Bad Tasting Almond Milk

When it comes to veganism, I believe in replacement. Veganism should not be a sacrifice. You simply take an animal product (such as cows milk) and simply replace it with a plant products (such as soy milk or almond milk).

Lately I have noticed many cafes in Melbourne, Australia giving customers the option of using almond milk in their coffee. However, a few days ago I tried an almond latte at a cafe that has only recently offered almond milk (after I unsuccessfully tried to order one), and it tasted bad. To be honest, it tasted like dairy milk. Just to be sure, I ordered another almond latte from them and watched them make it. They definitely used almond milk. The almond milk brand they used was Almond Breeze Barista Blend.

I kept trying different almond milk lattes from different cafes until I found one that was right for me.

The lesson here is rest almond milk is variable. There are many different types if almond milk on the market. If one type of almond milk or almond milk coffee doesn't taste right, simply try another. Don't give up on almond milk.

Review: Monk Bodhi Dharma Balaclava

Monk Bodhi Dharma is quite a small place. It’s important to look at the Monk Bodhi Dharma website as well as Google Maps first to see where it is. The website instructs you to park in a nearby Woolworths parking area, and from there it is a short walk to the cafe/deli. Thankfully you don’t need to pay anything at the Woolworths carpark. Driving and parking here is really easy.

Source: monkbodhidharma.com

When I arrived, it was a Sunday morning, so it was quite busy. A group of friends and I needed to wait fifteen minutes. Once inside, I noticed that the place is cramped and crowded. Everything on the menu is vegetarian and can be veganized. I ordered a veganized avocado on toast (called "The Avo"). This dish was recommended to me and I enjoyed it. The avocado was delicious because they mixed something into it (perhaps chilli) that enhanced the taste. I really liked it. If I had to give one criticism, it would be the bread, which was a little too hard for my liking. I also had a soy flat white with my meal. I was told that the coffee in this place is renowned all over Melbourne. I am not a coffee expert, so I cannot give my opinion. Most coffee for me is the same, so I end up judging a cafe by how extensive their vegan milk options are and how happy and nice the staff are.

All up I paid $19 for both the avocado on toast as well as the soy flat white. The place accepted Mastercard.


The Avo (Vegan) at Monk Bodhi Dharma Balaclava

Grill'd Vegan Burger - Veggie Vitality

It might seem weird for a grown man to watch Bonnyrebecca videos, but that's what I was doing last night. While most people like to binge on alcohol on a Saturday night, I like to binge on YouTube. To be honest, I have a crush on Bonny. She's a beautiful young vegan girl, so I love to follow (or perve) on her via YouTube.

In her latest video, she is in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the now controversy-marred 2016 Raw Till Four Bike Festival, and for some reason she has decided to try out a raw vegan diet. See the entire video below. During her vlog, she randomly mentions the Grill'd vegan burger at the 2:40 mark of the video.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZiEIgh6dmw]

When I heard from Bonny that Grill'd suddenly had a vegan burger, I was shocked. I did some research on Facebook. Supposedly Grill'd had changed their menu to cater to different "tribes" such as those who want a gluten-free burger. As such, the burgers at Grill'd not only caters to vegans and vegetarians but also to people who are anti-gluten as well as those on a low-carb diet. The new vegan burger is called "veggie vitality." Not only is this burger vegan but it is also gluten free (not that I am anti-gluten).

[caption id="attachment_1432" align="alignnone" width="587"] Credit: Candice Nertney[/caption]

I admit I'm not a fan of the picture above. The veggie patty looks very bright red, which makes it look weird.

Reading further into various Facebook comments, it's clear that there are many vegans who, even though Grill'd has a vegan burger, do not want to support this business because they cater to meat eaters in addition to vegans, but I believe that Grill'd producing a menu that is 5% vegan is better than a menu that is 0% vegan, so they should be rewarded for this, and if they are rewarded enough, they will likely increase that percentage. The bottom line is that money must flow towards vegan products. Demand creates supply.

[caption id="attachment_1360" align="alignnone" width="537"] Credit: Candice Nertney[/caption]

As soon as I'd heard about this burger, I went to the local Grill'd with my father. My father is not a vegan, so he ordered a lamb burger. I told my father than I wanted the vegan burger. The menu stated clearly that the chips are all vegan, so I agreed to share sweet potato chips with him. He went to the counter and ordered the food. However, when the food came, I realized that I didn't think about the dipping sauce, which I suspect may not be vegan! Vegans are not omniscient. They should try their hardest, but if a mistake is made then learn from your mistake and move on.

[caption id="attachment_1399" align="alignnone" width="519"] Vegan sweet potato chips served with possibly non-vegan dipping sauce.[/caption]

When the waiter handed my father his food, he said, "Here's your lamb burger." He then handed me the vegan burger and blandly said, "Here's yours." There was no announcement that it was a vegan burger. I didn't know what to make of that, but nevermind. I digress.

[gallery ids="1408,1409" type="square" columns="2" orderby="rand"]

What I found interesting about the burger is that it didn't try to replace the meat with meat-like products such as soy protein or wheat protein. The patty is a true veggie patty made of beetroot, sweet potato, spinach, and quinoa. It tastes quite nice, full of flavour, and the beetroot gives it a very nice bright red colour. On the downside, like most veggie patties, it is not firm but quite soft. However, the softness of the patty is partially compensated for by the firmness of the bun.

[caption id="attachment_1414" align="alignnone" width="3264"] A close-up of the internals of the veggie patty clearly showing the red beetroot.[/caption]

What really redeems this vegan burger is the avocado, which goes well with everything else in the burger and gives it a nice creamy taste. I've been to Grill'd before when they had three vegetarian burgers but no vegan burgers. I veganized a vegetarian burger by ordering a falafel burger (called "Friends of Falafel") and, following advice from Peta, made it vegan by removing the tzatziki, which is a Greek cream that may have dairy or eggs in it. However, as a result of removing the tzatziki, the falafel burger was very dry, which turned me off Grill'd burger, and I have never been there since. Thankfully, the avocado in the new Grill'd vegan burger not only provides you with healthy fats but also gives the insides of the burger a creamy texture.

[caption id="attachment_1420" align="alignnone" width="2448"] Avocado is spread on the top and bottom, giving the burger a creamy texture.[/caption]

After the vegan burger, I went to San Churro and ordered a long black. An easy way to be vegan at a cafe is to order either a long black (coffee with water) or a soy latte (coffee with soy milk).

[caption id="attachment_1424" align="alignnone" width="2276"] Long black at San Churro.[/caption]

Nowadays I try to subtly encourage cafes to use almond milk by always asking them for a "latte with almond milk." Many cafes are starting to provide almond milk now, but about half the time they tell me that they don't have almond milk, just soy milk, so I go with soy milk instead, and I act as if I am really dissatisfied. Usually when I go back to the cafe in a month or two, all of a sudden they have almond milk! It's important to understand that the customer is king, and the vegan customer should use his or her purchasing power to influence businesses so that they provide more and more vegan products. Demand creates supply, as I said. If you make it a habit to pay assassins to kill people, businesses (and contractors) specializing in murder will be created. If you make it a habit to eat meat or other animal products, businesses specialising in the torture and slaughter of animals will be created and will grow in dominance. It's a battle between good and evil, and the best that vegans can do is to keep ensuring that money flows to vegan products as much as possible. Keep in mind the vegan flow of funds!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k9NnGyCUV8]

Review: Atman Kafe Ubud

I am holidaying in Ubud, Bali now. I found accommodation on one of the main roads (Jalan Hanoman or Hanoman Street) to make sure I could walk to important areas (cafes, restaurants, ATMs, and convenience stores) without catching a taxi. It is so much more convenient having everything within walking distance.

Along Hanoman Street there is a placed called Atman Kafe. This place seems to have two different areas, a big restaurant to the left and a smaller cafe to the right. I went into the cafe on the right because it seemed less crowded.



The place has air conditioning and free WiFi. It seemed clean and neat. There are tables, but rather than providing individual chairs they provide cushions and pillows where you can stretch your legs and more easily mingle with other people. I actually prefer this setup because it is more cosy.



While the ergonomics are not ideal, you could easy place a laptop on your lap and get some work done here.

If you're sitting at the back, there is an opportunity for you to talk to random strangers if you are a solo traveler, although no one was at the cafe when I entered, and many travelers in Ubud seem to be very shy.

Atman Kafe serves meat but had an extensive range of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten free food.

I ordered the vegan hot chocolate with cashew milk and Stevia. The hot chocolate was served to me alongside a small cylindrical glass container that has brown powder. I asked the staff what this brown powder was and whether I should mix it in my hot chocolate. Their English was not great, but eventually someone told me that this brown powder was the Stevia. I mixed the Stevia into the hot chocolate and drank it. It was okay, but it wasn't that sweet. I was under the impression that Stevia was supposed to make the drink sweet.


Vegan hot chocolate

After the hot chocolate, I ordered a large vegan margherita pizza. I expected vegan cheese to be used but instead it was replaced with crumbled cashew nuts. It wasn't that bad, and I appreciated a vegan pizza option.


Vegan margherita pizza

Following the pizza, I ordered a coco oil latte, which is a latte that had coconut oil in it. It sounded odd, so I felt I needed to try it. I suspect it is capitalizing on Dave Asprey's Bulletproof coffee fad (coffee mixed with coconut oil and grass fed butter).


Coco oil latte

Consuming fat with your coffee supposedly increases your energy, but I certainly didn't feel energetic after my coconut oil latte. My fingers were greasy as well.

For all this, I paid 130K rupiah (about US$10).

This place accepts credit card but charges a 3% surcharge, so it's best to pay with cash. Make sure the cash you use has been converted using a fair exchange rate without commission or fees.

Soy-Free Vegan Coffee in the Melbourne CBD

Melbourne is renowned for its coffee. In just about all coffee shops, vegans can pay about 50 cents extra for soymilk rather than dairy milk.

I personally avoid both soymilk and dairy milk as soymilk contains high concentrations of phytoestrogens and dairy milk contains high concentrations of estrone and estradiol, which are cow estrogens. In the study below, men who drank dairy milk regularly suffered from a significant drop in serum testosterone.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19496976

As easy way to avoid soy and dairy is to order pure espresso or a long black. A long black is similar to a latte except the espresso coffee is mixed with water rather than milk. The benefit or ordering a long black is you usually get double the amount of espresso coffee, which means double the amount of antioxidants.

The problem with the long black is that the taste of coffee by itself is strong. Another problem is that pure espresso or a long black has virtually zero calories (good for those losing weight but I personally want more calories).

This is when you need to get coffee mixed with a plant-based milk. My personal favourites are coconut milk and almond milk.

For lattes with coconut milk (that is, coconut lattes), I recommend Oli and Levi. There are two Oli and Levi cafes in Melbourne. There is an Oli and Levi on Coromandel Place and an Oli and Levi on Collins Street.

If you are concerned with the cost of coconut milk or the saturated fat content, I recommend almond milk. While just about any brand of coconut milk seems to taste good in coffee, coffee with almond milk only seems to taste good if certain brands are used. Personally I like to go to Little Bean Blue on Little Collins Street. The almond latte that this cafe prepares uses a brand of almond milk that is specially designed for coffee, meaning it tastes smooth and frothy.