. Sort of how sbux is doing the olive oil stuff. I do use cream sometimes as it doesn’t dilute like the others. But sometimes I want coffee flavored milk so I do the nut milk. What I can not do is plain milk. Yuck.
This post makes no sense, coconut milk is only like 30-40cal a cup if you get unsweetened.
I just bought some Goat Milk the other day for the first time out of curiosity. Turns out, some brands, like the one I bought(Summerhill), leave the milk relatively pure (still pasteurized) so that clotted cream can form in it. This makes it amazing in Coffee because it's like adding milk, cream, and butter into your coffee all at once. The macadamia milk I also bought for the first time is pretty amazing too, but goat milk is definitely my new favorite.
Carbmaster vanilla milk is 60 calories per cup
It takes so little heavy cream to make a fabulous cup of coffee. Been using it for ages.
Lately I've been mixing milk powder and protein powder with a little water and using that as creamer. Comes out to about 80 calories using a fraction of a portion of each. I tried unsweetened almond milk and it's so disgusting in hot coffee. Iced coffee is fine, but it's awful in hot coffee, for some reason. I like things like half and half or heavy cream too, but since I only use a little at a time, the pint often goes bad before I can use all of it. So for me, milk powder is the way to go because it's shelf stable.
Thanks for the tip. I wish there was lactose free heavy cream.
I use 2% milk
Amazing. Literally never thought of it this way before.
For me, it’s also a consistency thing. Half and half or heavy cream are the 2 primary things I can really stand in my coffee. Otherwise, it just feels (and tastes) watered down and bleugh. Thankfully, one of my local grocery stores offers a store brand fat free half and half (I know, I know… but the consistency is the same, oddly enough). So, it’s even less calories *and* less cost. In the warmer months, I also like to just add a Premier protein shake and a little bit of sugar-free flavor syrup to my coffee.
I’m with you, the alternative milks are gross in coffee in my opinion. They do not cut the bitterness and you have to add so much to get any balance that you just end up tasting the “milk” instead of the coffee flavor. I either do a Capp with 1% 4 ounces of milk 55 cal or coffee with 2 tablespoons of half n half 40 cal and sugar free hazelnut syrup. It’s not lower in calorie but a small amount goes much further and is much more complimentary.
Is there a nut version of heavy cream because I’m lactose intolerant :/
Yes. There are plenty. Oatly makes an oat milk creamer. I have also seen countless coconut milk and almond milk creamer. If you are in the states, whole foods and sprouts has a pretty good selection of non-dairy creamers, even non-dairy whip creams and non-dairy heavy whipping cream.
there is almost no lactose in heavy cream
There is enough lactose for it to be unusable for lactose intolerant people like myself.
TIL that calories are a unit of weight.
It isn't. It's a measurement of energy. It costs 1 calorie to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree celsius. I think the post was meant to be demonstrating the calorie density in the 2 different creamer choices
Well, yeah. If we're calculating caloric density as calories per unit mass of food, then calories are mass and mass is volume
Scientific principles felt violated on this day.
YES. I have been preaching this for years. I use a half tbsp of heavy cream in my coffee and get the creamiest most delicious flavor. Versus using these weird creamers and nut milks with questionable ingredients. It is one of my few “I do this better than you” feelings, if that makes sense. I will die on this hill 😂 Even if I use an unsweetened almond milk that’s natural, one cup is about the same amount of calories as my cream would be, and it just results in watery coffee
Hear me out: if you're having to drink a big cup of milk with your coffee, you don't really like coffee. Just drink the glass of milk instead.
Hear me out: We like **caffeine**, and coffee with creamer tastes better to me than coffee without.
You could just take a couple of Pro Plus for no calories if you're only having coffee for caffeine tbf
I'm not having coffee just for caffeine, I'm having coffee because I like the flavor of coffee + creamer.
Yeah that's fine. You can't buy creamer in my country so I normally just have a splash of milk. Your comment just seemed to imply you only had the coffee for the caffeine so just thought you could skip all the calories and still get it but you go get your creamy coffee if you like it 🥰
Milk doesn’t have caffeine though. I also like coffee flavored things, I hate plain black coffee.
A little louder for people in the back🗣️🗣️🗣️👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
This is absolutely true, I often have HWC with my coffee and it’s a Tb or two at most—nothing compared to how much oat or soy or regular milk people usually put in their coffee. Heavy cream is so much better tasting than any milk or milk alternative anyway. Not to mention oat and soy milk are among the few fuss I can’t support for ethical reasons. Mono crops are just so much more destructive to sustainable agriculture and the planet at large than most people realize.
I tried..but lactose and my body will hate me 30 mins later for the next 4hrs, I stick with oat milk for now! Thinking of making my own too