Soy Latte anyone?

Upon receiving my issue of Frankie magazine this month, there was an article reviewing various non-dairy milks. What timing! The article gave resounding applause to Bonsoy brand Soy milk so I, assuming this person who's been doing this whole non-dairy thing for longer than I have knows what their talking about, embarked upon a non-dairy treasure hunt of sorts to Cole's. (the only grocery store in town.) I'd noticed the other day they had a broad selection of non-dairy milks in the refrigerated section, so I headed there first. Alas, no Bonsoy. :/ So I picked up a litre of Sanitarium Organic soy milk and thought I'd call it a day. But then, a flashy flashbulb...err...lightbulb went off in my head: the long-life milk shelf in the coffee aisle!! So I rushed over to the coffee aisle and was welcomed by a cornucopia of non-dairy milk choices! Inluding, sound the trumpets, Bonsoy! I clutched this cardboard box of hope in my arms like a newborn baby and carried it home, praying all the way it wouldn't taste like...well, disgusting.

My only memory of soy milk is of that line in The Santa Clause when Tim Allen chugs the glass of milk, pulls a face, and says "I think the milk's a little sour" to which the girl on the couch replies "It's soy milk, you said you're lactose intolerant." So, my whole life, I have assumed soy milk must be disgusting. Like sour milk. All thanks to The Santa Clause. God bless the media, right? So here I am with my Sanitarium organic Soy Milk and my Bonsoy Soy Milk (also Organic, but not labeled so.) I try the Sanitarium first because it's cold. Verdict: It's not bad at all! Surprisingly sweet (which I note later is due to added sugar. booo!) and a lot like Up-and-Go or, for you American's out there, Carnation Instant Breakfast. I pour the Bonsoy over ice, since it has yet to be refrigerated, and....it tastes like milk!!! Oh my gosh! I find that I don't mind it at all! It's not bad! It's actually milky, albeit with a slightly mealy after-taste, but I can live with this stuff! Look forward to it even!

For those who know me well, you know that Milk has always been a massive comforter for me. I've drank it my whole life, plain, like water. I have a love affair with it. Nothing soothes me after a good long cry than a glass of milk. So, the discovery that Soy Milk is actually quite delicious, the fact that I could be quite happy to never drink dairy milk again...this is HUGE for me. Humongous. The gravity of it is enough to bring a full grown elephant to his knees. Really. I'm shocked at myself. Somewhere my 10 year-old self is gaping at me in horror and I don't even care! This is a miracle, for sure. :)

So now, the true test: how does it taste in coffee?

Soy Latte

I made my latte (or maybe it was a cappucino. I don't know, I'm not a barista!) with Bonsoy Soy Milk, OxFam organic fair trade coffee's Africa blend, and Natvia brand stevia sweetener.

It passes! I don't think I like the coffee Chris bought, this Oxfam one, but the milk itself doesn't taste bad! It only gets that mealy after taste if I let it get really cold but, as long as it's hot, it's nice. :) The texture is nice, and it wasn't hard to stretch with the steam wand either. I'm very very impressed. Also, Stevia is a sweetener that I've replaced Splenda with and I think I'm going to leave it out of my coffee. My morning coffee is one of my few indulgences when I'm dieting and I think I'm going to keep my teaspoon of raw cane sugar in there since the Stevia just doesn't cut it. It's really nice in iced tea though!

Nutritional Data

I was curious, from a purely nutritional point of view, how Bonsoy stands up to my usual Whole and Skim milks I use. I've never liked Skim milk much, it tastes like water. (Bonsoy has a LOT more flavor!) but, on a health kick, Chris has been buying it lately to use on cereal with whole milk to use in coffee. I grew up on 2% milk, which I don't have in the house at the moment or else I could compare it also. Bonsoy tastes most like 2% to me. It's not as heavy as full cream milk, but not as watery as fat free milk either.

One serving of each is 250ml.
I don't know what all of this means, I'm not a nutritionist. I just like that there's less fat and less sugar! There's also less calcium, but I'm not worried about that. I always get more than enough by the end of the day. I should say that none of these milks have added sugar, and that the sugars are natural from the carbs. I think that's where they come from. Ha! Again, not a nutritionist.

In all, I think my morning coffee rings in about 90 calories. 11 of those from my teaspoon of sugar. I think the yummy factor the raw sugar adds is worth 11 cals a day, don't you?