Wow, I did not need to see *that* first thing in the morning.

I use dedicated creamer and don't seem to have that problem. I have used straight soymilk as creamer, and when it's fresh-from-the-fridge chilled it seems to come out curdle-free.

Maybe make lukewarm coffee, add cold soymilk, then nuke once mixed to heat it back up?

Whoops, that is to say I use dedicated soy-based creamer. I've used the Silk kind and the Organic Valley kind. Both have a pleasant texture & taste imo.

I use a coconut-based creamer at home, but at coffeehouses, I'll try to use almond milk (or coconut "beverage") if it's available. Otherwise, I just stir frequently and suck it up, since I don't usually have the option of adding the soy first when I'm ordering at a coffee counter.

As I recall, Coffee is acidic and causes the soy milk to curdle. Being Chinese, we would often order salty soy milk and put in vinegar, which would cause the soy milk to curdle. The soy based creamer may have a stabilizer for this purpose.

Also I believe that heat expedites the effect of the acid which may cause the curdling you are seeing

Mant soy milk brands have stabilizers entended to prevent this. If it happens to you, you can always boil your soil milk and re-refrigerate it long before it goes in to your coffee. Does the trick with my homemade almond milk, too!

i use soy milk in my coffee everyday - i always pour the soy milk into the cup first then the coffee and never have curdling issues. no waiting or cooling down. I also heat soy milk for lattes without any curdling... i've used many different brands/packaging of soy milk through the years.

i have had almond milk curdle in my coffee though.

I personally prefer my coffee black, but I interviewed a barrista recently who also noted that they actually make soymilk just for coffee pros- as standard soy milk is really gritty and almost impossible to steam. (Not to mention, IMO, one of the least appealing nondairy milk choices out there.)

Pacific Foods makes its own Barrista blend of soy milk. I don't think that they have stabilizers in it to prevent curdling, but more that the key is to heat the soy milk first- like the article said- gradually.

Unprofessional Cookery

I do drink a soy latte from time to time, but I really prefer other nut milks when I make it myself. Too bad coffee shops in my area don't stock nut milks, they taste so much richer.

So the solution is to basically temper the soy milk?

I bought farm fresh cow's milk once and it curdled in my coffee and when I tried to make a roux with it, but tasted fine to drink. Is that the same idea?

I heat my soymilk in the mic for 40 secs. Before pouring into coffee. I have *never* had it curdle, eve with different brands.

I have literally *never* had this problem! I've been using soymilk or soy creamer in my coffee for several years... sometimes I add it straight from the fridge, sometimes I warm it first, sometimes I heat up the coffee & milk after they're combined. Never had a curdling issue. Interesting!

I'm a barista, and we use Kirkland Vanilla Soy Milk. The Kirkland soy milk curdles in the coffee. When customers want soy milk in lattes, cappuccinos, or macchiatos, the Kirkland soy milk does not curdle, but the soy milk does not steam like milk.

unprofessionalcookery is right, Pacific Foods produces the Barista Series Soy Blenders soy milk.

http://www.pacificfoods.com/foodservice/foods/barista-series-soy-blenders

Because soy milk does not steam like milk, the Barista Series was developed for steaming for lattes, cappuccinos, and macchiatos. I do not know if the Barista Series soy milk was developed for coffee, too, or if the Barista Series soy milk curdles in coffee. I have been to cafes using the Barista's Series and the quality of the soy milk is improved.

I wish I'd known about that when I was a barista. It was really annoying arguing with people we absolutely weren't serving them soy milk gone bad.

I've got to agree with a lot of the other commenters, I've never had this problem. I used to use it cold but lately I heat my soy first and then froth it with a milk frother to make latte foam.

shake it really hard to froth first, doesn't curdle...don't know why but it works. I only use Silk though.

Actually, I pour cold soy milk into hot coffee almost every morning and don't have this problem...

I've had this happen on and off with soy milk. Now I actually do half soy, half regular milk, and I find that if I add the cow milk first, the soy doesn't curdle (probably because the coffee has cooled down).

I can't believe all the people who have never had this problem! I've had it almost every time with every brand. I like really strong, dark coffee. All I can think is that maybe these people like less strong coffee and are possibly drinking lighter roasts? I'd love to hear theories on this - I'm almost vegan and curdling soymilk is the only thing holding me back! How can you identify which roasts have lower acidity?

It also depends on the acidity of your coffee. My favorite local coffee shop's owner prefers the taste of and searches out more acidic coffees making it impossible to have any soy with the coffees, but when I make a french press at home of one of the locally roasted and package coffees, I usually have no problem with curdling soy milk. Also I noticed that some mornings at work, the brewed coffee would curdle my soy milk and others it wouldn't.

And to the people saying that nut milk doesn't curdle- no it so does. At least Silk's Almond Milk does. It's so much worse than the soy milk.

Hmm, the acidity level probably has a lot to do with it. I tend to go for medium roasts, nothing overly acidic (and tummy ache inducing). And I use a french press, which uses hot but not boiling water.

I always thought this problem was related to the shelf life of the soy milk. I heat my soy in the mic for 45 seconds, then add it to my coffee. Or add the coffee to the soy. I've seen the curdling a couple of times but it was always when they soy was a bit close to its expiration date.

It happens the same if you put fresh ginger in hot cow's milk, I did it because I wanted to add the ginger taste to my hot milk with honey (common granma remedy for sore throat in Italy), but with my great surprise it curdled into a very very soft tofu!

I've only had this problem with soy milk when ordering a soy latte and the (usually starbucks) barista has oversteamed my soy, so I got in the habit of ordering it specifically steamed to 145 (when at a mccoffee place such as starbucks).

Now... commercial almond milk on the other hand....

@fegmelk - Agreed! Soy milk does not taste good in steamed form. I drink vanilla silk soy milk (we call it Smilk hehe!) in my hot coffee daily. The coffee is hot, fresh pressed, and the smilk straight out of the fridge - no curdling. It does however, curdle as the beverage cools and everything becomes room temp. A good shake (if you have a travel mug) or stir of the coffee and the curdling goes away. I think the key is the chilled smilk and the immediate shaking.

TJ's soy creamer=awesome

I use cold vanilla soy milk in my hot coffee, and found the soy milk to curdle only when I used Folgers instant decaf. When I use Starbucks Instant (regular) coffee, no curdling whatsoever! Since all other elements were the same, I'm thinking that some coffee is less acidic than others, so try changing your coffee if you're willing.

Add a tiny little sodium bicarbonate to your coffee. It brings out the coffee flavor IMO and removes the curdling problem :-)

I also heat the soy milk for 40 secs in the microwave before pouring in hot coffee from a moka pot. Never had a curdling problem with any brand of soy milk even in acidic coffee. Similarly, never had a problem making nice smooth steamed milk for lattes, etc. Maybe I've just jinxed myself and tomorrow's morning cup will curdle.

The only time I've seen that type of curdling has been in iced soy lattes.

this has been happening to me recently and I don't know if it's because I switched coffees (to a Colombian blend) or switched back to using vanilla Silk. it looks gross and tastes kind of off. I hate it! I will try buying soy creamer or heating it up first I guess. or maybe just switch back to almond milk...