Oatly Oat Drink – Barista Edition Review: Use this for anything…apart from coffee

It’s only recently I have discovered the new market of the dairy-free/ plant-based milk. It’s getting more and more popular for lots of reasons apart from being a vegan product. So I am excited to review the Oatly Oat Drink – Barista Edition because it’s taste really good in anything…apart from coffee. 

As I grow older, my milk intake has decreased drastically. I tend to find myself falling sick after having milk, especially in the winter. I don’t know the exact cause but I think dairy makes me develop colds. So I have taken some interest in dairy-free milk 2 years ago. But it never amounted to me regularly buying products like Alpro as the taste was not there. Even If I craved cereals once in a while, I would just avoid it or have it moderately in the summer. 

But about a month ago my sister and my nephew came to stay over. For health reasons, both my sister and nephew avoid dairy and so she brought over this cartoon of Oatly Oat Drink. I was intrigued so my sister made me a cup of hot Horlicks with oat milk at 4pm on a Saturday. By 5pm I felt like taking a nap which might have because of the Horlicks or because I was awake before 7AM. Actually sorry to divert away from this review but are there any parents out there who wake up earlier on weekends than on weekdays? Is it just me or does my 13-month-year-old son know I don’t work on Saturday and Sunday and so he gets up earlier???

Anyway, apologies for that. Back to Oatly Oat Drink review. This really tasted delicious when used for Horlicks or on its own. The oat flavour is sweet and the texture is very smooth too. One thing that stood out was just how creamy it was, like full-fat milk. Me and Mrs Reviews had to constantly check the ingredients too. We actually have a small electric whisk for frothing milk. This gives the milk a microfoam and it completely works with Oatly and gives a more latte-type texture. If you don’t have an electric whisk then you can use a french press by plunging down half a dozen times to get a nice foamy drink. 

Obviously you can use milk for lots of things and one thing it works so well is with Weetabix. Now we all know Weetabix can be plain tasting unless you like it plain tasting. But I would normally put some honey in it to sweeten it up. But with the Oatly Oat Drink, it works without needing anything. Even Baby Reviews had some even after having his own breakfast. The reason why I say that is because our little one does not like things that are bland. 

However, one thing I really and strongly don’t think it works with is coffee. Milk and coffee are very complimentary of one another when combined. They don’t overpower each other and milk also brings creaminess and sweetness depending on the coffee used. But with this Oat flavoured milk, it just does not gel. Look it does not taste bad, you can drink it. But I found it confusing because the Oat flavour is more prominent than the coffee itself. Personally, it’s not how I enjoy coffee as I want to experience the natural flavour of the coffee coming through. End of the day I don’t mind they call it Barista Edition either as it’s down to how the consumer wants to drink it. 

Now I also tried the organic version and this was alright but it was more watery like skimmed milk. I would definitely recommend the Barista Edition if you want something better tasting. They also have just the standard edition which I assume is like semi-skimmed but I have yet to try it. All three are priced between £1.50 to £1.70. This Barista version I got for £1.60 from Asda but I have seen it in Waitrose and Morrisons too.

Hope this review post was helpful. If you have recently thought about dairy-free milk product then give this a try. Just be mindful it’s a very Oat flavoured drink and not like normal milk. If you are interested why I didn’t think this worked well with coffee then check out my previous coffee posts. I have given my opinion on supermarket coffee which you can read here or check out a recommendation post on a good coffee company called Pact that deliver through your post here. I will try to try more of these dairy-free milk products so look out for more reviews in the future. 

Oatly Oat Drink Barista Edition

£1.60

8.4

Value

7.6/10

Quality

9.1/10

Pros

• Tasty Oat Flavour
• Smooth and creamy
• Works well with most things

Cons

• Does not work with coffee