In recent months, oat milk has become one of the trendiest non-dairy milk alternatives. Baristas approve, consumers approve, and now even a canned coffee company has begun pushing the plant-based milk. Come September, RISE Brewing Co. will launch the world's first canned oat milk latte in two different varieties.
"We decided to pair our cold brew coffee with oat milk after over a year of trying virtually every existing dairy alternative," RISE's CEO and co-founder Grant Gyesky told Refinery29 via email.
The company arrived at the decision to use oat milk by opening pop up cafes in New York and then working closely with their customers to gauge reactions. "We offered almond, walnut, soy, rice, coconut, hemp, and oat milk on the counter...We evaluated three main components when choosing which nut milk to use in our lattes — taste, nutrition, and consistency. And we found that people listed oat milk as the top choice in all three categories," says Gyesky.
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RISE's new line of organic nitro cold brew canned lattes will join its three existing canned nitro cold brew coffees. Included in the new line are a classic dairy latte, an oat milk latte, and a mocha made with oat milk and cacao.
In addition to getting feedback from consumers, RISE's CEO experienced his own ah-ha moment when he noticed the magic of oat milk at a coffee shop in Barcelona. "It is difficult to find cold brew in Europe today, but this small shop had a great cold brew and also had a really nice oat milk. I remember walking down the street in the 100-degree heat drinking a cold brew with oat milk through a straw, thinking it was one of the best drinks I have ever had. From that moment on, I was convinced that oat milk was RISE's future."
Oat milk is now in the canned coffee market's very near future. In June, RISE launched a Kickstarter page to draw attention to the latte's coming release. Through the Kickstarter, 386 people pledged a total of $25,608 to help fund production and will be among the first to receive the canned lattes. In September, coffee drinkers will be able to buy the two new drinks through the RISE website and Amazon, and at Whole Foods and Foodkick. A case of 12 canned lattes will cost $34.99 while individual cans will retail between $2.99 and $3.99.
If RISE's canned oat milk lattes are any indicator of what is to come, oat milk could follow the almond milk pattern and spawn many other versions of traditional dairy products. Even if canned lattes aren't your thing, you can likely look forward to shopping in grocery store aisles lined with oat milk ice cream, oat milk yogurt, and oat milk whipped cream in the not so distant future.