I Tried Every Non-Dairy Milk from Trader Joe’s to Figure Out Which One Froths the Best — Here’s the Winner

March 9, 2021 was a memorable day marking the world’s first-ever Froth Off, hosted by me, Natasha of Trader Joe’s List. I created @traderjoeslist over a decade ago to share brand-new items at Trader Joe’s, recipes exclusively using TJ’s ingredients, funny memes about TJ’s, and of course product reviews with my now 1.6 million followers.

The mission of the Froth Off was simple: Find out which non-dairy beverage from Trader Joe’s produces the best froth. If you’ve ever tried to froth plant-based milk before, you know that this is no small feat. In all my attempts, it seems as though no alternative will ever compare to the creamy, fluffy, cloud-like froth consistency you can achieve from high-fat dairy. The Froth-Off would finally give me the answers I was seeking.

Quality of the froth was measured using a few parameters (and I used this milk Frother from Nespresso for the experiment.)

• The first — and notably the most important — is the froth-to-liquid ratio. In order to qualify as a good froth, there needs to be very little liquid and lots of froth.
• The second parameter is the thickness of the froth. You want a froth that is thick enough to layer on top of the beverage and linger in your cup.
• The third parameter is taste. This is subjective, but I personally prefer a more mild-tasting froth, low in sugar. A good froth should enhance the underlying beverage, not overpower it with sweetness.
• The final parameter is ingredients. The fewer ingredients I had never heard of, the better.

The beverages frothed were a combination of non-dairy beverages and creamers: 

• Trader Joe’s Non-Dairy Oat Beverage
• Plant Folk Coconut Creamer
• Trader Joe’s Coconut & Almond Creamer
• Trader Joe’s Original Almond Beverage
• Trader Joe’s Non-Dairy Chocolate Oat Beverage

The Froth Off produced some unexpected (and expected) results. The Almond Beverage was a total fail and produced zero froth, taking last place. The Coconut and Almond Creamer produced a decent froth, but was way too sweet and I didn’t love that it contained gluten giving it a fourth place. The Plant Folk Creamer took third overall and second in the creamer category for producing a quality froth with simple ingredients and mildly sweet flavor. The Non-Dairy Chocolate Oat Beverage (an initial underdog!) ended up crushing my expectations taking second place overall. It had a surprisingly thick froth despite me over filling the frother.

Finally, the first place froth went to the Non-Dairy Oat Beverage. This was the one I was rooting for since I use it every morning and was expecting it to be a top performer. The froth-to-liquid ratio was on point producing a thick froth using simple ingredients, and the taste was creamy yet not overwhelmingly sweet. This will continue to be my go-to frothy beverage for all my morning lattes.