Hi and help
Hi all
I''ll cut to the chase huh! I''ve been trying to go vegan for the last while. I've kicked the egg habit pretty much.
And I think I can overcome the cheese given time (the last cheese I eat was starting to taste foul). PS maybe if anybody has any suggestions for cheese alternatives in Ireland they'd be very gratefully received - the only shop I know that does alternatives where I am has something called Cheezly and it's not for me, but I'm sure they'd order stuff in for me if I asked. They might even be glad to source a better cheese.
But milk in my tea I just can't do! And I love tea. It's real tough - like I put the bag into the cup and stir it and then I put the spoon on top of the bag and push it to the bottom of the cup and leave it sit for three minutes (that's the hard waiting part) and then I stir it again and then I add some milk and its all golden brown and tastes like heaven. I'm Irish and we drink a *load* of tea. Like maybe 10 cups on a good day. And if theres a hangover or a death or a hangover that feels like death we might drink 20 cups. I like coffee too, but it's not nearly as comforting.
Anyway has anybody any advice on this? Is it best to just go milkless or have I not tried enough alternatives (i've tried rice and soy). I suppose in company I can learn to go black when I'm offered tea, but I really do like milk in it.
So after that cry for help - I'll introduce myself without being so needy. Been veg for around 5 years and nearly off the eggs a year I'd say (bar occasional blunder). I don't know any vegans at all. The few I have ever known have been living very alternative lifestyles which while I'm not against or anything but I'm not prepared to live my whole life in an extreme fashion (yet anyway!!). I don't really know what else to say here. . .I'm 28 and live in a small city, but I'm getting clostrophobic so maybe I might move soon to the countryside. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! :)
Have you tried almond milk
No but I will thanks!
If they have Gerble hazelnut soy milk where you live you could try that. I LOVE that stuff.
we use the bio bio brand soy-rice drink from Netto. it works beautifully in tea! i highly recommend that if you can get it. and it's cheap! i don't know what was wrong with the soy or rice milk you tried before, but if curdling was a problem, i can assure you that it's not with this.
i'm sorry you don't like cheezly :( i think the mozzarella kind is excellent. sorry i don't have a suggestion for a better brand, but tofu ricotta can do the trick instead!
I like strong tea and always drank it with milk too (a habit handed down from Irish ancestors ;)). I can definitely relate, because the moment I learned to like soy milk in my tea was the point at which I decided that I really could be vegan.
In my experience, rice milk and almond milk are too thin to do the job. Coconut milk doesn't have any protein in it, rendering it inadequate too. I never liked cream or "creamer" in my tea; so those are out.
There are lots of different brands of soy milk and they all taste different. I avoid the ones that have vanilla in them (I don't like added flavors in my tea); sometimes even "plain" soy milk has vanilla. I really liked Vitasoy creamy original, but they don't sell it here anymore. Maybe they sell it in Ireland? Now I use Soy Dream. I don't know if you have that there.
Anyway, the main tip that I have is that you need to use more soy milk than you would cow's milk in order to "cut" the tea adequately. I suggest that you just struggle through a few days or a week and see if you can get used to it. You really can change your tastes if you give it time.
Good luck!
The best soy milk I've ever tried is called 'Soy Milky'.
Try a few different soy milk brands because some are awesome and some are just plain nasty.
I've been told (on this site) that 'Daiya' is a good vegan cheese. I haven't tried it yet... can't afford it. :-[
Daiya is THE BEST!!!!
I like using soy creamers in my hot liquid, if not it will just curtle. Sometimes heating the alt milk up before will help stop the separation.
I kinda doubt that Daiya has made it to Ireland yet.
I like almond milk in my tea when I use it to make Indian style chai. I think Hemp milk is pretty milky. Have you tried the vegan creamers?
We can really adjust to anything...I thought I would never quit adding milk and sugar to my coffee, but drink it black now and have for 30 years. I'm more of a tea drinker these days and have learned to drink it without sugar....just takes time and committment and never saying "I can never eat/drink..."x" or "I could never live without "x".....
Aww! thank you to you all it's great to get some advice. Tried the almond milk in tea today, didn't make the tea too strong and it seemed to help with the taste. A lot better (for me) than soy or rice, but still no cigar. Curdled in the coffee though. Yeah i've been adding a lot more than normal to try as you say cut the tea - it feels all wrong but I suppose it's just a learning curve.
Don't think where I am has the mozarella cheezly (just cheddar). I might ask the next time if theres any other stuff to order. I read somewhere best to walk away from cheese altogether and then when I come back to the alternatives it won't taste so different which is fine.
Tea is much more important.Creamers is replacement cream right? I will try that too.
Also, how long does the stuff last? It says on the carton 3-5 days. All the milk I've seen comes in litres here which is a lot when I don't eat cereal. Now, I've eaten salsa after 6 months when it says on the jar "eat within three days" (and drank stuff that was three years past it's sell by date (wouldn't you know it was alchololic!)), but that's cos I think i'd know if something was wrong with it and I'm still alive but I'm not sure if I'd know in this case.
Thanks for all your help. Hopefully I can bring some receipes to the table too (I've what I think are a few kick ass curries up my sleeve!!, but I'll need to prefect the receipes before I share). Plus I'm going to experiment with soda bread, plus the perfect turnip receipe if I can get my mother to spill the beans!!
Tea is much more important.Creamers is replacement cream right? I will try that too.
Yes, I think Silk and other makers have creamers that are designed for people to use in their coffee (which Americans drink more), so I'm sure they might be good for tea as well.