Walk into any of our cafes, ask for a cappuccino, and you’ll get cashew milk steamed to order. Not from a carton, not from a box, not from a bottle on the shelf. From a fresh batch we made that morning. Three ingredients: organic cashews, organic dates, filtered water. Nothing else.
Most plant-based milks at the grocery store are something else entirely. They’re mostly water, with a small percentage of whatever nut or grain is named on the front, plus a list of additives most people couldn’t pronounce: gellan gum, locust bean gum, dipotassium phosphate, sunflower lecithin, “natural flavors” (whatever those are), gum arabic, carrageenan. The thickness comes from the gums. The shelf life comes from the additives. The flavor comes from artificial means.
You don’t need any of it. Cashew milk is one of the easiest things you’ll ever make.
Why cashews
Almond milk requires straining, which means most of the actual almond ends up in the trash. Oat milk requires careful temperature control, or you end up with something slimy. Cashew milk is forgiving. The cashews break down completely in a high-speed blender, so you don’t need to strain. The result is creamy, naturally sweet (because of the dates), and so close to dairy in mouthfeel that even the most committed dairy drinker tends to like it.
It’s also the best plant-based milk for steaming, which is why we built our entire coffee program around it.
The recipe
Makes about 4 cups. Keeps in the fridge for 4 days.
What you need
- 1 cup raw, organic cashews (whole or pieces; pieces are cheaper)
- 2 to 4 Medjool dates, pitted (start with 2; add more if you want it sweeter)
- 4 cups filtered water
- A pinch of fine sea salt (optional but recommended)
- A high-speed blender
What you do
Soak the cashews. Cover the cashews with water and let them sit for at least 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge if you can. This softens them so they break down completely. If you’re in a hurry, pour boiling water over them and let them sit for 20 minutes — not as good, but workable.
Drain and rinse. Pour off the soaking water (it can have a bitter edge) and rinse the cashews until the water runs clear.
Blend. Add the cashews, pitted dates, 4 cups of fresh filtered water, and the pinch of salt to your blender. Blend on high for 60 to 90 seconds, until completely smooth. The mixture should be pale, creamy, and uniform — no visible cashew pieces.
That’s it. Pour into a glass jar with a tight lid. Store in the fridge. Shake before each use.
How to use it
The way we use it most: in coffee. Steam it on an espresso machine the same way you would dairy milk, or warm it gently on the stovetop. Pour over hot espresso, stir into pour-over, or whisk into matcha.
Beyond coffee: pour over granola, blend into smoothies, use in overnight oats, splash into chia pudding. It’s creamier than commercial almond milk, so it makes a big difference in texture-forward dishes.
Once you taste milk you made yourself, the boxed kind starts tasting like what it actually is.
A note on the dates
The dates serve two purposes. They add a quiet sweetness that makes the milk taste like dairy (lactose is naturally sweet, which is part of why dairy milk doesn’t taste “flat”). They also contribute fiber and trace minerals. We use Medjool because they’re soft and break down well, but Deglet Noor work in a pinch — just use one extra.
If you don’t want any sweetness at all, leave them out. The cashews and water will still give you a beautiful milk; it’ll just taste more nutty and less “dairy-like.”
The bigger point
This recipe is the entire E+ROSE philosophy in three ingredients. We didn’t reinvent cashew milk. We just declined to add the things the industry adds to make it cheaper, longer-lasting, and more uniform. We make it fresh, in small batches, every day, using the same recipe you’d use at home if you had the time.
Now you do.