What Milk Brand Do Coffee Shops Use for Iced Lattes? What's the Best Milk for Homemade Coffee?

Many people know that the quality of a latte largely depends on the milk we choose. The market offers a wide variety of milk brands, with prices ranging from a few to dozens of yuan, resulting in different flavor profiles when made into lattes. For those who occasionally make a latte at home, there's rarely an opportunity to try each one individually, let alone purchase them all for a comprehensive coffee comparison.

For these home enthusiasts, FrontStreet Coffee has selected several whole fresh milk brands that are commonly paired with coffee and relatively easy to purchase for today's milk selection review. Considering that everyone has different needs and taste preferences, this article won't draw a final conclusion but aims to provide purchasing guidance. This review contains no sponsored content, so please read with confidence~

Regarding why we only chose whole fresh milk for comparison, you can revisit the article FrontStreet Coffee published last year. Since this review primarily focuses on home brewing methods, products labeled as "coffee specialty milk," "super milk," or "ice blog" are not included in today's discussion due to differences in shop requirements and positioning.

In this experiment, besides Bright Dairy·Fresh Ranch used for daily in-store production, FrontStreet Coffee also purchased Wei-Chuan (only available in small bottles), Kowloon Dairy, Yonoo 4.0, Meiji醇壹 Milk, Asahi Yobitsu, and Yue Fresh - a total of 7 low-temperature fresh milk brands. To maintain as much objectivity as possible, FrontStreet Coffee will record the taste of each milk when chilled, the flavor after heating, and the overall performance when made into both iced lattes and hot milk coffee, including flavor characteristics, balance, and milk foam texture.

PS: Considering the need to coordinate with in-store production, FrontStreet Coffee will still use the medium-dark roasted Sunflower·Warm Sunshine espresso blend for all milk coffees today, which typically presents flavors of vanilla, cream, milk chocolate, and subtle fermented alcoholic notes.

Iced lattes will use a formula of 90g ice cubes + 180g fresh milk + double espresso, with extraction parameters consistent with the morning's calibration - using 19.8g of coffee grounds, extracting 38g liquid weight in 31-32 seconds. Hot milk coffee will be presented as small-sized flat whites (lattes are too large and容易喝太饱 ), using 180g fresh milk + double ristretto espresso, creating 0.3cm milk foam, using 19.8g grounds to extract 30g liquid weight in 26 seconds.

Bright Dairy·Fresh Ranch

Purchase price: 8.57 yuan/950ml, affordable and easily accessible

Chilled tasting: Average aroma, slightly thin texture, but relatively high sweetness with no milky aftertaste

Heated tasting: Sweetness is enhanced, milk aroma becomes stronger, but texture remains somewhat thin

Asahi Yobitsu Milk

Purchase price: 29.9 yuan/950ml, relatively expensive and not easily accessible

Chilled tasting: Rich milk aroma, moderate sweetness, with a slight milky aftertaste

Heated tasting: Prominent milk aroma, increased sweetness

Meiji醇壹 Milk

Purchase price: 29.9 yuan/950ml, relatively expensive, requires supermarket purchase

Chilled tasting: Most fragrant and rich milk flavor upon entry, light sweet taste, rich texture, high sweetness

Heated tasting: Even stronger milk aroma, high sweetness, with no milky aftertaste

Yonoo 4.0

Purchase price: 17.9 yuan/950ml, mid-range price, convenient to purchase

Chilled tasting: Highest sweetness, both milk aroma and texture are relatively rich

Heated tasting: Milk aroma becomes stronger, but can become cloying if consumed in large amounts

Kowloon Dairy

Purchase price: 16.9 yuan/946ml, convenient to purchase but slightly expensive

Chilled tasting: Milk aroma not prominent, average texture, moderate sweetness

Heated tasting: Milk flavor and texture remain average, weak sweetness

Yue Fresh

Purchase price: 18.7 yuan/950ml, moderate price, convenient to purchase

Chilled tasting: Light texture, moderate sweetness, with slight milk powder taste

Heated tasting: Light and sweet milk aroma, gentle texture

Wei-Chuan Milk

Purchase price: 9.9 yuan/240ml, slightly expensive, and convenience stores mostly only carry small bottles

Chilled tasting: Relatively light milk flavor, decent sweetness, average texture

Heated tasting: Average milk aroma, increased sweetness, moderate texture when consumed directly

What are the differences between iced lattes made with different milk?

Due to the effect of ice cubes, iced lattes have a distinct stimulating mouthfeel. The coffee is primarily influenced by the espresso extraction parameters and ratio, so when these parameters remain consistent, the flavor differences between coffee and milk won't be particularly noticeable unless tasted through careful comparison. Instead, the differences are more reflected in details such as balance, aftertaste, and the integration between the two components.

In this review, all seven lattes exhibited the fundamental flavor profile of the Warm Sunshine blend, with initial notes of vanilla, cream, and milk chocolate. However, under the influence of different milk brands, their texture performance varied. The iced lattes made with Meiji, Yonoo, and Yue Fresh showed the most full-bodied texture, with rich milk aroma that didn't overpower the coffee flavor and left a pleasant aftertaste. The Kowloon Dairy and Wei-Chuan coffees had the thinnest texture, slightly watery; while Bright Dairy and Yobitsu had noticeable sweetness, their overall texture was average and unremarkable.

How significant are the differences in flat whites made with different milk?

Compared to iced lattes, making flat whites requires more attention to detail. To highlight the coffee flavor, first the espresso extraction is cut off at the tail section, taking only the front to middle section for Ristretto, while also reducing the amount of milk. Second, the milk foam must be light, delicate, not too hot, and evenly integrated to appreciate both the coffee flavor and the role of milk. Through direct comparison, we found that hot milk coffee indeed showed significant differences when made with various fresh milk brands.

The flat whites made with Bright Dairy, Meiji, Yonoo, and Yue Fresh milk all performed well in terms of coffee flavor, texture, and aftertaste. Besides the distinct flavors of vanilla cookies, cream chocolate, roasted nuts, and toffee, the heated milk also provided a relatively high sweetness sensation.

Among these, FrontStreet Coffee found that Meiji had the richest texture and high compatibility with coffee, while also offering the most stable latte art performance. Yonoo had the strongest milk aroma and silky texture, almost overpowering the coffee flavor, making it suitable for those who prefer sweet, milky coffee. Yue Fresh and Bright Dairy performed slightly less impressively, with average texture and shorter aftertaste, but without significant flaws in flavor.

Yobitsu paired well with coffee aroma, but due to a slight milky aftertaste after heating and insufficient richness, it tasted somewhat watery, and the stability of the milk foam was average with quick dissipation.

Wei-Chuan showed noticeable sweetness after heating and even presented an oatmeal aroma when paired with Warm Sunshine. The milk foam stability was moderate, but the drawback was insufficient richness, resulting in a less intense texture.

Finally, Kowloon Dairy fresh milk didn't demonstrate many advantages in this flat white. Not only did it have the thinnest texture among all seven coffees, but the latte art also dissipated the fastest. Due to insufficient milk prominence, the coffee tasted slightly bitter, and the integration was average.

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Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473