Oat milk is a alternative milk option gaining popularity with coffee lovers and baristas everywhere because it steams almost like real milk. However, its popularity is making it hard to find.
Hopscotch Coffee began offering oat milk about two weeks ago, said Miles Grimmer, manager of the Dodds Street location. Since then, it has run out of the Oatley oat milk it uses. Oatley brand has been popular nationwide and is now on backorder.
Coffee houses are turning to oat milk for the way it works in coffee drinks.
“You’re just able to steam it really well for the texture and flavors of lattes,” Grimmer said.
He says they only want to buy Oatley brand, so he’s not sure when they will get it again.
“I don’t know when or if we’ll get it again,” he said.
According to the Oatley website, the next time the Oatley barista oat milk will be restocked is Oct. 10. Customers will be limited to buying one case, which holds six 32-ounce cartons.
Other cafes in Bloomington have been using Oatley oat milk and experienced the same shortage.
Two Sticks Bakery has offered the milk since it opened in July.
“It is one that we try to keep on hand at all times,” employee Jamie Wittman said. “It definitely takes a long time for it to come in so sometimes we occasionally run out.”
Wittman said oat milk is their only alternative milk they offer because they have a small space and can’t keep many types on hand.
They chose it because it has less allergens and works best for coffee drinks and baking.
“It's easier to work with to make frothy coffee drinks, just because it's a little creamier in texture than almond milk or soy milk are,” Wittman said.
At Two Sticks, adding it to a drip coffee is free and putting it in a latte is a dollar upcharge.
Feast Bakery Cafe has been using Oatley oat milk for about about two years for many of the same reasons as other cafes. Coffeebar manager Eligh Langlais said oat milk also fit their values ecologically.Oat milk doesn't produce as much carbon monoxide during production as cows do.
At Feast, it costs 75 cents to substitute oat milk in drinks.
Langlais said oat milk is really good and encourages everyone to try it.
Though there has been an increase in popularity and use of oat milk, Needmore Coffee Roasters has recently stopped offering it. Needmore Coffee employee Logan Poti said it did not work well for coffee and it wasn’t popular enough, so it would often go bad and get thrown away.
They used to make their own because it was cheaper and easier than purchasing it.
The process of making it was simple. They would take the oats and blend them, adding water and then straining. After repeating that process multiple times, they added a syrup for sweetness.
He said they would like to have Oatley because it works better than homemade due to the fat content, but it’s too expensive. A pack of six cartons of the barista edition milk costs $25.
However, they are still offering soy and coconut milk.
For those wanting oat milk for their at-home coffee, Bloomingfoods East sells two brands, Pacific and Califia Farms.
