You might be drinking milk out of a bag if you grew up in Canada, depending on your province. But while many Canadians will argue that bagged is best, I put a bunch of different milk containers to the test and I can tell you that it simply tastes better another way.
Canadians add milk to tea, coffee, cereal and so many more everyday food and drink items, so why should you settle for anything less than top quality?
Personally, I love to drink straight-up glasses of milk and I don't think I'll ever stop. When water isn't giving me the refreshing taste that some of you might find in a Coca-Cola, I turn to milk. Is that weird? Maybe. But then again, so is the Canadian obsession with pop.
I find milk, just like water, to taste very different from brand to brand. I was never fond of nut milk but I also have opinions about dairy milk.
When I first moved to Toronto, bagged milk really caught me by surprise. I had it once and then never again. The struggle of figuring out how to open the plastic bag caused me too much stress.
After nearly 10 years, I tried bagged milk again for this taste test to answer a very simple question: does the milk container affect the taste?
From glass milk bottles to cartons, plastic bags and plastic bottles, I bought four different kinds of 2% milk on October 12 to figure out which one tastes best.
Here's how my milk taste test went and which packaging makes the most sense.
Plastic Bottle
Bottled milk.
Price: $5.79 for 1.5L
Brand: Fairlife
Expiry Date: December 18, 2023
The only plastic bottled milk I found at my closest Loblaws is Fairlife, 2% ultrafiltered partly skimmed milk that's lactose-free.
The milk states on its bottle that it has 50% less sugar than regular milk, 50% more protein and nine essential nutrients. So from the looks of it, it seems like this milk is the healthiest out of the four I bought, but that might not be entirely true.
First of all, the milk expires three months from the day I bought it, which means it has a long shelf life, thus having preservatives to stop it from spoiling.
It didn't smell funny when I opened it, but the taste wasn't the greatest.
The milk felt too runny and not as thick as I would've liked it. But the off-putting part about the dairy beverage was it didn't taste like milk and seriously lacked creaminess.
I think the plastic bottle was a major factor for the taste, because I didn't find it to be thirst-quenching or fresh-tasting. However, that might've been due to the milk itself, as Fairlife has a different sugar, protein and lactose balance from other milks.
Whatever the reason, plastic bottles have now been placed at the bottom of my list, even though the packaging is super convenient and leak-free.
Score: 3/10
Bags
Bagged milk.
Price: $5.89 for 4L
Brand: Neilson
Expiry Date: October 28, 2023
Bagged milk is a fascinating Canadian invention, but I just don't see the appeal.
Besides being the cheapest option, which is a great reason to buy bagged milk, it's pretty inconvenient. How do they even bag milk?
First, you have to buy the milk jug to place the bags in, which wasn't available at the grocery store I was at, and then I had to Google how the heck to use it.
Do you cut your milk bag from one corner or both? The argument for one or two sides exists online. I tried both and it might shock you to know it doesn't make a difference.
After figuring out how to cut the bag open, it was time to taste the milk.
I picked up Neilson's party skimmed 2% milk, and it comes with three smaller bags totalling 4 litres.
The bagged milk smelt like nothing. At first glance, it looked thicker and darker than the Fairlife milk. But after taking my first sip, I thought that bagged milk "tastes like nothing and more like water."
I tried the bagged milk the next day, and it tasted more like a fridge than milk, but I will admit it had the perfect temperature.
So, if you're the opposite of me and don't like milk but want to drink it for the nutrients, I would suggest bagged milk.
Also, I would only suggest bagged milk if you live in a house with more than two people because I can only imagine how weird the milk would taste after opening it and letting it sit in the fridge door for a couple of days. Also, it doesn't have a long shelf life, so a lot of it would go to waste.
I won't be reaching for bagged milk again and I don't think you should either.
Score: 5/10
Carton
Carton of milk.
Price: $3.49 for 1L
Brand: Neilson
Expiry Date: October 22, 2023
I bought the exact same brand of milk in a cardboard carton and I'm not delusional when I tell you it actually tasted different.
The price difference is quite drastic. You get much more bang for your buck if you buy bagged milk from Neilson. But if you care about the taste and texture of the milk, might I suggest grabbing the carton?
The milk is from the same Canadian dairy but in this taste test, there was a distinct difference between cardboard carton and bagged milk. Basically, one tasted like milk and the other like water.
Milk in a carton tasted fresh, thirst-quenching, cold and dairy-like. Also, the experience is much better than bagged milk, where there is a high chance that the bag just flops and spills all over your counter.
It still tasted fresh the next day and was easy to pour. So if you prefer Neilson milk, cartons will always trump bags, in my opinion.
Score: 7/10
Glass
Glass bottle of milk.
Price: $4.90 for 946mL
Brand: Organic Meadow
Expiry Date: October 24, 2023
Ah, the luxury of drinking out of glass bottles hits differently. Do you put milk in a mug or a tall glass when you drink it? The answer should always be glass and that's how it should be served too.
When the milkman brought milk to people's doors back in the day, they were placed on doorsteps in glass bottles. Our families did it back then, and we should still do it today.
Drinking out of the glass bottle felt like a luxury for this taste test. In fact, I finished all the milk within three days because I craved it often. I drank milk instead of water all weekend. Yes, it's concerning, but I was happy.
The milk from the glass bottle actually tasted like what it is: milk. It smelt like it, felt like it and it was the freshest of them all.
The texture was smooth, cold and refreshing. It wasn't too thick and didn't run like water.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find glass milk bottles at Loblaws. I ended up buying this milk at Eataly in Toronto, although I know that Farm Boy has milk in glass bottles too, so if that's what you're looking for, try your nearest fancy grocery store.
The best milk I ever drank was in Switzerland and this brand was comparable.
With a side of fresh cookies, this milk is the kind of stuff Santa Claus comes down the chimney for, and I'm totally here for it.
Score: 10/10
The glass container may have won my milk taste test, but there’s still plenty of debate out there around the benefits of bags, glass bottles and cardboard cartons.
Friends Of Glass, a European advocacy group for glass bottle manufacturers, argues that milk in a glass bottle is "left closer to its original state than milk in other packaging." That fits with what I experienced, because I felt like the glass-bottled milk stayed colder and tasted better.
"Due to the less processed nature of the milk, more enzymes remain. This makes it easier to digest, and many people with milk intolerances can drink milk in glass bottles," they say.
But which container keeps milk the coldest?
A Canadian food safety study looked at how long milk stays cold outside of the fridge, and it found that a plastic jug keeps the milk colder for longer when compared to cardboard cartons. However, plastic bottles aren't as environmentally friendly, which is why they aren't used or promoted as much.
Meanwhile, a Dalhousie University study found that drinking milk from bags is more environmentally friendly than bottles or cartons. Bagged milk requires "less energy and water, and produce[s] less greenhouse gases," researches found.
"Even when milk bags are disposed in a landfill or incinerated — and jugs or cartons are fully recycled — bags have the lowest environmental impact," they added.
In other words, there are benefits and drawbacks to every milk container out there, but if you ask me, glass is best.
