I made a happy discovery this week, Amande cultured almond milk.  It is fruit juice sweetened (although it doesn't specify which fruits, I'd guess it's apple or grape).  It doesn't have any carageenan, the only gum is locust bean gum, which is a beneficial for me.  Best of all, it tastes great!  Yesterday I had the raspberry flavor and topped it with fresh organic raspberries, and it was compliant heaven.  I've tasted various non-dairy yogurts, but none of them were tasty to me.  Granted, this is a bit different from real yogurt, it is thickened with a bit of rice starch (better than the corn starch in some regular yogurts), so is somewhat reminiscent of a pudding in texture, but I'm thrilled with it.  After trying to make my own almond milk yogurt and seeing how thin it was, I understand the need to thicken it.  I did make decent buttermilk once, but never succeeded at the homemade yogurt.

Almonds are generally a black dot for explorers, but neutral for me on my SWAMI and a great alternative to avoids...considering that nearly all casein-containing items are avoids on my SWAMI, I'm happy to have a creamy treat.

I saw this in my coop and wanted to give it a try. By your response it sounds good and I would love to have some. Do you remember the brand. I would like to look around to see where I can find some and give it a try.

make almond milk  add a polyflora!!!

Quoted from Lola

make almond milk  add a polyflora!!!

And then what? Dance the Hokey Pokey?

Quoted from cherry ingredients

Almondmilk (Filtered Water and Almonds), Fruit Juice Concentrate, Cherries, Rice Starch, Locust Bean Gum, Pectin, Tapioca, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, 6 Active Cultures.

Quoted from blueberry

Almondmilk (Filtered Water and Almonds), Fruit Juice Concentrate, Blueberries, Rice Starch, Locust Bean Gum, Pectin, Tapioca, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, Elderberry Juice Concentrate (for Color), 6 Active Cultures.

The citric acid would do me in, but others may not have problems with it.

I would email the company and ask about that "fruit juice concentrate." It might contain avoid fruits. Similarly, what's the source for the pectin?

Between not knowing what fruits are in it, and the citric acid (most likely corn based) this isn't something I'd personally consume. But it doesn't look as bad as many other products out there, and you need to decide for yourself how compliant you want/need to be.

Natural flavors is always suspect.

If you call the company they should tell you if it contains something you are 'allergic' to but likely won't divulge the full ingredient list.

Quoted from Drea

And then what? Dance the Hokey Pokey?

I think the next step is to sit on it and incubate it like an egg, but the Hokey Pokey might work

Back to the yogurt though, I agree to being wary of the "natural flavors" and definitely the citric acid.  I don't want to be a Debby Downer because you seem very excited about the yogurt, but I'd be suspicious of those ingredients.  Hokey Pokeying your own yogurt might be best.

I'm so mad at so many companies lately that include citric acid when it's not (imo) necessary, especially in organic foods. Grr. My mantra: Read labels, read labels, read labels.

I am so in love with making my own yogurt, using Polyflora!  It provides the best micro organisms for my own body and cuts out all the trial and error.  I use goat milk, but others have shared about culturing their own almond milk.

Melissa,

Glad you were able to find a treat!    Maybe tweaking your almond yogurt recipe will yield great results.  Perhaps at the end of making your almond milk yogurt, you could mix in some flaxseed goop or strain it like greek yogurt?

Quoted from Lola

make almond milk  add a polyflora!!!

Fantastic idea and you say it works  

Quoted from Victoria

I am so in love with making my own yogurt, using Polyflora!  It provides the best micro organisms for my own body and cuts out all the trial and error.  I use goat milk, but others have shared about culturing their own almond milk.

How much PolyFlora do you add to a cup of yogurt?  I am making my own, but make 2-3 quarts at a time.  Can you tell me how much to put in?  Also, what temperature to you heat your goat milk to?

Hi Kim,

It took a little experimenting in the beginning to get my culture established and now I use a Tb of yogurt per pint of milk for continuing batches.  I started out using more than I needed -- 1 cap per cup.  It gave me yogurt that was too thick and yeasty smelling.  But as I started using the previous batch to start the next one, it all leveled out.

I heat my milk to the point when the milk starts to rise up in the pot.  Then I remove it from the heat, cool for a few minutes and pour into clean jars.  I use pint-sized jars.  It cools in the jars to the right temperature and I add the yogurt starter, close the lid and set into a hot water-filled mini-ice chest.  Wrap in thick towels and leave for 10 hours.

Quoted from Victoria

Hi Kim,

It took a little experimenting in the beginning to get my culture established and now I use a Tb of yogurt per pint of milk for continuing batches.  I started out using more than I needed -- 1 cap per cup.  It gave me yogurt that was too thick and yeasty smelling.  But as I started using the previous batch to start the next one, it all leveled out.

I heat my milk to the point when the milk starts to rise up in the pot.  Then I remove it from the heat, cool for a few minutes and pour into clean jars.  I use pint-sized jars.  It cools in the jars to the right temperature and I add the yogurt starter, close the lid and set into a hot water-filled mini-ice chest.  Wrap in thick towels and leave for 10 hours.

There is so much contradicting info on the internet about what temperature to heat the milk to.  I actually use a candy thermometer.  Some say to only heat the milk to 100 degrees and others say heat to 165 degrees which I think kills any beneficial bacteria in the milk.  I haven't got the consistency right yet on the yogurt..  When my yogurt is done, it has too much whey in it.  I use raw cows milk.  I have the Tribest Yogurt maker.  

Quoted from Kim

There is so much contradicting info on the internet about what temperature to heat the milk to.  I actually use a candy thermometer.  Some say to only heat the milk to 100 degrees and others say heat to 165 degrees which I think kills any beneficial bacteria in the milk.  I haven't got the consistency right yet on the yogurt..  When my yogurt is done, it has too much whey in it.  I use raw cows milk.  I have the Tribest Yogurt maker.  

I would like to just make yogurt with raw goats milk and not heat it past 100 degrees F.  It just doesn't seem to work for me that way.  From my own experience, naturally occurring bacteria in the raw milk (not harmful) seem to compete with the probiotics that I am adding.  And the yogurt won't set up well.  This has been true for me, no matter which kind of culture I'm adding.  The way I'm doing it now gives me a firm, well-set yogurt that you can scoop out with a spoon and it still leaves the indentation from the spoon.  

A long time ago, I had some goats.  I washed their udders and milked them directly into very clean wide-mouth jars with a spoonful of yogurt in them.  I shook the jar, set it into an insulated container of hot water and made perfect yogurt with raw milk.  Don't know why that system is not working for me now.  Maybe 'cause I'm not the one milking those girls!  

I used Villii yogurt culture once and it doesn't need heat for the yogurt to culture.  If it is in a room that is about 70 degrees, it will set up in about 12 hours.  If you use raw milk, you still have to heat up the milk to make the starter.  Then you would keep making starter like that to culture the yogurt.  I would prefer to do that so as not to destroy the bacteria in the milk.  

I know some people add non fat dry milk to get the yogurt firmer or even add cream to the milk to get thicker yogurt.  I will just have to keep trying.  It tastes good, just not firm.  We give it to one of our horses that has diarrhea issues.  I have to eat yogurt every day.

Although I'm a little late, I just discovered Amande cultured almond milk today--it was on sale.  My stomach loved it - very gentle.  I called the company - the fruit concentrate is from pinapple and peach.  I didn't ask about the derivatives of any other ingredients.

TypeOsecretor,
Could you share where you found Amande yogurt? where in California? I am always looking to try different yogurts. Presently, I am eating Chobani Greek.

Looks good (except for all the thickeners and stabilizers).  They say that their natural flavors are only fruit concentrates.  I couldn't find a list for the unflavored variety.

Raspberry:  Ingredients -
ALMONDMILK (FILTERED WATER AND ALMONDS), FRUIT JUICE CONCENTRATE, RASPBERRIES, RICE STARCH, NATURAL FLAVOR, LOCUST BEAN GUM, PECTIN, TAPIOCA, PURPLE CARROT CONCENTRATE (FOR COLOR), CITRIC ACID, 6 ACTIVE CULTURES

Strawberry:  Ingredients -
ALMONDMILK (FILTERED WATER AND ALMONDS), FRUIT JUICE CONCENTRATE, STRAWBERRIES, RICE STARCH, NATURAL FLAVOR, LOCUST BEAN GUM, PECTIN, TAPIOCA, PURPLE CARROT CONCENTRATE (FOR COLOR), CITRIC ACID, ANNATTO (FOR COLOR)

Cherry:  Ingredients -
Almondmilk (Filtered Water and Almonds), Fruit Juice Concentrate, Cherries, Rice Starch, Locust Bean Gum, Pectin, Tapioca, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, 6 Active Cultures.

I just emailed the company to find out what the citric acid is derived from. Keep you all posted.

I got an answer back about the citric acid:

"Thank you for contacting us about amande almond milk yogurt. We have worked hard to make our products as enjoyable to eat and as nutritious as we possibly can; your feedback is very helpful in this effort.  

Unfortunately, the citric acid used in our amande yogurt is made from corn.  

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us."


Thank you,

Kathy Miller
Customer Service
Cascade Fresh
customerservice@cascadefresh.com
Phone (206) 363-0991

http://www.cascadefresh.com
http://www.amandeyogurt.com

Quoted from cajun

TypeOsecretor,
Could you share where you found Amande yogurt? where in California? I am always looking to try different yogurts. Presently, I am eating Chobani Greek.

I bought it at New Frontiers Natural Marketplace in San Luis Obispo.  They also have a store in Solvang.  In Arizona, they have stores in Flagstaff, Prescott, and Sedona.  I suspect they are similar to Whole Foods stores.

ok Thanks Type o!

Quoted from Victoria

Looks good (except for all the thickeners and stabilizers).  They say that their natural flavors are only fruit concentrates.  I couldn't find a list for the unflavored variety.

Amande Plain Ingredients:  Almond milk (filtered water and almonds), fruit juice concentrate, rice starch, locust bean gum, pectin, tricalcium phosphate, citric acid, and active cultures.

The active cultures are:  L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. thermophilus, B. bifidum, L. casei, L. rhamnosus

Amande Vanilla Ingredients:  Almond milk (filtered water and almonds), fruit juice concentrate, rice starch, natural vanilla flavor, tapioca, locust bean gum, pectin, citric acid, and active cultures