I love my coffee, even decaf, but not without milk.....

[Marieanne]

.....does anybody know of a good subsitute? I've been dairy and gluten free for about 6 months, I have endometriosis and my gluten and dairy intake exacerbated it. I'm feeling miles better, but I can't seem to forego my coffee with milk.

It would be great to have a guilt free / symptom free cup of coffee.

Thanks and I love the site.

M.

[rebecca c]

Welcome to the site Marienne. I really miss coffee too and allow myself one decaf a month but I'm afraid I have it black which I quite like. I hope somebody here has the answer for you.:)

[Copper]

I can't give up my coffee with milk either :) I just use a very small amount of lactolite - lactose reduced milk but this is not much hlep to you.

You just have to try out the different dairy free milks until you find one that you like. I can't stand soya and the rice milk made the coffee taste like rice! I have not tried oat milk yet. If I have to give up the lactolite I would just about cope with Tiger White sweetened. This is made from a plant root. It is sold in Tesco in their organic section. I hope that this helps.

[Marieanne]

Thanks, both for welcome and advice. I feel the same way as you re the milks, so I'll give tiger white a go. As a matter of interest, I know Biocare have a supplement that aids lactose digestion......has anyone tried it? I wonder would it help with just milk in coffee? Part of me says that there it is not fair on my system to confuse it so, but the part of me that loves coffee is probably willing to give anything a go!!

[Pam]

I gave up drinking tea and never liked coffee anyway when I went dairy free. I found that to get a decent colour I was putting too much soya milk in and as it is UHT it left that horrible feeling in my mouth. I eventually found that I could manage to drink tea with just a little soya milk but on the whole I drink water or fruit teas anyway.

There are a few lactase tablets available, these help to digest the lactose so are great for anyone who has a lactose intolerance, but no good for anyone with different types of milk problems.

I would suggest that you just keep trying different types of milk, even different brands of soya might help. I think www.veganstore.co.uk sell a coffeemate type powder that is dairy free but I don't know anyone who has tried it.

And welcome to the site, keep visiting and feel free to ask any questions you like.

[matt]

welcome to the site. all i can suggest is working through the large choice of dairy free milk substitutes. local health food shop should be able to help or most supermarkets these days.

[Lan]

Hi there,

Welcome to the site Marieanne.

The best milk substitute I have found is Provamel milk. It tastes creamy and is totally dairy free. Can't touch the rice milk as it turns my stomach.

There is a substitute for coffee, but was told by a friend it was horrible. Is made from barley and available from health food shops.

Good luck.

Lan.

[Marieanne]

Thanks, I've put an order in for the non-dairy creamer from the vegan website, and am waiting with baited breath! I shall let you all know what it's like.

Marieanne.

[Fozzybear]

I thought I would never get used to having coffee black as when I'd tried it before I thought it was disgusting. I like it now and have black coffee most days. An acquired taste - made easier if you use decent coffee.

I tried the machine black coffee at work and it was absolutely rank. The whitener they use hides the worst of the taste but without it the coffee tastes like... well, it's indescribable! :yucky:

[Nic]

Marieanne - I have the non-dairy creamer (big pot, not the individual ones) from veganstore. And the few times I tried it, it resolutely refused to dissolve, so I gave up. It may work if you magimix it, but since I wanted powder to keep in my desk at work, it was no use at all. Which was annoying, as it was quite expensive. I hope that the one you ordered is better.

And I agree with Fozzybear - *good* coffee is OK black, though an acquired taste. Coffee that's been made three hours ago, stewed, cooled, re-heated (this is what they do to it at work) is grim.

Have you tried So Good from the chilled normal milk section in the supermarket? I find it a little vanilla-y, but it doesn't have the dry aftertaste that lots of soya milks have.

On coffee substitutes, I try to avoid caffeine and so I use both WakeCup and Bambu. They're not like coffee, but they do when you want something hot and with a bit more taste than herbal teas, and I drink them quite a lot. They're made from chicory and barley, so I think they probably taste a bit like wartime 'coffee'.

Nic

[linny]

Hi and welcome!

Barleycup 'substitute' for coffee is yucky!! I have never drunk tea and could not give up coffee!! I only like the Alpro milk that is kept in the fridge at the supermarket. Only use a little bit and put the Alpro in before adding the hot/boiling water. At cafes ask if you can put your Alpro in before they put the filter coffee in. That way it doesn't tend to seperate. Everyone seems to have their own preference. Good luck and I hope you find something you like!! Costa coffee bar (Bluewater branch and hopefully all branches!) tend to have Alpro milk and will make any coffee with it.

[cnc]

Most coffee bars on the scale of Costa, Starbucks and Caffe Nero (although I had a problem with one branch of this), do Soya milk as the alternative, some charge extra others dont. I've found this to be the situation fairly widely across the country.

[Marieanne]

I reckon I've bought the same non dairy creamer, Nic - still, who knows maybe it has improved?! I can at least hope!! I've been re-educating my taste buds with black coffee though, and sure, it's not that bad, it's just not quite the treat that it used to be. Still. I shall try the substitutes. Soya isn't good for me as the isoflavones resemble oestrogen, and what with having endometriosis, extra oestrogen is the last thing I need, believe you me. Sorry, this isn't meant to be a grumpy reply :-) I shall try wake cup next! Thanks......

[cory]

when i went on holiday to the carribean i was worried about being dairy free and it causing a problem.It was the opposite, I found that the hotel supplied American Nestle Coffee Mate, which is Lactose free. It has in the ingredients Sodium Caseinate, although this is a milk derived protein, it states that it is not a source of Lactose, here in the UK the ingredients are listed as simply Milk protien. I wonder if it is the same protein, and if it is, is it the same as all the 'milk Protein' ingredient that is in every soup sachet, dip, sauce that I keep having to put back on the shelf? Could these all be lactose free?

Also i have noticed on Virgin Planes they have dairy free creamers for all their passengers, those small tubs that go every where when you open them.
Where do these companies get this stuff!

One thing i liked about the CoffeeMate was that it came in small sachets, and fit nicely in my wallet for trips to town and the all important coffee shop.

My tip grab as many as you can on a flight!

[goose]

Well im afaid i cant help on this one, dont like coffee, love the smell , since i went dairy free, i stopped having tea, now its only hot chocholate by greens and black.

[cnc]

I found that the hotel supplied American Nestle Coffee Mate, which is Lactose free. It has in the ingredients Sodium Caseinate, although this is a milk derived protein, it states that it is not a source of Lactose
I noticed this when out in America, and didn't much fancy risking them, as I was told to avoid all dairy, not just lactose


Also i have noticed on Virgin Planes they have dairy free creamers for all their passengers, those small tubs that go every where when you open them.

I was on a Virgin Plane, and am sure the creamer had dairy in it, I had quite a bad experience with Virgin when I last flew with them, with regards to my dairy free.

[cory]

yes i did too, they forgot to supply my meal. can be frustrating. But i did enjoy my slightly stale plain rice cake for breakfast!lol:confused:

[katey]

just seen a low lactose milk in tesco (0.05%) but havent had the guts to try it yet

[cnc]

yes i did too, they forgot to supply my meal. can be frustrating. But i did enjoy my slightly stale plain rice cake for breakfast!lol:confused:
I got reasonable meal on the plane on the way out, but on the way back, actually refused to eat my meal, so ended up having to wait for a jacket potato and beans. I wasn't being stubborn, but the stuff provided with my meal all had dairy in it, so I refused to eat the main meal, unless the staff were prepared to look after me when I became unwell!!
Was offered chocolate on the flight as well, was not amused!!
I also seemed to get fruit salad with everything. One of my meals appeared to consist of salad and fruit salad :)

Ah well, at least I didn't starve.

[Copper]

just seen a low lactose milk in tesco (0.05%) but havent had the guts to try it yet

I have lactolite (lactose reduced milk) in my coffee BUT I know that I can tolerate very little lactose in the course of a day, so I only have the smallest amount in my coffee.

[katey]

this is one in the fresh milk aisle, called lactofree? or something similar...

[Copper]

I will see if that is in my local Tesco when I go next week.