As someone who had completely dismissed dried milk powder as ‘pretty disgusting’ in those long gone days when I used to eat dairy products, I was going to need a great deal of convincing about a vegan version. But once I’d given this fantastic product a try, it went on to become a regular in the Vegan Mum household and we have now pretty much said goodbye to those wasteful tetra pak cartons of long life oat milk. Read my full Overherd powdered oat milk review below to find out why we like it so much.
Pros
- It tastes great
- Sustainable product
- Mixes easily
- Convenient for travelling
- Cost-effective choice
Cons
- Tricky to froth
Get 15% off with this Overherd discount code: VEGANMUM15
Who is Overherd?
This is a small, UK based business – with a big vision – launched in January 2023. The powdered oat milk is also made exclusively in the UK. Their objective is to make a tasty, sustainable product that everyone can enjoy whilst significantly reducing waste, packaging, and carbon emissions.
What is powdered oat milk?
Essentially, Overherd is oat milk without the water! However, it’s a bit more sophisticated than just plain old ground oats because it is instantly soluble and also contains added nutrients Calcium and Vitamin B12. So all you need to do is dilute it in water and it’s ready for a multitude of uses – amazing – or just stir it directly into your tea or coffee like a creamer.
Is it good for you?
I believe this particular oat milk powder is far healthier than those commercially prepared, ready-made oat milks containing seed oils, gluten, emulsifiers and gums. Overherd’s oat milk powder contains only:
- organic oats
- coconut powder
- chicory root fibre
- added nutrients Calcium and Vitamin B12
It’s also generally lower in calories, fats and sugars. However, it’s definitely not lower in flavour! Read the rest of this review to find out more about the benefits of this powdered oat milk.
My experience
For the purposes of this Overherd powdered oat milk review I made up 600ml of diluted product in their handy glass bottle and used that in everything I tested, including tea, coffee, overnight oats, and homemade bechamel sauce. I have even stirred a couple of spoonfuls into my homemade soups for an extra creamy flavour.
It mixed very easily, particularly when I started with less water for the initial shake before adding more. I also used it ‘straight’, adding the powder directly to my coffees and teas, and very tasty it was too!
As a result, I’m confident that I’ve put this product through its paces and can offer an objective and thorough review in which I’ll cover off my thoughts on taste, convenience, sustainability and cost.
Tastes really good
I had pretty low expectations to be honest, but I was blown away by the quality and flavour of Overherd’s powdered oat milk, which bears no resemblance to a dried dairy milk powder that I remember from many moons ago!
And that’s not only because it’s made from oats, not dairy: it’s because instant ‘anything’ so often tastes, well…instant. But this really doesn’t. It tastes just like oat milk should – not sure why I’m so surprised, but there you go!
The other thing is that drinks often end up with a deep burnt orange appearance when made with instant products, and I find that the taste often reflects that colour too – harsh and uninviting. But, as you can see from my cup of coffee above, the lovely caramel colour is great. And it’s just as good with my tea.
Now, there is no doubt that tetra pak cartons of barista plant milks make a mean cup of frothy coffee, and an even frothier hot chocolate when you get the whisk out, but there’s an environmental price to pay for that.
So, whilst Overherd oat milk powder can’t quite compete on those fronts, if you whisk really hard you can definitely get some bubbles going. You just need to see it as a useful arm exercise, and then pat yourself on the back for helping to save the planet.
Not only that, it doesn’t contain any of the more disagreeable ingredients like gluten, seed oils, gummy stuff, salt, sugar, sweeteners, genetically modified ingredients, puppy dogs’ tails, eyes of newts…
A better environmental choice
I hadn’t really thought about it before (I can be a bit slow on the uptake!), but when I looked at the ingredients on cartons of ready-to-drink plant-based milks, the first one on the list was invariably water. So I realised that what we – and the planet – are paying for is greater transportation costs, more fuel, increased emissions, and all for the sake of something I could get out of my tap.
It’s a no-brainer really, especially when I can buy a product the quality of Overherd and make my own oat milk at home. I’m really passionate about this and if you take nothing else from this review, please give some thought to the environmental implications of buying tetra pak cartons of ready-to-drink plant milk.
Overherd’s pouches are recyclable too – see their FAQs for more details, or take a look at the recycle now website to find your nearest recycling point.
Using dried oat milk also helps to reduce waste because I make as much or as little as I want, then put the packet back in the cupboard where it lasts for ages and ages, even though it doesn’t contain any preservatives. Clever, huh? And just one single pouch of planet-friendly, gut-loving oat milk powder can make a whopping 8 litres – no contest! Trying out this product has certainly changed my shopping list.
And most important of all for me, I really love that this sustainable, thoughtfully made, plant-based product is completely cruelty-free – no land clearance for cattle-farming, no forced cow pregnancies, no calves being hauled off to the abattoir – want me to go on?
Convenient for travelling
On a lighter note, this is such a great product to travel with, and even easier now they’ve brought out their travel tin. I received my initial sample for this Overherd powdered oat milk review just before I went away on a week’s holiday and it hugely improved my packing space.
So, just think how many more outfits you’ll be able to fit in your suitcase when you don’t have to pack half a ton of plant milk to take on holiday with you. And they won’t get leaked on when the carton bursts…
Camping trips? No problem. Festivals? Bring it on. Hotel rooms with little plastic pots of cow’s milk? Who cares…
Cost effective
The cheapest way to buy this product is to take out an easy to manage subscription. You’ll pay £10.99 for an 800g pack (accurate at the time of publishing this review) and get a free glass Overherd bottle and scoop to mix it all up with too.
This works out to about £1.37 per litre once you dilute it. Of course, you need to take into account the postage cost, but even then, this is still a relatively cost-effective option. One-off purchases are available too, but you do pay a little more.
So, not really cheap, but not horribly expensive either and you are doing your self and the planet a favour at the same time. Plus, you only make up the amount you want to use so there is far less waste. And don’t forget you can use my VEGANMUM15 discount code too! Can’t be bad.
My Verdict on Overherd powdered oat milk
By now it’s pretty obvious that I really like Overherd powdered oat milk and I’ve been a regular customer of theirs since first trying it nearly 2 years ago. And for good reason: I have yet to find a better, healthier alternative and I love the taste, ease of use, and versatility – it works in cooking and absolutely everything else I previously used to use ready-made oat milk for.
No, it isn’t a barista product and yes, I am a real coffee fiend and missed the froth at first. But I can do without it. And you can make it a bit frothy if you really feel the need to, it just takes a little bit more work and the right equipment.
Not only that, in these times of concern over ultra-processed foods, this product seems less processed than the barista plant milk cartons I used to use – the ingredients are certainly more recognisable and it’s a much shorter list.
Finally, there’s the convenience, particularly now that I’ve got one of their small, portable storage tins (no more paying a surcharge in coffee shops for oat milk!) – brilliant for camping and travelling.
So, if you wanna’ join the oat milk powder sect and wave goodbye to those tetra pak mountains, this Overherd powdered oat milk review could have been written for you. It’s not perfect, and I may still buy the odd barista product here and there for those occasions when froth is really important, but this fabulous oat milk powder has an awful lot going for it.
I genuinely like it and would really recommend you give it a try.
Discount code for Overherd
Use voucher code VEGANMUM15 at checkout for 15% off your entire order.
Where can you buy Overherd?
I buy Overherd direct from their online store and so benefit from their subscription discounts. Buying direct means that you can benefit from my exclusive 15% discount too – just enter voucher code VEGANMUM15 at checkout.
But, you can also buy Overherd from Amazon. Take your pick below…
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