Make Pistachio Milk, the Perfect ‘Creamer’ for Coffee

Thinking of moving away from dairy milk in your coffee? Oat milk works fine, but it doesn’t bring a ton of flavour. I was thinking about playing around with cashew milk, until a friend and fellow food writer posted a meme about pistachio milk. I had not considered pistachio milk until that moment, and I found myself considering it hard.

Unlike almond, oat, or cashew milk, pistachio milk is hard to find, even at hippy-centric markets and health food stores. It’s also predictably pricey, as nuts are not cheap. The most popular brand of pistachio milk — Táche — runs around $US8 for 907.18g. But like any other nut milk, it’s easy to make yourself. All you need is raw pistachios and water (and maybe a little salt and vanilla, as a treat).

Blend everything together and strain it through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth or a nut milk bag. That’s all you need to do. Sourcing the pistachios will probably be the hardest part. I went to three different stores in my pursuit of raw pistachios, but eventually ended up ordering them online, because I was tired of going to stores.

I was able to get roughly four cups of pistachios for $US22.50, enough to make four batches of pistachio milk, which translates to less than six bucks per batch, a couple of bucks cheaper than Táche, and about the same price as a single beverage from Starbucks.

How to use pistachio milk

Pistachio milk is like any other nut milk. It’s lightly creamy and tastes like the nut from which it came. You can drink it straight, pour it over your morning cereal, or stir it into a coffee. Be aware, however, that dumping it into hot, acidic coffee can cause it to curdle. I didn’t have any issues with iced coffee, but adding it to hot drip coffee caused it to form the tiniest little curds. To prevent this, try adding the coffee to the milk to gradually warm and decrease the pH, instead of shocking it with sudden changes.

As I said, I didn’t have any issues with iced coffee. I added cold coffee to a shaker with ice, along with some fresh pistachio milk and a little simple syrup, then shook it all up to make an icy, frothy, slightly sweet beverage that tasted like pistachios (which happens to be one of my top-three nuts). It was delightful.

How to make pistachio milk

What you’ll need:

• 1 cup raw shelled pistachios
• 3 cups water, plus more for soaking
• 1 big pinch of salt
• 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Directions:

1. Add pistachios to a bowl or large measuring cup and cover with a few inches of water. Let soak in the fridge overnight.
2. Drain and rinse the pistachios, and transfer them to a high-powered blender. Add everything but the vanilla, and blend on high until as smooth as possible. You should see some pistachio grit, but no discernible chunks. Stir in the vanilla.
3. Strain through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth or a nut milk bag.
4. Store in the fridge for three to four days, and shake well before each use.