Veganuary Special: Grind's Vegan Latte Recipes

Whether you're going vegan for January, aiming to cut down on dairy, or just trying to live a more plant-based lifestyle, we would never want you to sacrifice your favourite coffees.

So, this is our guide to vegan coffee, with three hand-selected vegan latte recipes to get you through Veganuary. They're just as creamy as your favourite regular lattes, but without the dairy.

These vegan coffee recipes are versions of some of our cafés' most popular hot lattes: a Dirty Oat Chai Latte, Vanilla Almond Latte, and a Coconut Mocha Latte. If you're looking to make a plant-based iced coffee, check out our vegan iced latte recipe OR skip the manual labour and shop our range of ready-to-drink vegan iced coffees, available in Iced Oat Vanilla Latte, Iced Oat Flat White, and Iced Black.

If you've gone for a double whammy and you're cutting down on caffeine too this January, you can make these recipes with our decaf coffee pods or decaf ground and whole bean coffee for some delicious decaf vegan lattes.

The Best Vegan Milk Alternatives for Coffee

First things first, which plant-based milk/mylk/m*ilk/whatever-the-guidelines-for-dairy-free-products-are-now should you use in your vegan latte? Let's break down the options.

Soy Milk: The Classic One

A café staple, soy milk is one of the most popular dairy milk alternatives for its creamy texture and neutral taste, meaning it doesn't tamper with all the delicious natural flavours of your coffee.

Made by soaking and grinding soybeans, soy milk is the closes dairy-free substitute for cow's milk in terms of nutrition. It contains a similar amount of protein to dairy milk, but half the amount of fat, calories, and carbohydrates.

Because it has a similar consistency to cow's milk, soy milk is easy to froth, so it works great for vegan-friendly lattes.

Oat: The Smooth One

Made by blending ground oats and water, oat milk has begun to dominate the world of plant-based coffee in recent years. It has a full-bodied, creamy texture, but a mild enough flavour to ensure that it doesn't overpower the taste of your coffee.

It doesn't curdle, and there are loads of barista oat milks that are designed to froth well, making it a really delicious and convenient plant-based alternative for your vegan coffee.

It's why we've made our ready-to-drink Iced Oat Vanilla Latte and Iced Oat Flat White cans.

Coconut: The Tropical One

Unsurprisingly, you'll only like coconut milk if you like the taste of coconut. If you don't, you can skip this bit.

Unlike soy and oat milks, coconut milk has a richer flavour but a slightly thinner texture, closer to that of skimmed milk.

Because of its fresh sweetness, we like pairing our fruitier coffees, like our Light Blend pods or ground coffee, with coconut milk to bring out those fruity sweet aromas. Coconut milk is sometimes a little harder to froth, but, again, there are lots of barista coconut milks that are made for easy frothing!

It's worth noting that this is not the same coconut milk you use in your coconut curries. Do not put that in your latte, please.

Almond: The Nutty One

If you like a nutty flavour, then almond milk is a delicious nut-based milk alternative for your latte. It’s lighter in texture than other milks, and its flavour is distinctly nutty, but it can work really well with certain coffees like our House Blend, which is full of naturally nutty tastings notes, or our Vanilla Blend, with the nuttiness accentuating the fruity sweetness of vanilla.

Like coconut milk, almond milk doesn't always froth easily, so we'd recommend shopping for a barista almond milk, which you can find in most mainstream supermarkets.

Vegan Dirty Oat Chai Latte Recipe

One of the most popular drink orders in our cafés, coffee shops and trucks is a dirty chai latte. It's called "dirty" when you add espresso—even though there’s nothing dirty about that at all—as a chai latte is traditionally a tea-based drink without any coffee.

Combining rich espresso and tea with warming seasonal spices and creamy steamed oat milk, our vegan dirty oat chai latte is a plant-based version of a beloved winter warmer.

Making your own chai tea is super easy, but if you’re short on time you can use store-bought chai tea bags instead and it will still taste incredible.

Dirty Oat Chai Latte Ingredients

Makes 1 serving.

For the chai spice mix:

2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp black pepper

For the latte:

250ml barista oat milk
2 bags black tea
½ tsp light brown sugar
35ml freshly brewed espresso using 1 House Blend Grind Coffee Pod or 16g House Blend Ground Coffee

How to Make a Dirty Oat Chai Latte

In a small bowl, mix all of the spices together and transfer to an airtight jar.
In a saucepan, heat the oat milk until simmering. Then turn off the heat, add the black tea bags, and let it steep for about 5 minutes.
Remove the tea bags and add 1 teaspoon of the chai spice mix and the brown sugar, then whisk to combine.
Taste, and add more spice or sugar depending on your preference. If you have a hand frother, you can use it here to add some foam.
Prepare your espresso in a large mug using your coffee pod machine, cafetière, or espresso machine.
Top espresso with the chai latte mix, stir, and enjoy.

Vegan Vanilla Almond Latte Recipe

We love how the sweet, nutty flavours of almond milk pair with the complex, fruity sweetness of vanilla in this vegan vanilla almond latte. It's creamy and comforting with a subtle, but not sickly, sweetness.

If you want a delicious, sugar-free shortcut here, try our speciality Vanilla Coffee Pods and skip the vanilla extract.

Vanilla Almond Milk Latte Ingredients

Makes 1 serving.

110ml freshly brewed coffee using Grind Compostable Coffee Pods or 16g Ground Coffee in our Light Blend
250ml barista almond milk
½ tsp vanilla extract

How to Make a Vanilla Almond Milk Latte

Brew a double shot of coffee in a mug using your coffee pod machine, cafetière, or espresso machine.
Steam your almond milk and vanilla extract in a milk frother to build some foam for the latte. If you don't have a frother, you can heat the almond milk and vanilla in a small saucepan on a medium heat until it begins to steam, then whisk for some foam.
Top the coffee with your vanilla almond milk, stir, and enjoy.

Vegan Coconut and Cocoa Mocha Latte Recipe

People who love a Bounty, this one's for you. Pairing the natural, tropical sweetness of coconut milk with the creamy smoothness of chocolate and the richness of coffee, this is a plant-based twist on a cosy season classic.

This vegan mocha recipe is super easy, but if you have a coffee pod machine it's even easier: we made our own chocolate coffee pods so that you can make barista-quality mochas at home in seconds.

Vegan Coconut Mocha Latte Ingredients

Makes 1 serving.

40ml freshly brewed coffee using 1 Grind coffee pod or around 16g Grind ground coffee
250ml barista coconut milk
1 tsp drinking chocolate/cocoa powder
1 tsp sugar (optional)
Vegan whipped cream (optional)

How to Make a Vegan Coconut Mocha Latte

Brew a shot of espresso using your coffee pod machine or brew 40ml coffee using your preferred brewing method with our coffee beans or ground coffee.
Add the drinking chocolate and sugar and mix until smooth.
Steam the coconut milk using a milk frother so that it has around 5cm of foam on top.
Slowly pour the steamed milk over your coffee and give it a stir.
Top with vegan whipped creamy and vegan chocolate shavings for an extra special, seriously cosy treat.

Making Veganuary Easier than Ever with Barista-Quality Vegan Coffee at Home

To make all these café-worthy vegan lattes at home, you’re going to need some café-worthy coffee. Luckily, you’re in the right place.

Choose from our range of ethically-sourced, speciality-grade coffee in Nespresso® compatible, home-compostable coffee pods (including our vegan-friendly flavoured coffee pods) or as whole bean and ground coffee.

If you’re using coffee pods, get your hands on our sleek and powerful Coffee Pod Machine and matching Milk Frother to make sure you’re getting the very best from your pods, making barista-style coffee at home.

If you’re using whole bean or ground coffee and want that barista feel, then our exclusive edition of Sage Appliance’s Barista Touch™ Impress Bean to Cup Coffee Machine will upgrade your at-home coffee game to the max.

And if you want barista-quality coffee that’s ready-to-drink, try our vegan iced coffee cans.