I usually enjoy trying as many types of milk I can find in the local shops. Until recently, I've been consuming a lot more milk than I was before due to my coffee smoothie addiction (find recipe here). However, I only stock my fridge up with just soy milk or almond milk because they are the only plant based milk selling in the store nearby (I don't drink diary). The idea of this experiment came up when the store started to stock up other types of milk and put them on discount, so I though to myself 'why not'. I remember that time I bought coconut milk and rice milk to try with my smoothie, and I found huge differences.

I started to look for as many types of milk as I could to find in the store out of curiosity of what effect on the smoothie from each types of milk. For people who also wonder how your smoothie will taste with each types of milk, this list can be your little guide line. I've made two types of smoothie in this experiment which are coffee smoothie and mixed berry smoothie. If you don’t know what types of milk you should get, or if you want some changes. This list will guide you.

1. Soy Milk

Taste

Soy milk brings out flavors of all the ingredients the most, in both coffee smoothie and mix berries smoothie. The taste you get from soy milk smoothie is pretty sharp, and the texture you get is watery and powdery.

Coffee Smoothie: Soy milk compromise really well with the coffee making a tasteful smoothie, and it is also very refreshing.

Berries Smoothie: Soy milk creates different effect for the smoothie with berries. The smell of soy doesn’t really go well with berries, but it does bring out the sourness of the berries very well.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of Alpro Longlife Organic Unsweetened Soya Milk Alternative
Energy 54 kcal
Fat 1.8 g.
Proteins - 3.3 g.
Carbohydrate - 6 g.
Sugars- 4 g.
Fiber - 0.6 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin B-6 5%
Minerals - Calcium 2%, Iron 3%, Magnesium 6%

More on benefits and side effects of soy milk

2. Coconut Milk

Taste

Coconut milk will give you a big WOW for your smoothie. It is very rich and sweet, makes the texture really thick as well which is very fulfilling.

Coffee Smoothie: Coconut milk makes the coffee smoothie taste extra creamy which I think it would work if you put strong shots of coffee, or else you would smell and taste much of the coffee.

Berries Smoothie: On the other hand, coconut milk is amazing with berries smoothie. The sweetness of coconut balance out the sourness of the berries, giving subtle sour taste. Would recommend to give coconut milk a go.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of Alpro Longlife Coconut Milk Alternative
Energy 20 kcal
Fat - 0.9 g.
Proteins - 0.1 g.
Carbohydrate - 2.7 g.
Sugars- 1.9 g.
Fiber - 2.2 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin D 15%, Vitamin B-12 15%
Minerals - Calcium 15%

More on benefits and side effects of coconut milk

3. Hazelnut Milk

Taste

The smell of the Hazelnut is pretty strong and the taste is sweet which is suitable for the coffee smoothie but not so much with the berries.

Coffee Smoothie: The smell of Hazelnut is quite strong which it kind of goes well with the coffee smell. Although it does taste sweet and nutty, it only creates Hazelnut after taste (after swallowed). Hazelnut milk also makes the texture really thick and creamy.

Berries smoothie: The same thing happened to the berries smoothie, but it doesn’t really go well with the berries taste. The sourness of the berries with the Hazelnut smell doesn’t go along that well.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of Alpro brand Hazelnut milk
Energy 29 kcal
Fat - 1.6 g.
Proteins - 0.4 g.
Carbohydrate - 3.1 g.
Sugars- 3.1 g.
Fiber - 0.3 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin D 15%, Vitamin B-2 15%, Vitamin B-12 15%, Vitamin E 15%
Minerals - Calcium 15%

More on benefits and side effects of Hazelnut milk

4. Rice Milk

Taste

Rice milk has the least odor and a subtle sweet taste which will go well with every smoothie. The texture can be very water with rice milk, giving light and refreshing smoothie.

Coffee Smoothie: Rice milk has no smell on its own soot really enhance the smell of coffee which is really nice. The milk gives the smoothie subtle sweet taste and bring out the coffee taste pretty well. The texture is water makes it a little similar to normal latte.

Berries smoothie: The berries smell is stronger than in other types of milk. The sweet and sour taste balance out quite well, and the texture is water. It also gives a very refreshing feeling.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of plain, natural, unfortified rice milk
Energy 47 kcal
Fat - 1 g.
Proteins - 0.3 g.
Carbohydrate - 9 g.
Sugars- 5 g.
Fiber - 0.3 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin A 4%, Vitamin B-12 10%, Vitamin D 10%
Minerals - Calcium 11%, Iron 1%, Magnesium 2%

More on benefits and side effects of rice milk

5. Hemp Milk

Taste

Hemp milk gives smooth texture, and slightly nutty and earthy taste which goes well with coffee smoothie but not as much as in the berries smoothie.

Coffee Smoothie: The texture is really smooth and watery. The smoothie turns out to be flavorful and it actually works well with the coffee and honey tastes. Hemp milk also has the earthy and plant like after taste which might be better to pair up with tea but not coffee.

Berries smoothie: The taste is the least sweet among all the milk which I would suggest put more honey or your choice of sweeteners as it makes the smoothie taste really sour. Also, the earthy and nutty smell of hemp doesn’t really go well with berries.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of Good Hemp Milk brand, original
Energy 33 kcal
Fat - 2.8 g.
Proteins - 0.6 g.
Carbohydrate - 1.8 g.
Sugars- 1.8 g.
Fiber - 0.6 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin D 12%
Minerals - Calcium 17%

More on benefits and side effects of hemp milk

6. Oat Milk

Taste

Oat milk is odorless in smoothies and give a subtle sweet taste. The texture can be watery and sometimes powdery.

Coffee Smoothie: Oat milk gives the coffee smoothie a subtle sweet taste like rice milk but not as much of the coffee taste and smell. It doesn’t give oats taste and smell either which it pretty good.

Berries smoothie: The smoothie texture is a bit powdery and dry. The taste is quite sweet and light with not much of the berries taste.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of Alpro brand oat milk
Energy 42 kcal
Fat - 1.5 g.
Proteins - 0.3 g.
Carbohydrate - 6.8 g.
Sugars- 3.3 g.
Fiber - 1.4 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin D 15%,Vitamin B-2 15%, Vitamin B-12 15%
Minerals - Calcium 15%

More on benefits and side effects of oat milk

7. Almond Milk

Taste

Almond milk makes the smoothie quite thick and smooth, it bring out the smell of the ingredients but not much of the taste.

Coffee Smoothie: The taste is slightly sweet and nutty which goes well with coffee taste. There is the light smell of almond but not as strong as the coffee. The texture is thick and smooth.

Berries smoothie: The taste is more of a sweet than sour with a little bit of nutty after taste. It gives a quite strong berries smell but not as string as int he rice milk.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of plain, natural, unfortified almond milk
Energy 13 kcal
Fat - 1.1 g.
Proteins - 0.4g.
Carbohydrate - 0.1 g.
Sugars- 0.1 g.
Fiber - 0.4 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin D 15%,Vitamin B-2 15%, Vitamin B-12 15%, Vitamin E 15%
Minerals - Calcium 15%

More on benefits and side effects of almond milk

8. Cashew milk

Taste

The milk one its own is quick thick and creamy, this gives a very thick and smooth texture. It doesn’t gives the smoothies any extra taste but nutty.

Coffee Smoothie: The milk gives the smoothie a very smooth and creamy texture. The smoothie turns out quite nutty in the way that goes really well with the coffee and honey taste. Cashew milk also lessen the sweetness and subtle most of the flavor. But in overall it goes well together with the ingredients.

Berries Smoothie: Personally, I wouldn’t prefer nutty milk with berry smoothie, except for cashew milk. The subtle nutty flavor blend well with the sourness of the berry. It gives the richness as well as subtle the sharp taste of the berries.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of plain, natural, unfortified cashew milk
Energy 34 kcal
Fat - 2.9 g.
Proteins - 1.1 g.
Carbohydrate - 1.1 g.
Sugars- 0.3 g.
Fiber - 0.3 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin K 2%
Minerals - Copper 13%, Magnesium 4%, Zinc 3%

More on benefits and side effects of cashew milk

9. Whole milk

Taste

Whole milk gives a really strong smell of cow’s milk which overall subtle the taste and smell of both coffee smoothie and berries smoothie.

Coffee Smoothie: The smell of the cow’s milk is pretty strong and doesn’t bring much out of other tastes. I would suggest increasing the ingredients
proportion for more flavor.

Berries smoothie: Whole milk makes the smoothie taste more dessert-like from the creamy texture. It taste almost like berries and cream in the smoothie consistency.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of natural, unfortified whole milk
Energy 65 kcal
Fat - 4 g.
Proteins - 3 g.
Carbohydrate - 5 g.
Sugars- 5 g.
Fiber - 0 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin A 2%, Vitamin B-12 8%,
Minerals - Calcium 12%, Magnesium 3%

More on benefits and side effects of whole milk

10. Skim milk

Taste

Skim milk doesn’t create much different effects and taste from whole milk. It still has the cow milk smell but with less intense, taste sweeter and more watery.

Coffee Smoothie: The taste and smell of coffee is stronger in skim milk than whole milk, but not as much as in the non-diary milk. It also makes the smoothie sweeter than whole milk.

Berries Smoothie: Skim milk balances well between sweetness and sourness, and texture is watery. From my opinion, I like it more than whole milk as it is not as creamy.

Nutrition

Per 100 ml of unfortified skimmed milk
Energy 35 kcal
Fat - 0.1 g.
Proteins - 3.4 g.
Carbohydrate - 5 g.
Sugars- 5 g.
Fiber - 0 g.
Vitamins - Vitamin A 9%, Vitamin C 2%, Vitamin B-12 6%
Minerals - Calcium 12%, Magnesium 3%

More on benefits and side effects of skim milk

Final Thoughts

Your choice of milk is totally a personal preference, as for me I prefer oat milk with my coffee smoothie and coconut milk with any of berries based smoothie. Although, I hope this review is helpful for those who doesn't want to buy every types of milk in the store, and let me know what types of milk is your favorite in the comment below.