Fresh raw almond milk is delicious, healthy, unprocessed, and economical. There is no waste, no unrecyclable plastic-lined tetra-pak boxes or cartons to put in landfills and drink BPA out of, and this tastes much, much better than storebought. The resulting almond meal is a free bonus, useful in cookies, crumb crusts, porridge, granolas, or in lieu of bread crumbs in stuffings and dressings, breaded crusts, etc.
To make a half gallon (or 2 liters) of delicious fresh almond milk, you will need:
about a pound (or roughly half a kilo) of fresh raw almonds out of the shell
A blender or food processor
A large bowl to strain into
A mesh bag or cheesecloth for first straining
A reusable fine wire mesh coffee cone or fine muslin bag for second straining
A half gallon or 2 liter refrigerator jug to keep it in
A few pinches of salt (optional)
Sweetener of your choice, to taste (optional)
To make a half gallon (or 2 liters) of delicious fresh almond milk, you will need:
about a pound (or roughly half a kilo) of fresh raw almonds out of the shell
A blender or food processor
A large bowl to strain into
A mesh bag or cheesecloth for first straining
A reusable fine wire mesh coffee cone or fine muslin bag for second straining
A half gallon or 2 liter refrigerator jug to keep it in
A few pinches of salt (optional)
Sweetener of your choice, to taste (optional)
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Signing UpStep 1: Measure and soak almonds
You will be using about 3 cups of water for every 1 cup of raw almonds out of the shell. Soak overnight in enough water to cover with a little water more, to provide room for swelling. Another easier way to measure if you want to make 2 quarts or 2 liters at a time, is that 1 lb (or roughly a half kilo) of raw almonds out of the shell, makes a half gallon or 2 quarts or roughly 2 liters of creamy, rich almond milk when sufficient water is added after squeezing, to equal that volume. You can of course halve the water to make an almond cream suitable as coffee creamer, nog base, cream pies, or other uses where milk may be too thin.
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The Bitter almonds that are a source of cyanide are NOT almonds that taste bitter. The Bitter almond is a different tree from the Almond tree, and Bitter almonds are not the same as Almonds. You cannot find Bitter almonds for sale at the grocery store, not even if you wanted to.
The other possibility, is rancid almonds. 80% of the world's commodity almond supply is grown in California and they are harvested between late August, and October.
If you are eating California almonds right now, in mid-July, they would be from a harvest of nearly a year ago. Rancidity has never tasted sour to me, but bitter. Who knows, though. It could be a factor.
Since 2007, all almonds grown in California for the domestic market, have been pasteurized, but I wrote this Instructable after that, so that shouldn't be the problem.
If you soaked them in a climate-controlled room, then I can't see overnight fermentation unless there's something in your water.
Sorry I can't be of more help, but if either the freshness of the almonds, or warmth of the overnight soak could be an issue, hopefully soon you will be able to enjoy success with it, once those are not factors. Let us know if you try it again in the fall, how it comes out!
DO NOT use bitter almonds (not really a problem in the US because there are refined and are generally not sold at all) but in other countries bitter almonds mixed/blended with water and release cyanide and can put you in the hospital or even kill you (this is why you hear people say that if you smell almonds where there are none you have probably been poisoned) if you dont believe me look at wikipedia.
anyways i still plan on doing this i just wanted to let everyone know that
I have eaten apricot and apple seeds because they are tasty... bitter and almondy.. and I'm fine.
Also, Wikipedia is a great source but it is also sometimes censored or projects the thoughts of governmental agencies or companies with a profit agenda... lead-producing companies succeeded in convincing the public that lead was harmless or even healthful until about the 70s. So take what you read with a grain of salt (pun intended) and decide for yourself :)
" It also contains the enzyme emulsin which, in the presence of water, acts on a soluble glucoside, amygdalin, yielding glucose, cyanide and the essential oil of bitter almonds, which is nearly pure benzaldehyde. Bitter almonds may yield from 4â9 mg of hydrogen cyanide per almond.[21][22] Extract of bitter almond was once used medicinally, but even in small doses, effects are severe, and in larger doses can be deadly; the cyanide must be removed before consumption.[23]"
For the answer, I always say: Follow the money! It will lead straight to what gets marketed, promoted, sold, and used, and what gets warnings issued against it and attempts to keep it from the market. Just follow the yellow brick road.
Wish I could say follow the high road of ethics instead.
Aspartame is still in everything. Stevia had to go around an FDA blockade by being labeled a "supplement". Vioxx was heavily promoted, and hawthorn berry and bromelain are not mentioned by mainstream docs. One is patented, the others cannot be. Unfettered market forces aren't quite the supreme fount of wisdom and goodness they were made out to be, but Upton Sinclair knew that a long time ago.
Still, the steam treated almonds are far preferable to our purposes (dairy allergies in the family) than animal milk, and infinitely preferable to plasti-packaged commercial almond milk.
Nothing perfect in Eden anymore, but this is still better than our other options. Thanks for the info. Raw foodists who are able and willing to eat dairy have, at least in certain states, the right to go buy raw milk from the animal of their choice, or milk their own mammal, and raw mammal milk is actually a living food, unlike the pasteurized version commonly seen in supermarkets.
~MissAllyson
Some sweet almonds trees produce almonds that are more bitter, than other almond trees, but they don't have cyanide.
Bitter almonds produce the oil that is used for almond flavoring, that strong sort of maraschino cherry scent (to my nose) of benzaldehyde.
But they shouldn't be eaten carelessly, because of the cyanide content.
I'm glad you didn't make almond milk from what might have been a bitter almond tree, and then drink a lot of it!
Timing and storage methods matter a lot. In the Northern hemisphere, late summer through fall is the season of almond harvest, and eating them too far out of season increases the risk of rancidity, as does eating them already shelled whole, or worse, already ground (which exposes every part to light and oxygen).
Spring would be the harvest season for Australian almonds, I presume, so in New Zealand, if you are eating Australian almonds, you'd want to watch out for out-of-season ones accordingly.
Some feel that the almond skin is bitter, though it never bothered me, and some people go to the trouble to blanch them before making almond milk. To each his or her own! Hope you found a solution, and if so, please share it!
Well did you survive the bitter taste? I am experiencing the same thing as we have eaten these same ones for a long time and they were not as bitter till we soaked and sprouted them before trying to make milk out of them.
Thanks
I have been making almond milk from bought ground almonds and loving it. This time we decided to use whole almonds, soaked them and took the skins off. But I notice a strange bitter taste that is not in the ground almonds. Any thoughts or ideas on why?
Thanks