Have you tried "shelf stable milk?"?

Yep. That’s all we had on station in Antarctica. It is OK, but there is definitely a difference. I don’t quite know how to explain it. It isn’t bad, but it is different from “real” milk in the way that soy or almond milk is different from “real” milk. If you drink exclusively shelf stable milk, you’ll develop a craving for the real moo juice, as most of us did on the ice. But, like I said, it isn’t bad, just different.

But, they’re really common here. They go sour after a few days after they’ve been opened, but you can keep them for a very long time while sealed. Are we talking about the same stuff, because it’s really not a weird thing over here?
I’ve never seen something labled as “shelf stable milk” though.

It has a “cooked” taste, exactly as milk does when you boil it on the stove, because that’s what makes it shelf-stable it’s technically known as UHT, which stands for “Ultra-high temperature”. The extra heat alters some of the “fresh dairy” flavors that basic pasteurized milk has, but it then tastes basically like the milk you’d get in a cappuccino.

@JellyB where is here? And it does make sense that it might be common elsewhere. It was all we could find while in turkey, and not for the lack of cows either.

My dad buys Parmalot all the time… I’m too weirded out to use it.

@harp Like a sort of flat taste in creamers?

@noelasun I’m in South Africa. There are plenty of brands we get here, eg, Everfresh. It’s so weird that you guys think it’s weird! LOL! I haven’t bought fresh milk in YEARS, because it gets sour too quick. Fresh is probably healthier though….i didn’t notice that it tastes any different either. I dunno! :)

I really like to get chocolate milk juice boxes. They always have shelf stable milk. It’s fine. In the choco-milk, I can’t really taste a difference (thanks, Chocolate!).

Edited to add: I also always get the Organic Valley. In the other one, Horizons, it tastes a bit weird and with the non-organic one it tastes a bit weird. I always attributed that to my being very picky about chocolate milk (I am), but it might also be from making the milk shelf stable.

@noelasun No, more milk-like than that. Just put a little milk in a cup, bring it to a boil in the microwave, and taste it. It tastes exactly like that, because that’s what it is.

Thanks everyone! This has been my most helpful thread on fluther yet =)

@noelasun—Thanks for asking, I had no idea that such a thing existed. I guess you do learn something new everyday. And it is only 9:36 AM.

Yeah I’d prefer Rice or Almond Milk over “shelf stable” real milk. I’ve tried the non refrigerated milk boxes that aren’t flavored, and they have a similar taste.

I lived in France for a year as an exchange student and was kind of disturbed by the vacuum-sealed bricks of milk that my family would buy by the case and store in the garage. I only had a vague idea of how it could be possible, though I thought it was boiled rather than UHT.

Anyway, it was gross. It didn’t taste like milk and it just didn’t taste good by itself.. I never drank the milk out of my cereal bowl while I was there. Bleh. Even the refrigerated “fresh milk” tasted funny, I think they used UHT on that, too.

It’s true what Les said; after months of drinking the weird quasi-milk, I was dying for real milk. My Canadian friend and I went on a mini-vacation to Britain and we were over the moon when we discovered there was milk on the ferry. It was so delicious.. God bless those Brits and their real milk. :)

A little sweeter. I like it for camping trips.