Review of BAMnut Plant Based Milk - Everyday - WhatIF Foods by kyu

I had never seen this brand before in the US (or basically anywhere outside abillion promotions,) so of course I had to snap up a couple of shelf-stable cartons and test a handful of use-cases. First off, what WhatIf gets right: they’ve managed to achieve the thickness that I prefer with a simple slate of ingredients (and no gums!); the brownish milk is creamy, yet not overly rich, and it seems to play nicely with coffee. They’ve also hit on an extremely original — and purportedly restorative — formula through their use of Bambara groundnuts, #legumes which seems to have a lot of under-appreciated potential.
It’s certainly something of an acquired taste, though. I’ve been drinking it for the past three days and am still at a loss for words to describe it: nutty, obviously, but there’s also a hint of something I can’t put my finger on — smoke? star anise? It’s not offensive, but also not something I’d choose to drink on its own, especially since it gets a bit gritty as it settles. Best practice is to mix it into things that can handle the earthy notes, like oatmeal.
I mostly bought this for the novelty factor, but I think it’d be worth giving another chance if I were to encounter it again. If you have a Grocery Outlet nearby, you may be able to score this #ditchdairy innovation for just $0.99.