One of our most basic buys is a bottle of milk with many people starting the day with a bowl of cereal and it is also a key ingredient for countless recipes.
Personal preference generally guides buyers when it comes to question of what is the best milk.
Sam Honey of KentLive says the go-to buy is semi-skimmed without question.
But, which supermarket is the best to get your dairy fix?
While brands like Cravendale are undeniably good, the price can be a little off putting, especially when sat next to supermarket own brands.
In order to answer this question I visited four main supermarkets to try out their dairy offering and answer.
Our competitors here are Iceland, Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Aldi, in each I grabbed semi-skimmed and began comparing.
Iceland
First up on the list was the favourite of mums everywhere, Iceland.
While I did go looking for 2 pints in each shop as I’d argue that's the most common size bought for a weekly shop, my local Iceland only had single pints.
Obviously this isn't going to affect the taste in any way, only the price- a quick trip to their online store however tells me that the going rate for two pints of semi-skimmed is 89p, a fair price if ever there was.
Now onto the taste, and I’ve got to say, I was pretty impressed.
One of the main things that can go wrong with semi-skimmed is getting the balance right, don’t want things too watery or too full, and Iceland got the balance perfectly.
A quick taste test and I really was reminded of the flavours found in the likes of Cravendale, not quite exact but definitely similar, so we’re off to a great start here.
Aldi
No budge in price on this one either at 89p, it's down to the taste to set this one apart.
In complete honesty, my experience with Aldi has been very hit and miss over the years
Sometimes they absolutely knock it out of the park and deliver truly surprising quality at a discount price - other times I’ve been left feeling like I should have just paid that little bit extra for better quality elsewhere.
In terms of price, there is a recurring theme here as all of these choices cost about the same, with Aldi also costing 89p.
When it came to taste though, this was a little underwhelming- this time around the milk did border more on the watery side of the things.
It was by no means bad, but for my own personal tastes, not exactly what I was looking for.
When looking at the price it would be hard to justify buying this over Iceland’s offering for the exact same amount of money.
Tesco
Next up on this dairy quest came Tesco, the place for all things value if their marketing is to be believed.
No budge in price on this one either at 89p, it's down to the taste to set this one apart.
It was a definite improvement on Aldi’s, and was almost identical to Iceland’s, perfectly balancing the flavours and keeping the optimal consistency.
Those two are now neck and neck, so it is down to our last choice of the day to see who will come out on top.
Marks & Spencer
When you think about quality, M&S almost certainly comes to mind, the supermarket giant is known for it, from both their advertising and their ability to deliver on it too.
The trade-off however, is that you will usually be paying that little bit more, and this theory rang true.
But, not to worry, as the price mark up was literally 1p, with two pints of semi skimmed milk costing me 90p, hardly one to break the bank.
Now the question is, does the taste beat out the other two or will we be left with a tie for first place?
The suspense is palpable, you could almost drink it! (I wouldn’t however, as I've just had four glasses of milk)
Simply put, M&S blew the other two out of the water, tasting near identical to the likes of Cravendale.
This really was a delicious glass of milk, and would be perfect for all things from cereal to tea.
Safe to say, that 1p extra really did make all the difference.
The verdict
Now the question is, does the taste beat out the other two or will we be left with a tie for first place?
The suspense is palpable, you could almost drink it! (I wouldn’t however, as I've just had four glasses of milk)
Simply put, M&S blew the other two out of the water, tasting near identical to the likes of Cravendale.
This really was a delicious glass of milk, and would be perfect for all things from cereal to tea.
Safe to say, that 1p extra really did make all the difference.
