Califia Farms Oat Barista Blend with Calcium - Dairy Free, Lactose Free, Vegan (6 x 1L)

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This is super creamy, complements the flavours really well and makes for an incredible carrier for the oats. It is not too naturally sweet, but the texture is fantastic. Having said that, you can still get unpleasant aftertones of that burnt rubber taste. 4/5 Innocent In a statement sent to Vegan Food & Living, Greg Steltenpohl, founder of Califia Farms commented: “Califia Farms has been a leader in innovation by bringing diversified plant-based products to market that consistently deliver on taste, nutrition, quality and performance- and our new Oat Barista Blend is no different. Ingredients:almondmilk (water, almonds), cane sugar, calcium carbonate, sunflower lecithin, sea salt, potassium citrate, natural flavors, locust bean gum, gellan gum. This is where Innocent shines. It smells incredible after adding to the roux, like vanilla custard, and acts as a very good carrier for the aromatics and herbs. It leaves a slight tang of acidity, which is a massive plus, contributing to an overall great flavour. 4/5 Minor Figures

Our oat milk review was a month-long process, and it was worth it. We used Barista versions for Califia Farms, Rude Health and Oatly. Here’s our Ultimate Best Oat Milk Showdown. Read our ultimate showdown for the best barista plant-based milk in the UK. What’s it like to drink oat milk plain? Ingredients: oatmilk (water, oats), cane sugar, pumpkin puree, sunflower oil, natural flavor, dipotassium phosphate, cinnamon, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, ginger, sea salt, nutmeg, gellan gumIngredients:oatmilk (water, oats), sunflower oil, minerals (dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate), sea salt. You can taste the oats a lot, due to its freshness and the addition of oat flour, which also leaves caramel-coloured spots in the end. 2/5 Minor Figures To ensure it is the perfect partner for hot drinks, Califia Farms worked closely with baristas to ensure it functions well and tastes delicious to create a creamy drink that perfectly complements the natural, robust flavour of coffee or tea. Its ingredients are almost identical to the Califia Farms milk, with 10% oats, calcium supplements and salt. The only difference on paper is that it contains rapeseed oil instead of sunflower. Oatly

Nutrition (per 8 ounces): 70 calories, 4.5g fat, 7g carbs, 1g fiber, 5g sugars (includes 5g added sugars), 2g protein. Fortified to achieve the following RDA percentages: 35% calcium.* Pumpkin Spice Oat (seasonal) Ingredients:oatmilk (water, oats), cane sugar, sunflower oil, natural vanilla flavor with other natural flavor, dipotassium phosphate, calcium carbonate, tricalcium phosphate, sea salt Nutrition (per 8 ounces): 140 calories, 6g fat, 18g carbs, 1g fiber, 12g sugars (includes 12g added sugars), 2g protein. Fortified to achieve15% calcium.* OatThis is the most important test for a lot of people. Two common complaints about plant-based milks are how they don’t foam up enough and how they curdle when added to light-roasted coffee. The latter doesn’t really apply to oat milk as much as it does to soy or almond, which are more acidic. To round off the tests, we made pancakes. Fluffy pancakes. This was more focused on the chemical properties of the oat milk than the actual taste. It looks like custard and is quite thin. On tasting, it is acidic in an unpleasant way, very off-putting and astringent. It’s like drinking a bad syrup. 2/5 Califia Farms Nutrition (per 8 ounces): 150 calories, 6g fat, 22g carbs, 1g fiber, 15g sugars (includes 15g added sugars), 2g protein. Fortified to achieve the following RDA percentages: 20% calcium.* Discontinued Flavors of Califia Farms Barista Blends Dietary Notes: By ingredients, Califia Farms Barista Blends are dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, soy-free, vegan, and vegetarian. Select varieties are also added sugar-free, grain-free and/or nut-free.*

The milk is made up of 10% oats, with added ingredients like sunflower oil, sea salt, acidity regulator and calcium supplements. Innocent We added apple cider vinegar to the milk and let it sit for a few minutes to see if it curdles and bubbles up a little, which is what provides the pancakes with the fluffy texture. We used baking powder as well, and examined the consistency, rise, whether it held its shape, and the flavour. Alpro The two important things we were looking for with this test were how the oat milks heat and foam up, and what they taste like when added to coffee. And since most homes don’t have an espresso machine steamer, the best way to do the test was using a French Press. Alpro Cold brewed coffee is known for its chocolatey notes and low acidity. It’s very different from espresso, and thus deserves its own test. By far, Innocent’s oat milk is the thinnest in the lineup. It’s slightly sweet but with a bitter aftertaste. It tastes like mineral water with some oats in it, but that slightly chlorinated water-flavour is dominating. 2.5/5 Minor Figures

It has a 9.8% oat content, using chicory root for the fibre, sunflower oil and sea salt for texture and flavour, and is fortified with calcium and vitamins. Califia Farms It’s very different from the rest, and overtakes and masks the coffee’s flavour a bit. It tastes very porridgy too, but the issue is that the milk is the star, not the espresso. 4/5 Rude Health This doesn’t give off any aromas and tastes bland. It doesn’t do anything to add to the rest of the flavours, and, surprisingly, has a bitter aftertaste. 2.5/5 Califia Farms Unfortunately, it tastes more like a white Americano than a cappuccino; very water-forward with a bitter aftertaste. 3/5 Califia Farms

We used flour and vegan butter to make the roux, and then slowly added the oat milk to turn it into béchamel, which formed a base for a mushroom spaghetti. Consistency, binding strength and taste were the key factors here. Alpro Oat milk in oatmeal might sound like overkill, but it actually works. This test focused on how the oat milk heats up, how creamy it is, and how it tastes; all the things that make oatmeal the go-to weekday breakfast. Alpro Price, availability and ingredients are other key factors. Most oat milks use around 10% of oats with water, using other ingredients like plant oils, fibres, salt and acidity regulators to round up the list. It was refreshing to note that none of our chosen brands have added sugar or maple syrup for sweetness, something that recipes for homemade oat milk often suggest. We thought that including the ingredients information was more important than rating the milks based on these parameters. Alpro Ingredients:almondmilk (water, almonds), calcium carbonate, sunflower lecithin, sea salt, natural flavors, locust bean gum, gellan gum, potassium citrate.Califia Farms’ Oat Barista Blend is made with whole rolled oats and is completely unsweetened with no gums or stabilisers. According to the company, the Barista Blend “steams beautifully, perfectly pairs with coffee and tastes great by itself.” Rude Health’s oat milk reacts a lot when mixed with the apple cider vinegar. The pancake is super fluffy, it holds its shape and bubbles up to indicate flipping. It tastes like a pancake should, and unlike Innocent, isn’t stretchy. 5/5 Price, availability and ingredients