We have tested 18 brands of whole milk – there are our favorites

Milk has always been a regular presence in my life. When I grew up, my mother insisted that I was drinking three cups of milk a day – one with each meal. A few weeks ago, I found myself at the unlimited milk stand at the state of the Minnesota state, where, for entry fees of $ 3, I attended really bizarre milk contests. Naturally, I tried my hand at the stand. Although I only succeed in three lean cups before typing, watching others lower the milk made me realize that the milk can be refreshing and endless. The milk is not only for cookies on cereals and chocolate chocolate in caliber – it is a key ingredient in many coffee, smoothies and pancake strikers. And, of course, you can drink it directly. The question is: which brand deserves to be bought?

To find the best whole milk, our publishers have tested 18 largely available brands. We have held on the marks available at the national level and tested conventional, organic and milk milk from cows fed with side by side. We cooled and spilled each in cups, then sampled them in a random order without knowing which brand was which one. We then tabule the results and crowned a global winner, as well as four worthy pretenders that we would be happy to stay with us.

The criteria

Large whole milk should have a creamy and slightly grassy taste. It must be smooth and rich, with a touch of sweetness. It must be full -bodied and velvety – not aqueous or chalky – with sufficient thickness to coat the tongue without being too heavy. It must be opaque and white or white with a light golden or yellowish plaster that beta-carotene in the grass can give cow milk fed with grass. A good milk should not have a taste as if the flavor of the cardboard had infiltrated, and it should certainly never taste sour or bitter.

General winner

365 by whole foods of whole milk

“It has a part of this mammal flavor that I like …” wrote our editorial director, Daniel, who gave this brand the best notes. Our associated culinary editor, Laila, appreciated her grassy notes and her natural sweetness. Meanwhile, our editor -in -chief of senior social media, Kelli, appreciated his “atmosphere of additional vanilla cream”.

Finalists

Whole milk from agricultural land

Our publishers found this milk well balanced and pleasantly milky. “Good, milky, mammal,” wrote Daniel. Our editor -in -chief of the visuals, Jessie, and our assistant editorial director, Megan, both agreed that he had tasted the way milk should: rich and, well, milky. Likewise, Laila found it well balanced: “Soft with a touch of pleasant flavor, without doing anything tasting.”

Horizon Organic Whole Milk

This milk had a pleasant and soft flavor compared to most. “It’s good but sweet,” wrote Daniel. Jessie also found it light and a little bitter, while Kelli thought that she was “thinner than expected”. Megan considered its lightness as a force compared to some of the other contenders: “inoculu, which is actually praise,” she wrote in her notes. “Soft, bland, does not have a sour taste.”

Maple Hill Creamery Whole Milk

This milk was more creamy than the other contenders. “It reminded me of the ice cream with melted milk aroma,” wrote Laila, who loved her sweetness and her light grassy notes. Jessie thought it was milky enough and had a good flavor. Kelli was the only publisher not to be a big fan of the texture: “He coats his mouth in a way that I don’t like.”

The whole milk of trader Joe

Our publishers were fans of the classic and creamy dairy profile of this milk. “Not sour! No cardboard flavor! Yay! Perftont so far,” wrote Megan. Laila has picked up a sweet sweetness in the drink: “No distinctive notes, but always pleasant.” In other words, it was a pleasure to drink.

The contenders

• A2 Milk® Vitamin D Milk whole
• Bowl and whole milk basket
• Whole milk from agricultural land
• Good and bring together organic whole milk
• Hood Whole Milk
• Horizon Grass nourished whole milk
• Horizon Organic Whole Milk
• Kirkland homogenized signature of whole milk
• Maple Hill Creamery Whole Milk
• Biological Valley Grassmilk Full Milk
• Biological Valley Whole Milk
• Biological whole milk from Stonyfield
• Stop and shopping whole milk
• Trader Joe’s Organic Whole Milk
• The whole milk of trader Joe
• WEGMANS whole milk
• Whole Foods 365 Biological Full Milk
• Whole Foods 365 whole milk

The main dishes and conclusion

Most whole milk from the mass market contains only two ingredients: milk and vitamin D added, which does not affect the flavor or consistency of milk. (By law, the milks reduced in fat, low in fat and fragmented must have vitamins A and according to treatment, because the elimination of fats reduces the vitamin A and natural content. However, there is no legal requirement to add vitamin D to whole milk.) Only one of our 18 contenders – the whole milk of Maple Hill Maple – is a single whole engineer. All the other brands that we have tasted are fortified with vitamin D3.

Certain whole milks are clearly labeled as homogenized. Homogenization is a high pressure process that breaks down fat blood cells in milk, creating a more uniform texture and preventing the cream from separating. In non -homogenized milk, the cream naturally goes up to the top when the milk is located. All the milks we have tasted – including the winners and the finalists – are homogenized. Many small producers, such as Ronnybrook Farm Dairy and Family Farmstead from New York and Strafford Creamery du Vermont, adopt the opposite approach: they emphasize that their milk is non -homogenized, not fortified and proudly sold with a cream.

We have tested whole organic and non -organic milks side by side. Generally, non -biological options have surpassed the biologicals in terms of flavor and overall attraction. Before the taste test, many publishers said they liked herb nourished milk, but few could identify it reliably during the taste test. Some tasters have noted grassy, ​​floral or hideout notes that have stood out from the peloton, while others interpreted these same flavors as embedded or tangy. Some appreciated the complexity of the milk nourished with grass, while others preferred the simple softness of the whole conventional and biological milk of cows which were not fed by grass.

Our test methodology

All taste tests are carried out with completely hidden and discussion marks. Tasteers have a samples taste in a random order. For example, the taster can taste the sample a first, while the B tootter B has first taste the sample six. It is a question of preventing the fatigue of the palace from unjustly give a single sample an advantage. Tasters are invited to fill tasting sheets, classifying the samples according to various criteria. All data is tabulent and the results are calculated without editorial entry to provide the most impartial representation of possible real results.