{"id":2389,"date":"2013-12-06T17:42:51","date_gmt":"2013-12-06T22:42:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/?p=2389"},"modified":"2013-12-06T22:00:49","modified_gmt":"2013-12-07T03:00:49","slug":"lazy-vegan-friday-vegan-eggnog-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/lazy-vegan-friday-vegan-eggnog-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Lazy Vegan Friday &#8211; Vegan Eggnog Research"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On a recent visit to the USA we picked up a whole bunch of soy\/coconut\/almond based nogs. Here in Ontario we have two varieties to choose from, and both are made by the Earth&#8217;s Own group of soy and almond milk companies &#8211; So Nice and Almond Fresh.\u00a0Once upon a time there was a pretty nice third nog option called Vitasoy Holly Nog, but as I learned recently on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/VitasoyCanada\" target=\"_blank\">their facebook page<\/a> (&#8220;I&#8217;m afraid that all VitaSoy products in Canada have been discontinued.&#8221;) so I wont be seeing that product here anymore.<\/p>\n<p>In the USA, things are a little bit different. There are several varieties. You want coconut nog, or almond nog, or soy nog? You got it. There is also the choice of different brands and different flavours of &#8220;holiday beverages&#8221;. When I walked into the Whole Foods Market in Cleveland Heights this is what I saw right after entering:<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/instagram.com\/p\/hWwgJdTUA0\/embed\/\" height=\"710\" width=\"612\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWelcome to Vegan Nog Town, population me.<\/p>\n<p>On To The Tasting.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.califiafarms.com\/products\/holiday-nog\/\" target=\"_blank\">Califia Farms Holiday Nog<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/silk.com\/products\/seasonal-nog-soymilk\" target=\"_blank\">Silk Soy Milk Seasonal Nog<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/sodeliciousdairyfree.com\/products\/coconut-milk-beverages\/nog\" target=\"_blank\">So Delicious Nog Coconut Milk<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sonice.ca\/products\/noelnog\" target=\"_blank\">So Nice Noel Nog<\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Bonus Holiday Beverages:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>So Delicious Pumpkin Spice<\/li>\n<li>So Delicious Mint Chocolate<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Vegan-Eggnog-Research.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-2393 alignnone\" alt=\"Vegan Eggnog Research\" src=\"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Vegan-Eggnog-Research-1024x766.jpg\" width=\"700\" height=\"523\" srcset=\"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Vegan-Eggnog-Research-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Vegan-Eggnog-Research-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Vegan-Eggnog-Research.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3>&#8220;Research&#8221; Method* for Part One.<\/h3>\n<p>(*please note: not actually scientific)<br \/>\n<a title=\"Nog Research - Part One by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240908954\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - Part One\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3757\/11240908954_a75d0bca91.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I used four identical 300 ml glasses.<\/li>\n<li>Each carton or bottle was shaken vigorously before being measured.<\/li>\n<li>I measured out about 250ml of test nog and poured it in its own glass<\/li>\n<li>I took one sip from each glass.<\/li>\n<li>I rinsed my mouth with fresh water, and drank some water between tastings.<\/li>\n<li>During part one, I didn&#8217;t add anything to the nog.<\/li>\n<li>During part two, I added one ounce of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.krakenrum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kraken Spice Rum<\/a> to see how the nog would react to alcohol.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Research Method for Part Three &#8211; JC Drinks Nog<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"Nog Research - Part Two, JC by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240998013\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - Part Two, JC\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3830\/11240998013_dc085460d4.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I poured about two ounces of each nog in a plastic cup<\/li>\n<li>Numbered each cup and each corresponding nog. JC didn&#8217;t know which nog was which.<\/li>\n<li>JC tried a nog, drank some water, and tried the next nog.<\/li>\n<li>JC rated things by taste, texture, sweetness, and spice, and marked his favourite with a check mark.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Notes<\/strong>: Our observations are completely subjective, and you may disagree (because we didn&#8217;t agree with each other either). But I would love to hear what you think of these nogs if you have tried them! (or if you have any other recommendations.)<\/p>\n<p>And of course, thanks to JC for drinking so much nog!<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Combined Findings<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>JC&#8217;s thoughts in a beautiful chart form.<br \/>\nSure I could have made a table on a computer, but what better way to do something fun and silly than to reuse the back of an envelope.<br \/>\n<a title=\"Nog Research - Charts by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240934046\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - Charts\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5514\/11240934046_9d301d560b.jpg\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h4>Califia Farms Holiday Nog<\/h4>\n<p><a title=\"Nog Research - Califia Holiday Nog by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240885905\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - Califia Holiday Nog\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3727\/11240885905_670394fba6.jpg\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a>This was my least favourite. It wasn&#8217;t thick and it wasn&#8217;t particularly delicious either. I&#8217;ll admit I wanted to like it, as I&#8217;ve liked many of the other Califia Farms flavoured almond milk products before. There is something strange about it, that I can&#8217;t quite put my finger on.<\/p>\n<p>JC&#8217;s ratings were the lowest for this variety too. \u00a0(You can see it in the chart above &#8211; Califia was Test Nog 2)<br \/>\nTaste &#8211; 4<br \/>\nTexture &#8211; 4<br \/>\nSweetness &#8211; 5<br \/>\nSpice &#8211; 5<\/p>\n<h5>Ingredients<\/h5>\n<figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"Nog Research by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11241537873\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nog Research\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3673\/11241537873_f50cc7cf78_m.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Almond milk (water, almonds), pure cane sugar.<br \/>Conatins less than 2% of the following: Calcium carbonate, sea salt, locust bean and gellan gums, carrageenan, potassium citrate, sunflower lecithin, fruit and vegetable juice for colour, nutmeg, natural flavours<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>Califia Farms and Alcohol.<\/h5>\n<p>You can see <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11241002623\/in\/set-72157638392146016\/\" target=\"_blank\">the photo here<\/a> on Flickr, but the Califia Farms nog and kraken spiced rum did not immediately incorporate. They did mix together and stay mixed together after vigorous stirring. After letting the nog sit for an hour or so, I didn&#8217;t see any separation or layering.<\/p>\n<h4>So Nice Noel Nog<\/h4>\n<p><a title=\"Nog Research - So Nice Noel Nog by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240887735\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - So Nice Noel Nog\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5513\/11240887735_6e7040e808.jpg\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a> This one is one I&#8217;m most familiar with, as it&#8217;s one of the first Soy Nogs that arrived across Canada. I&#8217;m still pretty fond of it, in terms of nostalgic attachment, but it doesn&#8217;t have a very high viscosity when compared with the other nogs. It&#8217;s light, but spiced nicely.<\/p>\n<p>So Nice Noel Nog was Nog 3 in the rating table, and ranked about second last on average.<br \/>\nTaste &#8211; 6<br \/>\nTexture &#8211; 5<br \/>\nSweetness &#8211; 8<br \/>\nSpice &#8211; 6<\/p>\n<h5>Ingredients<\/h5>\n<figure style=\"width: 240px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"Nog Research by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11241429005\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nog Research\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7446\/11241429005_8fec386b6f_m.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"180\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Filtered water, organic whole soybeans, organic evaporated cane juice, tricalcium phosphate, natural flavours, salt, carrageenan, guar gum, spice, sodium bicarbonate, ascorbic acid, niacin, pantothenate, riboflavin, vitamin A palmitate, thiamine, vitamin B6, folacin, vitamin d2, vitamin b12, zinc gluconate,<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>So Nice Noel Nog and Alcohol.<\/h5>\n<p>You can take a look at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11241006123\/in\/set-72157638392146016\/\" target=\"_blank\">the photos here<\/a> on flickr, but So Nice Noel Nog mixed readily with the Kraken Spiced Rum, and they paired well together.\u00a0The 1oz rum to 250ml nog ratio seemed to work well for flavour and alcohol content. Not overpowering.<\/p>\n<h4>Silk Soy Milk Seasonal Nog<\/h4>\n<p><a title=\"Nog Research - Silk Seasonal Nog by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240884575\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - Silk Seasonal Nog\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7436\/11240884575_79a9121f24.jpg\" width=\"374\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a>This was JC&#8217;s favourite, and I thought it was delicious, but it wasn&#8217;t my favourite. It was fairly light, but had a nice level of spice and sweetness.<\/p>\n<p>Silk Nog was Nog 4 in the rating table, and averaged out at the top for JC.<br \/>\nTaste &#8211; 8<br \/>\nTexture &#8211; 8<br \/>\nSweetness &#8211; 8<br \/>\nSpice &#8211; 9<\/p>\n<h5>Ingredients<\/h5>\n<figure style=\"width: 180px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"Nog Research by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11241470094\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nog Research\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3773\/11241470094_8f0ea5c570_m.jpg\" width=\"180\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Soymilk (filtered water, whole soybeans), cane sugar, natural flavour, sea salt, carrageenan, turmeric, and annatto (colour).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>Silk Soy Milk Seasonal Nog and Alcohol.<\/h5>\n<p>You can see a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240931404\/in\/set-72157638392146016\/\" target=\"_blank\">photo of the nog immediately after<\/a> Kraken Spiced Rum was added here on flickr. It mixed readily. Paired well with the rum, and the spice blended together very nicely and stayed blended.<\/p>\n<h4>So Delicious Nog Coconut Milk<\/h4>\n<p><a title=\"Nog Research - So Delicious Nog by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240992403\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - So Delicious Nog\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3714\/11240992403_71b6af608d.jpg\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a> This was my favourite. I though it was spicy, thick, and rich in flavour.<\/p>\n<p>On the rating table above this was Nog 1.<br \/>\nTaste &#8211; 7<br \/>\nTexture &#8211; 6<br \/>\nSweetness &#8211; 7<br \/>\nSpice &#8211; 10<\/p>\n<h5>Ingredients<\/h5>\n<figure style=\"width: 180px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a title=\"Nog Research by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11241469616\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Nog Research\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3751\/11241469616_3745455ec7_m.jpg\" width=\"180\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Organic Coconut milk (water, organic coconut cream) dried cane syrup, natural flavours, annatto for colour, sea salt, carrageenan, guar gum, locust bean gum, spices (nutmeg).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h5>So Delicious Nog and Alcohol.<\/h5>\n<p>So Delicious Nog didn&#8217;t readily blend with the kraken spiced rum as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240934504\/in\/set-72157638392146016\/\" target=\"_blank\">you can see here on flickr<\/a>, but after a minute or two of vigorous stirring, it did eventually blend and stayed blended even after an hour of being left out to settle.<\/p>\n<h3>Bonus Seasonal Drinks<\/h3>\n<p><a title=\"Nog Research - Bonus non-dairy holiday beverages by MeShellG, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/prairiev\/11240983793\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" alt=\"Nog Research - Bonus non-dairy holiday beverages\" src=\"http:\/\/farm3.staticflickr.com\/2881\/11240983793_704ab7c331.jpg\" width=\"375\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a> These are both So Delicious brand beverages, and they are both only available part of the year, mainly around December. I&#8217;m usually a fan of anything pumpkin or chocolate-peppermint, so I found both of these beverages really tasty.<\/p>\n<p>They are not as thick as the So Delicious Seasonal Nog, but the Pumpkin Spice variety was almost nog-like in consistency (we have been referring to it as pumpkin nog most of the time). The peppermint-chocolate milk had a rich chocolaty flavour augmented by peppermint, and paired nicely with coffee or straight in a glass (or from the carton. don&#8217;t tell anyone.)<\/p>\n<h3>Conclusions<\/h3>\n<p>We like both the So Delicious Nog and Silk Soy Seasonal Nog for flavour and texture.However we have different favourites, the So Delicious Nog was my favourite, and the Silk Soy Seasonal Nog was JC&#8217;s, although both of them ranked really highly. Soy based Noel Nog was next, and Califia was at the bottom of both of our lists.<\/p>\n<p>Now I&#8217;m curious about trying to make vegan nog at home, especially after finding a few really great looking recipes online like these:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.theppk.com\/2010\/12\/matrioshka-eggnog\/\" target=\"_blank\">Matroshka Eggnog on the PPK<br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/ohsheglows.com\/2010\/12\/18\/vegan-nog-classic-and-peppermint\/\" target=\"_blank\">Vegan Nog: Classic and Peppermint on Oh She Glows<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.fatfreevegan.com\/2012\/12\/two-healthy-vegan-nogs-chia-nog-and-banana-nog.html\" target=\"_blank\">Two Healthy Vegan Eggnogs &#8211; Fat Free Vegan<\/a><\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s your favourite store bought vegan nog?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On a recent visit to the USA we picked up a whole bunch of soy\/coconut\/almond based nogs. Here in Ontario we have two varieties to choose from, and both are made by the Earth&#8217;s Own group of soy and almond milk companies &#8211; So Nice and Almond Fresh.\u00a0Once upon a&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[866,620,138],"tags":[871,863,867,869,868,870,865,389],"class_list":["post-2389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lazy-vegan-friday","category-review","category-soy","tag-almond-milk","tag-coconut-milk","tag-egg-nog","tag-silk","tag-so-delicious","tag-so-nice","tag-soy-nog","tag-vegan-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meshell.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}