A brief guide to c-dfsf milks in coffee

As I said in today's review of Turtle Mountain's Coconut Milk Yogurt, I was in a hurry to get to church and I needed breakfast.  I also bought some of their Cultured Coconut Milk to use in my Starbucks coffee, which, in addition to prompting an interesting dialogue with the aspiring-vegan barista on-duty, made me realize that not all non-dairy milks go well with coffee.  While I like Turtle Moutain's Cultured Coconut Milk straight; as my green powder's reconstituting liquid; or in smoothies, this particular products almost-yogurt like consistency did not work with the coffee at all.  When I tried stirring up the coffee and the milk up to get the milk to dissolve, nothing happened.  Not only that, but the cultured coconut milk did nothing to cover up the bitterness of the coffee and added a yogurt-like aftertaste.  I ended up going home, opening a can of lite coconut milk, and pouring some in (along with some honey and vanilla extract) to get it right.  Thankfully, I wasn't late for church - I had plenty of time to warm up, practice the hymns, meet the guest speaker, and improvise variations - but it made me think that others (particularly those who don't live dairy-casein free AND soy-free) would find the variety of commercial dairy-casein-and-soy-free milks overwhelming, especially when doctoring up something as simple (and delicious) as coffee.

Rice Milk: the most common choice among coffee shops looking to accommodate dairy-casein-and-soy-free folk, rice milk isn't bad flavor-wise, but is the most watery of the options available.  Even so, I do not complain much when that's the only c-dfsf milk option available, since it's mostly the local coffee/breakfast places where I am that have started offering c-dfsf milk, and I'm just grateful to be able to say, "Let's grab some coffee at [insert 'me-friendly' restaurant here]".

Almond Milk:  a common alternative to rice milk in our local natural foods grocery and a growing alternative in more mainstream grocery stores, commercial almond milk generally has a pleasant, nutty flavor and does fairly well texture-wise in coffee. 

Hemp Milk:  another alternative to rice milk, though less common in mainstream grocery stores than almond milk.  Of the commercial nut/seed milks I've tried, I like this one the best in coffee because of the unusual, rich, nutty flavor and creamy texture.  

Coconut Milk:  this is my favorite overall for doctoring up coffee because of it's light, sweet flavor and naturally rich, creamy texture.  I also prefer it hands down because regular, untouched coconut milk from a can is rich and creamy without "food" additives like carrageenan.  Commercial almond, hemp, rice milks - as well as preprocessed coconut milk milks - all have similar "food" additives for similar purposes.  When I make nut/seed milks at home (which I do regularly) I put in some coconut milk in the mix because it adds some good, creamy texture.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.