What does clear milk mean for production technology of coffee?

Asahi Weipin has launched a transparent clear milk, moving clarified milk from slow hand preparation behind the bar to mass production. The product is described as lighter than regular milk yet softer and richer than water, and it looks as clear as water. It gives specialty coffee shops a new ingredient for building drinks, since clarified milk previously demanded long manual work from baristas.

The brand has become a common milk choice among espresso-focused cafes, with chains such as Manner and M stand among its partners. Because milk quality shapes the taste of a latte, this launch matters for the production technology of coffee drinks: shops can now plan a consistent latte coffee milk ratio and clarified-milk recipes without the labor that hand clarification requires.

In coffee drinks, milk has always been latte's soulmate, and its quality directly affects the taste performance of the final product. In recent years, the coffee market's continued heating up has also brought a group of high-quality milk brands into the public eye, and Asahi Weipin is one of the most closely watched. The brand recently launched a transparent milk that overturns traditional perceptions — Clear Milk, claimed to taste lighter than milk yet smoother and richer than water. The arrival of this product means that clarified milk, which used to require baristas to spend a lot of time making by hand, can now be mass-produced, bringing new possibilities to the creation of specialty coffee. How exactly is this transparent milk achieved? How does its taste differ from ordinary milk? This article will explain it in detail for you.

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For people who love coffee, an outstanding latte cannot do without the tacit cooperation between coffee and milk. The sweetness and silkiness of milk can soften coffee's bitterness while making its aroma and flavor more prominent. Many baristas agree that choosing the right milk is an important part of determining the quality of a latte's taste.

For this reason, the vigorous development of the coffee industry in recent years has also helped make a group of milk brands popular, and Asahi Weipin is probably one of the better-known ones. Chain coffee brands such as Manner and M stand have established partnerships with it, and combined with the product's own excellent quality, Asahi Weipin has become a priority choice for milk among many coffee shops focused on espresso.

Asahi Weipin has also made good use of the traffic dividend coffee has brought it, successively launching a number of milk products suitable for pairing with coffee drinks, such as the recently unveiled "transparent milk." It is understood that what Asahi Weipin launched this time is a Clear Milk that is "lighter than milk, yet a touch softer and richer than water." Besides the difference in taste, what is probably most surprising to ordinary consumers is that this milk is actually as transparent as water.

In the public impression, milk is milky white, and this new product from Asahi Weipin breaks that fixed perception, turning the clarified milk technique commonly seen among bartenders into a product that can be mass-produced.

Before this, the clarified series in specialty coffee had been a signature product of many independent coffee shops. The clear and transparent color, plus a taste closer to fruit juice drinks, made many coffee lovers favor this kind of clarified coffee that combines visual beauty with taste enjoyment.

However, what troubles many baristas is that clarified milk must be made by hand in the store — mixing milk with acidic juices such as lemon juice, stirring thoroughly, letting it sit and settle for a period, and then filtering it to obtain a portion of clarified milk with the milky white removed. The whole process is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the storage conditions are also demanding, so although clarified coffee was popular for a while, it never became a regular option on coffee shop menus.

The Clear Milk launched by Asahi Weipin this time clearly breaks through these limitations faced by clarified coffee. Coffee shops no longer need to spend a lot of time and energy making clarified milk themselves, production costs can be reduced, and it has become more convenient for baristas to make specialty coffee with both taste and visual beauty.

Since the official side has not disclosed the specific production method of this Clear Milk, netizens have raised various questions while feeling curious. Clarified milk is usually obtained by adding acidic substances to make it coagulate and then filtering it, so it tastes slightly sour. In Asahi Weipin's promotion, however, Clear Milk is positioned as a "milk-flavored beverage" mainly characterized by "clear sweetness," which inevitably invites many associations and speculation about whether some special technology was used to make it.

In addition, everyone also wants to know what exactly the difference is between the taste of transparent milk and ordinary milk: "Will it taste better after becoming transparent?", "Will the taste change?", "Is Clear Milk whey?", "What??? Then what's the difference between it and plain boiled water?", "Does this mean good news for people who are lactose intolerant?"

Some people also worry that this transparent milk is just an IQ tax, with no practical value other than improving appearance. Regarding all kinds of speculation, the official side has not yet responded. However, most baristas remain optimistic, after all, this product can free baristas from the cumbersome process of making clarified milk.

Image source: Internet

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.