I have written in the past about my desire to find a milk other than soy to make coffee with. I would go each time through rice, almond, hazelnut and others only to fall back to the reliable soy after finding each was either too watery or just wouldn’t foam, some even tasted bad. After seeing Silk PureAlmond I thought I should give it a try. I had tried Almond Breeze, both aseptic and refrigerated, but was put off by the strong after-bite. As far as I know Silk PureAlmond is only the second refrigerated almond milk variety.

A good coffee milk should always hold up first to steaming. A nice foam never hurts and this is where most of the milk options I have tried failed. Silk PureAlmond worked very well, surprising actually as I have never managed a good foam with almond milk. The foam was as good as soy milk. The milk is thicker than other almond milks which lends to the foaming ability.

Taste is most important and the flavor held up well to the espresso I use. No overbearing taste to mask the coffee. Most important there is no afterbite like all other almond milks I have tried.

I doubt I will give up soy milk completely for almond milk but finding a new option that tastes good and actually works well for coffee is always welcome.

I admit, I drink way too much coffee even though I drink less now that I once did.  At one time I was putting down 8 cups a day of sock juice (brewed coffee) since it was entirely too convenient. I could fill the french press and drink away and not even realize I was on that sixth cup before I had my eighth. I am also somewhat of an artsy-fartsy coffee connoisseur. I make soy lattes throughout the day, though I cut myself off at about 5pm, and occasionally douse them with this flavoring or that syrup.

There are those days when I’m not home and occasionally feel I like throwing down $4 on a cup of coffee. Those days don’t come often as I am pretty tight with my cash. I have been working on a list of coffee houses around Nashville to get your fix and all of those on the list include soymilk in their milk selections and one, DrinkHaus, also offers rice milk and sometimes almond milk.

I always prefer the local coffee houses. To me it always tastes better and I like not knowing exactly what to expect. I always search out a local coffee house when I travel and usually take home a pound from the places I like. Of course Starbucks is on every street but why go to the corporate bean when you can get your swill from a local coffee joint?

If your favorite coffee isn’t on the list let me know and tell me why it’s your favorite.

UPDATED 4/16/2010

Billy Goat Coffee
401 S. Mt. Juliet Rd., Suite 345
Mt. Juliet, TN
(615) 773-8272

Crema
15 Hermitage Ave.
Nashville, TN
(615) 255-8311

Bongo Java
1812 21st Ave S
Nashville, TN
(615) 777-3436

DrinkHaus Espresso + Tea
500 Madison St.
Nashville, TN
(615) 255-5200

Edgehill Studios Cafe
1201 Villa Place
Nashville, TN
(615) 301-8539

Fido
1812 21st Ave S
Nashville, TN
(615) 777-3436

Frothy Monkey
2509 12th Ave S
Nashville, TN
(615) 292-1808

Portland Brew
3431 Murphy Rd
Nashville, TN
(615) 292-9010

Sam and Zoe’s
525 Heather Place
Nashville, TN
(615) 385-2676

Ugly Mugs
1886 Eastland Ave
Nashville, TN
(615) 915-0675

Cafe Coco
210 Louise  Ave
Nashville, TN
(615) 321-2626

This time of year every coffee place has their version of a Pumpkin Spice Latte.  Starbucks always starts serving theirs early October and Panera has come into the mix this year with their own.  Most independent coffee shops I have visited lately have one as well.  Some of these are vegan when ordered with soy milk (Panera’s is) and some are not (Starbucks).  I have always been partial to making coffee at home.  I always know I’ll be served a drinkable cup and it always costs less.  I do occasionally enjoy a cup of froo-froo coffee though I typically make a simple syrup with vanilla to falvor my coffee when I want.  I did, however, find a more seasonal approach to a fancy coffee at home.  I picked up a (few) bottles of Williams Sonoma’s Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup and have found it to give a perfect flavor, not overpowering and not too sweet like some of the commercial coffee shop’s versions.  It is vegan and doesn’t contain any unpronounceable ingredients.

In another month, maybe Williams Sonoma will have a peppermint version.

UPDATE: If you’re up for making your own Pumpkin Spice Latte Syrup give this recipe I created a try.

We’re back from our latest excursion west.  It’s always good to get away.  It’s always better to get away to a place that has vegan offerings.  On this trip to Denver and Boulder we visited some places we’ve been to before and found some new ones.

Most of our days were spent walking the streets of Boulder.  A trip to the Boulder Farmers Market was made and I found what a Farmers Market should be.  I have been to markets in other cities but Boulder does it right.  All local, no vendors selling the same stuff that’s in the grocery store from a factory farm in another state.  I bought some beautiful purple peppers that will be used in quesadillias and multiple squashes that my wife plans to use somehow in something tasty.  There were many tables of apples so a big bag of these tiny Honeycrisp that tasted like candy had to be gotten.  One vendor had nothing but mushrooms, every fungus you could desire.  A bag of assorted fungus was procured.  There were vendors selling baked goods, soups, breads and most of them were vegan.  Asking if something was vegan was never met with a stupid look, only a smile and a yes.  I’m always on the lookout for coffee and I found a few local roasters selling their beans.  I picked up a pound of espresso roast from Silver Canyon Roasters and I write this with a cup in hand.

While in Boulder we found a little coffee shop on Pearl Street and decided to give it a try.  The Laughing Goat served a good cup of coffee and it wasn’t overpriced as most are.  I did notice they kept their beans in a freezer which I have always thought to be a no-no.  Maybe someone can tell me otherwise.  As I had already picked up the beans from the farmers market I didn’t try these but the cup of coffee I had was very good.  The girl working the register did give us a chuckle as someone came in and asked for a Venti. She pointed to their menu and said “These are the sizes we have.”  Silly Starbucks sheep.

Also in Boulder is Savory Spice Shop.  We visited on their grand opening last year and found many spices that are unavailable in stores in Nashville.  The owner was very nice and helpful and gave me some pointers for chili peppers. This time we got a few things needed for some dishes we’ve been wanting to cook.  I also got some bhot jolokia chilis. They hold the Guinness Record for the world’s hottest pepper. The Scoville ratings for these peppers are over 1,000,000 and by comparison Tabasco Sauce has a Scoville rating of 2,500. They should be a great addition to my chili!

We visited restaurants we’ve been to before and not all worked out as expected.  A visit to Watercourse Foods had been planned for weeks in advance and it was one of the first places we went for lunch.  I ordered the Buffalo Tofu sandwich with onion rings and sweet potatoes and wifey had the the Grinder with onion rings and broccoli.  The kid munched on their Banana Bread French Toast which she gets each time and doesn’t leave a bite to be shared.  Honestly, our going to Watercourse Foods had a lot to do with us wanting to just drink Oogave which they serve on tap, free refills.  Our previous trips to Watercourse have been great but after only eating half of our meals we felt like boxing the rest to go, something I never do.  About 15 minutes after we left both of us were doubled over in pain.  I won’t go into details but we had planned on multiple visits to Watercourse Foods on this trip and after this one we were afraid to return.  The kid felt fine and the only thing our meals shared in common were the onion rings so that’s where we placed the blame.  Next trip we’ll try again but I couldn’t risk getting sick a second time on this trip.

One night we were looking for a quick snack and after passing on all of the usual quick haunts we typically visit we reluctantly agreed on VG Burgers which, I felt, failed miserably on our last visit.  Since we only wanted a basket of chili-cheese fries we thought they could fit the bill.  We both shared a basket of chili-cheese fries and the kid had a basket of just fries.  The fries were tasty this time but it just seems their portions are small for the price.  It was pointed out to me by my wife that it is organic so what looked to be two potatoes worth of fries may well merit $2.99.  Leave it to her to play the devil’s advocate. VG Burgers previously had Oogave with free refills but the refills had been nixed so $1.79 for a small drink didn’t work out.  To their credit, they played Michael Franti the entire time we were there.  I’m not totally giving VG Burgers a thumbs down on this visit but I just think it’s a bit pricey for what they serve.

We located some new places and one of those was Sweet Action Ice Cream.  Although not completely vegan they do have offerings that the animal-free crowd would enjoy.  This is one of those ice cream places that makes it all on-site, my favorite kind.  The day we went the vegan flavors were pumpkin and coffee, which I could only guess were meant to be paired into a pumpkin latte cone or cup with a scoop of each.  The pumpkin tasted too much like frozen pumpkin puree so I passed.  Coffee ice cream was never my favorite but this one didn’t have a strong coffee flavor so I got a scoop along with a scoop of lemon raspberry sorbet.  It doesn’t sound good together but it worked out nicely.  They also serve vegan ice cream sandwiches.  Peanut butter cookie with vanilla ice cream and oatmeal raisin cookie with peach ice cream were the two choices they had.  My wife walked around and looked through a window at their prep area and discovered a list of their vegan flavors which they rotate out.  It looked like we picked the wrong day to have ice cream.  Vegan flavors like Five Spice, Mothership Wit, Coconut Lemongrass, Coffee Yeti Stout, Garam Masala and Apple Spice were listed along with about twenty others.  Unfortunately, a second visit to taste these creations didn’t fit in our schedule.

On our way out of town we met Stephen, the owner of Oogave at their office to pick up plenty to keep us fixed until we return.  A case of Estebans’ Cola, Esteban’s Root Beer and a case of random flavors was loaded into the car.  Oogave’s cola is the best cola, hands-down, that you will ever find.  Agave sweetened and all-natural, it doesn’t get much better!  Seriously, this is some good stuff!

We discovered many of new things on our trip but one thing we discovered was something we may have already knew.  We belong in Boulder.  There’s just too much for us and the feel of the town is a fit.

More pictures can be found on Flickr.