With 41 percent of all households purchasing non-dairy milk, a carton of almond milk is no longer a fringe product but a mainstream staple. So it’s no surprise that the alternative milk category is now the largest in the plant-based space. One of the most recent companies to join this space is Texas-based Lifestock.
Lifestock launched its first two products at the beginning of October: shelf-stable Original and Chocolate pecan milk called THIS PKN. Laura Shenkar, the founder of the company, worked in Central Texas to preserve freshwater ecosystems. She worked closely with local farmers that tended pecan orchards, a crop indigenous to the U.S. and Texas. After seeing how pecan trees can tolerate drought and grow with regenerative farming practices, Shenkar realized that the buttery pecan would be a great ingredient to use to develop sustainable plant-based milk.
The company recently reached out to me and offered to send me samples of its products. I am a daily oat-milk drinker and am hesitant to try new alternative milks due to some sub-par products I have tasted. However, having never tried pecan milk before, I happily obliged.
When trying new non-dairy milks, I first pour a cold glass of it and drink it straight up (full disclosure: I sometimes just take a quick chug straight out of the carton). I sipped on the Original pecan milk first and immediately noticed the pecan flavor. With some nut milks, like almond milk, in my opinion, you don’t really get the flavor of the nut, but just a generic nutty flavor. The milk also had a “buttery” flavor and creamy texture as the company promised.
The Chocolate pecan milk tasted lightly sweetened, and it was enjoyable to sip cold. And while the chocolate flavor overpowered the pecan taste, it was nonetheless tasty. Both milks contain zero grams of added sugar, instead relying on monk fruit extract and stevia to add sweetness.
The next test was heating and attempting to froth the milk. While Lifestock did not state whether their pecan milks are capable of frothing, I figured I would try it anyway. I used my hand frother as I heated the milk up on the stove. Unfortunately, the milk remained relatively flat and I did not get the level of froth that oat and soy milk can provide. Despite this, it still tasted delicious in my coffee.
The possible downside for some people is that THIS PKN milk does not taste like dairy milk at all. As someone who hasn’t had milk in eight years, this did not bother me in the slightest. Someone looking to transition from dairy milk to alternative milk might be bothered by this. But in the company’s defense, Livestock makes no claims of trying to be a direct replacement for dairy milk (unlike NotCo and others).
At this point, we’ve seen alternative milk made from every possible ingredient, including oats, barley, kabocha squash, walnuts, and hemp and other ingredients. However, the only other company we are aware of producing pecan milk is Malk Organics. Still, while alt-milk consumers often experiment with different types, many have standardized on their favorite oat, almond or soy brand, meaning THIS PKN will face competition from big players like Oatly, NotCo, Ripple, and So Delicious.
If you’d like to try out THIS PKN for yourself, it is currently available for purchase on the company’s website. Both the Original and Chocolate flavors cost $5.99 for 32 fluid ounces.
