In today’s world of food allergies, intolerances and ethical eating, having different choices is key, especially when it comes to beverages. This week on Food Matters, I profiled a dairy alternative that’s making a splash on the local market.
Mylk gets its main flavour from almonds, and is manufactured in Victoria by the Mylkmaid Beverage Company and Kiley McLean. Kiley started making and drinking almond milk about five years ago. “I had just been reading about how some of the cows in the large scale industrial milk production system are mistreated and thought that I should try an alternative, like almond milk. But when I tasted it and started reading the labels on commercially available almond milk products I wasn’t that impressed. When I figured out that it should just basically contain almonds and water, I started experimenting with making it and came up with something that tastes much better, you can actually taste almonds.”
Once her family and friends tasted her almond milk she started making it for them, and then got the idea of doing it on a small-scale basis and selling it weekly at the Moss Street Market Saturday mornings. With that market over for the season, Kiley decided to reach out to some local grocery stores like Fairfield Market, Niagara Grocery and Peppers, and it’s growing from there. Part of what made her carry on was the positive response she got from tasters at the farmer’s market, some of whom had tried commercially made almond milk in the past and didn’t like it, but they liked hers because of the fresher flavour and creamier texture. Her basic product line consists of three flavours, all starting with Pure, which is just organic almonds, water and a touch of Saltwest sea salt. Vanilla adds a sweetener made from organic Medjool dates and a vanilla bean, while Cacao adds cocoa powder. Over the summer and fall Kiley made seasonal favourites using strawberries, figs and she just finished up with a batch using fresh pumpkin. One of her holiday flavours adds some peppermint into the cacao version.
Price: I think you can put them in what I would call a premium quality price range. $4.99 for 250 millilitres. Keep in mind it’s an organic product, and organic almonds are particularly pricy, but people are still buying, says Kiley: “People are kind of wowed at the difference, but the stuff in the store can barely have any almonds at all, and it just has so many different additives in it to make up the consistency of milk. The thickness of our Mylk comes just from the almonds. I find that with our Mylk you just maybe need a little less, because it’s so creamy, and maybe you are just adding a little to your coffee, or maybe to smoothies, a lot of people are putting almond milk in their smoothies, and you really just need like a splash, you don’t need a whole cup of it in your smoothie to make it creamy.”
This is just a part-time job for her now, she would like to turn it into a full-time career, and to do that she would like to get some cafes and coffee shops carrying her product for use as creamers or in lattes. This weekend Kiley will be spreading the word on Mylk at Silk Road Tea in Chinatown as she shows people how to make tea lattes with her product.