A2/A2 Milk
When people have trouble digesting milk or other dairy products, the default is to assume that they are lactose intolerant. But what if theyâre also sensitive to lactose free milk? đ€
As far as I can tell, some people are instead sensitive to milk because of the A1 beta casein proteins that are generally found in US dairy. If thatâs you, I have great news: there are herds of dairy cows which have been selected for the fact that they exclusively produce A2 beta casein proteins instead.
The most common brand is literally called âa2â and itâs carried at tons of grocery stores, including Target.
Update: Safewayâs âO Organicsâ brand now has an A2 ultra-filtered (Iâm assuming because they call it âproteinâ and if so, it should also be lactose free) whole milk!
And many companies have hopped on the A2 bandwagon, while also offering options that involve less animal suffering (which in turn makes food healthier).
But if youâre looking for true hippie milk, youâll want to search for milk or yogurt from California-based Alexandre Family Farms. I get it from Whole Foods, but they also carry it at the local co-op, and they also distribute through a sort of national co-op: Azure Standard.
You can search their map here for places to get it near you:
They have a lot of options:
I mostly get the âpurple milkâ because it is both A2 (like all their products) but also lactose free via being âultra filtered.â
I also use the 6% âred milkâ for making cream-on-the-top yogurt when the stores are out of stock, and for making things that call for heavy cream or half and half (because those are harder to find and more expensive, and because 6% is pretty decent fat content â whole milk is typically only 3.25% and half & half is around 12%).
Note: the milk in plastic is typically vat-pasteurized and needs to be consumed within a few days. The milk in paper cartons is ultra-pasteurized and will last a long time unopened and opened.
A friend of mine describes their turmeric ginger whole milk option as âhipster eggnogâ and heâs not wrongâitâs maybe an acquired taste, but after they accidentally delivered a case of 6, I discovered that itâs pretty good as small creme brĂ»leĂ©s with the addition of egg yolks and a hard sugar top.
Their chocolate milk is also very highly rated by a guy who just goes around trying chocolate milk, as well as by the resident chocolate milk connoisseur in my household.
Weâve tried other A2 yogurts, and these are definitely the best (though still not as good as Cocojune).
Lactose-free Milk:
Maybe lactose-free milk works for you, but you donât like the sweetness that comes from the added lactase (which breaks the lactose into sugars?) (in our household we refer to it as âdessert milkâ because it tastes like the milk left in the bowl after kid-cereal). If thatâs your issue, I have great news for you too!
Another way of removing lactose is to filter it out. This is how Greek yogurt is made from regular yogurt (as a tiny optimization, try just switching from regular yogurt to greek yogurt!) and it results in both lower lactose/lower sugar and also higher protein. So this milk is sometimes advertised as âhigh proteinâ milk. But youâre more likely to find it by searching for âultra-filteredâ milk.
The largest commercial brand of ultra-filtered milk is called âFairlifeâ written as âfa!rlifeâ (owned but not run by coca-cola). In addition to milk, they also make pints of ice cream and are available at most grocery stores (including Target).
They're not the only optionâLucerne also has an ultra-filtered milk; but again, if youâre looking for a hippie option, Iâd send you back to Alexandre Family Farms. They use A2 milk for all their dairy products, but as of this writing, only their 2% in the plastic bottle is also ultra-filtered, so this âpurple milkâ is the one we have at home to cover all our bases.
The extra protein (or something else about the filtering process) makes the milk taste richer, so you might be satisfied with the 2% even if youâre used to whole. But you could also consider compromising and adding some of the A2 whole milk thats not ultra-filtered (and therefore has some lactose) because Alexandre whole milk is 6% fat instead of the usual 3.25% đ (they do have a lower fat whole milk option thatâs grass fed (4% maybe?), but they donât stock it at my usual grocery store).
âïž Bonus tip: ultra-filtered milk froths a zillion times better than regular milk. Spoonable soft peaks in 20 seconds with a battery powered whisk.
đ„Ł Bonus challenge: If you donât have access to A2 yogurt but own either an instant pot or a sous vide immersion water heater, I recommend making it at home with the 6% â itâs surprisingly easy and pretty foolproof.
Also: Cocojune is my favorite non-dairy yogurt (discovered while hunting for The best Keto foods). The pure coconut flavor is exactly what I wish âcoconut creamâ actually tasted like. I serve it (or the vanilla) with my Stewed Fruit.
(Itâs pricey, though they were carrying it at Costco 2-for-1 for a while there)
Also: this is my favorite lactose-free ice cream â I do make my own ice cream, but itâs hard for me to source Alexandre A2 heavy cream, so Iâve only used it for creme brĂ»lĂ©e so far, which is almost the same procedure as making yogurt with the sous vide.
And while weâre here: Nutpods is the best dairy-free creamer (and âFrench Vanillaâ made from coconut cream + almonds is the best flavor)
