Just as draught beer is judged by the quality of its head, milk is increasingly assessed by how it foams in coffee.
Today, whole and semi-skimmed milk remain the standard choice for professional baristas for achieving stable, silky foam cup after cup. But in the speciality coffee industry, where delivering a superior experience increases the stakes, a new contender has emerged: non-homogenised milk.
For the uninitiated, non-homogenised milk is milk that has a higher cream (fat) content compared to regular whole milk. It’s what some brands call ‘barista-style’ milk because it delivers superior foam stability and a premium mouthfeel.
It does come with quirks, however. The high-fat content means bottles must be shaken well before use, to get that ‘cream top’ out of the way; latte art may be trickier because of that non-standard texture; and when steamed, non-homogenised milk must be stretched longer to create proper foam. On the flipside, this type of milk delivers a more stable microfoam, a rich flavour, and a mouthfeel that’s decadently smooth.
“Typically, if you go to any sort of coffee shop that really prides itself on high‑quality barista product, they will be using a non‑homogenised milk because you get this really, really beautiful foam,” said Jenny Thomason, head of commercial for door-to-door service, Modern Milkman.
Thomason’s company recently introduced a new non-homogenised offering to its UK customers – Mossgiel’s Organic Brewed Whole Milk. Made in Scotland, the milk is positioned as a safe alternative to raw milk.
In the UK and beyond, demand for raw milk has been growing, said Thomason, as shoppers increasingly seek out natural, unprocessed food and beverage options.
And while the product is available at a smaller scale currently (sold exclusively via Modern Milkman’s door-to-door delivery service), there’s a decent chance for it to take off in the coffee space.
“We know there’s definitely a bucket of customers who come for the way it works with coffee,” she explained.
Indeed, Mossgiel’s qualities lend themselves well to premium barista-style coffee, with Thomason claiming it delivers a significantly more stable foam compared to alternatives.
“If you’ve ever had a coffee that looks amazing, you sit it down at your table and after 30 seconds or a minute it starts to get that bubble‑bath, foamy texture,” she said. “With the Mossgiel milk, the window in which that happens is 10-20 minutes. It really retains that smooth, silky creaminess when you’re having coffee.”
The product has several key selling points. It’s gently processed to destroy the pathogens that make raw milk controversial to consume and difficult to market, while at the same time retaining its rich flavour and texture profile.
It’s an organic product, meaning that it’s likely to resonate with coffee enthusiasts seeking out not just a functional, but sustainable and animal-friendly milk: with Mossgiel’s cows being grass-fed for most of the year, weather-permitting; a factor that favourably affects flavour and fat content.
Most of all, the milk looks well-suited as an option for baristas prioritising foam quality and consistency.
