Product Review: Silk Creamer

If you’ve read several of my previous blogs, you may have noticed that I enjoy a daily cup of coffee. While I consider myself a lacto-ovo-vegetarian (meaning I consume dairy products and eggs, but no meat) I still aim to make responsible decisions when there are options available to me. For example, I choose to use soy milk most often instead of dairy (cow’s) milk, and this includes in coffee. But if you’ve ever tried putting soy milk in coffee, you know how it tends to curdle and make even the most gourmet dark roast look and taste unappetizing.

Enter Silk Soy Creamer. Formulated especially for coffee, this vegan treat won’t curdle your cuppa…unless, of course, you ignore the expiration date.

I’ve only seen this cream substitute in one flavour (in Canadian stores, at least), though Silk’s website shows both vanilla and hazelnut flavours as well.

In all my experiments, this faux-cream has held its own in hot beverages, including chai (tea) and coffee, as well as a topping on vegan apple crisp – delicious!

On the downside, Silk creamer is sweet on its own. As someone who generally does not take sugar with her coffee, the resulting beverage was a little bit too sweet for my tastes. After about a week, however, I grew more accustomed to it, and learned to use less to preserve the coffee’s flavour.

Although Silk creamer is made by a company well-known for its soy milks (soy beverages, to be more accurate), the composition of the cream is expectedly different. Though much richer-tasting than regular soy beverage, the creamer provides only 15 calories per tablespoon and one gram fat, which is on par with the traditional dairy-based half-and-half or light creams.

Silk Soy Creamer stands up well to an array of uses, and is a vegan product. Like other soy products, though, it should be used quickly once opened; ideally within a week. I’ve had greater success keeping creamer open longer than I have with other soy beverages, which is a plus.

For being a versatile and non-curdling creamer that does not contain the hydrogenated fats of other “non-dairy” creamers, but that is a little bit too sweet for those used to regular milk or cream, I give Silk Soy Creamer three stars out of four.

Are you a soy-convert, or do you think Rice is nice? Take the milk alternative poll.