- Dug potato
milk just launched in three varieties: original, unsweetened, and barista. - I tried them all and the original was drinkable but the barista was foul in coffee.
Move over oat, almond, and soy, there's a new plant-based "milk" on the scene: potato milk.
Dug, the world's first potato milk, launched in the UK in February. It bills itself as "the most sustainable plant-based
The brand says growing
I tried Dug's potato milk and found it pretty neutral and inoffensive in most forms, but I couldn't stomach it in my coffee — it somehow tasted like fish to me.
Dug potato milk comes in three forms
There are three types of Dug potato milk: Original, Unsweetened, and Barista.
The recommended retail price is £1.80 ($2.44) for a 1 liter carton, which is about the same price as almond milk, but more expensive than cow's milk.
I usually buy both cow and almond milk, the former mainly for tea and coffee, and the latter mainly for oatmeal, smoothies, and protein shakes.
Dug potato milk has a long shelf life, so it doesn't need to be chilled until it's opened.
Developed by Professor Eva Tornberg at Lund University in Sweden, it's made not by "milking" a potato, but rather making an emulsion from potato protein — potatoes are strained and mixed with water alongside the other ingredients.
It tastes like generic non-dairy milk
I've never met a form of potato I didn't like, and yes, I include vodka in that statement.
So, what does potato milk taste like? Well, it's mild, quite creamy, and to me tasted like any generic non-dairy milk — the flavor isn't strong (and it's not potatoey) like oat or almond, and it reminded me most of soy.
It's thicker than many non-dairy milks, but did separate a bit.
The original variant was the best to me — it tasted fine on its own and was quite refreshing. It didn't taste sweet until I tried it after the unsweetened version.
The unsweetened potato milk had a slightly salty undertone, but was inoffensive. The barista edition, however, tasted bitter, sour, and the most potatoey, but it definitely bubbled up the most after shaking.
I would never choose to have non-dairy milk in tea, but the original potato milk wasn't bad. It didn't mix as smoothly as cow's milk, seemed a bit watery and had a somewhat dry undertone, but the flavor was alright.
The original version blended nicely in a protein smoothie too, with a slightly sweeter undertone than my usual almond milk.
I tried the barista version in a coffee and found it so disgusting I couldn't finish it, even when I tried to make it more palatable by adding sweetener. I don't know how, but it tasted like fish. A waste of a Nespresso pod.
Potato milk could be good for those with allergies
Potato milk is free from lactose, milk, soy, gluten, and nuts, so it could be an attractive option for allergy-sufferers.
It's fortified with calcium, vitamin D, vitamin B12, riboflavin, and folic acid, which most dietitians say is important in dairy-free milks.
It contains more protein than some dairy-free milks: per 100ml, unsweetened potato milk contains 1.3g, compared to unsweetened almond milk's 0.4g, and unsweetened oat milk's 0.2g.
Carb-wise, unsweetened potato milk comes in at 1.3g per 100ml, between unsweetened almond milk (0g per 100ml) and unsweetened oat milk (5.6g per 100ml).
Two of Dug's variants are lower calorie than dairy: Per 100ml, the original and unsweetened are 39 calories, the barista is 53 calories, and semi-skimmed cow's milk is 50. Unsweetened almond, however, is a mere 13.
Potato milk has a strong nutritional profile, is sustainable, and if you're a fan of alternative milks, you'll probably like it. But personally I think I'll stick to dairy in my hot drinks and potatoes in solid form.