Let's face it: like most enjoyable things in 2016, ordering almond milk has become embarrassingly basic.
But for those of us not yet ready to embrace the cockroach milk trend, a brand called Ripple just debuted vegan "milk" made from peas at Target stores across the US.
Pea milk is a dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free alternative to traditional milk and milk substitutes. And no, it's not green.
The protein-based milk is creamier and less chalky tasting than carb-based milk substitutes like soy and almond. It also boasts having 40% fewer calories and 50% more calcium than traditional 2% milk.
Ripple has about eight times the protein of almond milk, which is huge for people who don't consume animal products.
Plus, Ripple's peas are sourced from farms in France, which is much fancier than where any of my regular dairy products come from.
I substituted original Ripple for other milks to try it out for myself... and it was actually pretty good.
Coffee
I'm mostly a black coffee drinker, but I can handle some milk every so often. Ripple stirred in nicely and wasn't too noticeably different in taste or texture from regular milk.
I made dark roast coffee, which has a lot of flavor, but this was a nice way to lighten it up. Plus, protein.
Cold brew
I usually add soy milk to my cold brew, but for the sake of experiment I tried Ripple. It wasn't as sweet as adding soy milk and after a few minutes began to separate from the cold brew.
To be fair, almond and soy milks can do this too, but it's not super appetizing. A quick stir incorporated the non-milk back into my cold brew, but it was honestly a lot of work to keep mixing as I sipped.
Iced matcha
Adding Ripple to matcha instead of my usual soy milk was a pretty unnoticeable swap, mostly because the taste of matcha is so distinct Ripple didn't overpower the green tea flavor.
It didn't separate out like it did in the cold brew, probably because matcha is green and peas are green and they are meant to be together. This was easily the best use of my Ripple.
Cereal
The only cereal I eat is Honey Bunches of Oats because it's the perfect balance between a healthy and sugary breakfast.
I usually add 2% milk, but Ripple tasted better. Because it's thicker, it also kept the cereal from getting soggy for a while, though the thickness did pull some of the flakes down in a type of non-dairy-cereal-milk-quicksand.
Mac and cheese
I realize this was pretty counter-intuitive as Kraft Mac & Cheese (“Finding Dory” shaped) is not dairy-free, but I wanted to put Ripple to the ultimate test. It mixed in well with the cheese sauce and tasted just as good as when I used regular milk.
It's all about the cheese powder anyway.
Chocolate Ripple
The initial taste was nice and not too sweet, but the aftertaste was extremely unpleasant. This might be OK for someone who has never tasted actual chocolate milk, but if you have, stick with that.
