Taste Test: Mmmmilky goodness! October 26, 2008

A drizzly, chilly, gray Saturday morning, perfect for an early jaunt to Green City! Pulled the Hunters on, shrugged into a hoodie and hit the road. Moments later, my face is wet, my smile beaming and I’m cradling a perfectly symmetrical acorn squash, a few deep purple eggplants and a fat bunch of carrots, greens attached. And yet, something is still missing.

Hello Blue Marble Family Farm and your plastic tubs of creamy, yummy goodness! Yogurt, cream, milk…sitting pretty in thick lipped glass bottles. As I licked my lips, a voice said, “Can I help you?”

“I’ll take a a quart of… (hesitation here, as I remember Sara’s rhapsody on the virtues of whole milk)…skim, please.”

The transaction complete, my flannel-shirted milkman tosses off his usual, “Enjoy!” To which I respond, whole-heartedly, “Oh, I will.” Yep, I already had plans for this baby.

As soon as I get home, I pull out two shot glasses. Jeff shuffles into the kitchen, drawn by the thought of a hot mug of coffee, and is immediately subjected to a blind taste test. Blue Marble v. Kirkland, round one. Eyes closed, Jeff sticks his nose in the first glass. (He’s such a good sport.) Without comment, he brings the glass his lips, pulls in a sip, lets the liquid wallow a bit on his tongue before swallowing. Without comment, he does the same for the second sample. Without hesitation, he says the second, Blue Marble’s, is better. The difference wasn’t really in smell or initial taste, but the way the milk felt, if that makes any sense. The other noticeable difference was that Blue Marble’s milk didn’t leave that odd aftertaste in the back of the throat, that not bad but noticeable lactic bit.

I nodded, and did away with the shot glasses. As I brought the entire bottle of Blue Marble milk to my lips, I realized what the real difference was, at least by my standards. It was the pure pleasure of a taking a deep swig of fresh cold milk out of a glass bottle, bought just minutes earlier, on a drizzly, chilly, gray Saturday.

Carolyn Tang is the editor of UrbanVivant.com, a labor of love that celebrates gourmet food, philosophy and urban living.