Home → The Milk Library → Barley Milk

🌾 Grain Milks

Barley Milk

Barley was among the very first grains humans domesticated, grown in the Fertile Crescent some 10,000 years ago and loved by brewers ever since. That brewing heritage wrote barley milk's most famous chapter: Portland's Take Two Foods launched its 'Barleymilk' in 2020, made from upcycled spent grain rescued from the beer-making process — a neat answer to the billions of pounds of brewers' grain wasted each year. Take Two has since stopped production, but the idea it proved still stands up. Barley milk is creamy and gently malty, with a biscuity depth that suits coffee and milkshakes alike. Barley grows almost everywhere on earth, so don't be surprised when this thrifty milk turns up on shelves again.

Emerging — few commercial brands yet

Barley Milk — the plant it comes from, growing

First, the plant.

Origin

Fertile Crescent, c. 8000 BCE; milked commercially from 2020

Tastes like

Creamy and malty, with a warm, biscuity, beer-adjacent depth

Best for

Coffee, milkshakes and baking that suits a malty note

Sources & citations

  1. Hordeum vulgare L., in Handbook of Energy Crops by James A. Duke — Purdue University NewCROP, 1983
  2. Take Two: Championing the Upcycling Movement By Transforming the Billions Of Spent Grain Wasted Each Year Into BarleyMilk — vegconomist, n.d.
  3. Barleymilk Turns Beer Brewing Trash into Dairy-Free Treasure — Vegetarian Times, n.d.
← Rice Milk All milks Fonio Milk