While you're busy watching your barista craft squiggly latte art designs with watery almond milk or so-five-years-ago soy milk, Stockholm locals are sipping on drinks topped off with oat milk. Wait, what is oat milk? It's what happens when you soak steel cut oats or whole groats in water, blend the mixture, and then strain it. The resulting milk-water tastes just like that warm, thin layer of cream that sits atop a bowl of porridge. It's basically the cashmere sweater of winter drinks.
At cafes like Johan & Nyström in Södermalm, there are entire sub-menus devoted to oat milk drinks, such as the Capoatchino, the Coatado, and the Macchioato. Oat milk is thick enough to support intricate latte art (see: the matcha latte with oat milk pictured above), in case you Instagram purists were wondering. It's sweet, grainy, and a little grassy the way a bowl of oatmeal would taste, and has a fuller texture than other alt milks. Baristas at cafes in the Swedish city are quick to note that it's also ecologically conscious and cheap to produce.
To make it yourself, take one part steel cut oats (you can use any oats, but steel cut or whole groats provide the best texture and flavor) to two parts water and soak overnight until oats absorb liquid and soften. Throw the mixture into a powerful blender until oats are pulverized and the mixture is smooth. Adjust ratios if you prefer the resulting liquid thinner or thicker. Run the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or cheese cloth until liquids are separated from pulpy solids. The resulting liquid is your oat milk. (Pro tip: Use the leftover oats in a ready-made porridge or fold into a cake or muffin batter.)
You'll want oat milk whenever you would normally use milk in baked goods, puddings, or your morning coffee—but the stuff really shines when it's steamed or simmered. We recommend heating it over the stove with a dash of cinnamon and a side of Netflix.