Why Making Oat Milk From Scratch Is A Must

I was initially resistant to oat milk when my housemate started buying it. This is principally because, during the depths of lockdown, when we had a lot of time on our hands, we managed to get a milkman delivering dairy to our doorstep, which seemed very novel and cool, and I didn’t want him to stop just because we were trying to save the environment. Gradually, though, I’ve been worn down. The milkman no longer comes. We are an oat milk household.

There is, I think, something important to be said about oat milk and other dairy alternatives which are soaring in popularity across the UK. It is not just that they are better for the environment than their dairy cousins, nor that they are vegan, which means they tick at least two millennial boxes. It is that they are not like-for-like substitutes for dairy milk, and nor should we pretend they are. Oat milk in fact has its own flavour (spoiler: it’s quite oat-y) which complements and enhances the flavour of your morning coffee or a smoothie. It is a delicious product in its own right, rather than a passable substitute for cow’s milk. The fact it’s environmentally friendly is a mere bonus.

And then there is the question of how easy it is to make. The only ingredients are oats and water, and a little honey if you so choose. That’s it. It takes a matter of minutes to blend together, costs almost nothing, and is rather hard to get wrong. A litre of oat milk costs around £1.50 in supermarkets.

Not expensive, but it costs actual pennies if you make it yourself. Making it at home also allows you to vary the thickness according to your own tastes, which you should feel free to do after you’ve tried this recipe once. One drawback that I’ve identified: Oat milk — at least the homemade version — doesn’t froth, so fans of the homemade cappuccino will have to look elsewhere.