There’s no joy in Joi
Plant-based milk is a huge trend and now companies are searching for new and trendy ways to deliver this product to consumers. Enter Joi. This company created a plant-based milk (and creamer) concentrate from nuts.
The consistency of the product is thick and sticky. It was difficult to get off the spoon, much like peanut butter. We purchased the cashew hazelnut oat plant-based creamer concentrate from the Joi website for $19.99. Per the instructions, the base was supposed to make up to 7 quarts of creamer. ($2.86 per quart / 27 servings of creamer)
Here’s the problem. If you don’t add enough base to the water, it’s weak. But when you add more, you’re not getting 27 servings of creamer.
Another problem—following instructions it says to blend the water and base on high for 30 seconds. Then you can “enjoi” fresh creamer that lasts for 7 days in the refrigerator. However, the next day when you go to use the creamer, it’s separated. All the Joi is sitting in the bottom of the container with the water on top. #joyless
We tried freshly made Joi with coffee. As we finished the cup of coffee, guess what was coating the bottom? Well, it wasn’t coffee grounds, but it was a sludge of Joi. ☹
We found the flavor of Joi straight out of the container was good. It was chalky, but tasty. Maybe using it as a nut butter would work better than using it for a nut milk or creamer.
Even though we found no joy in how the product performed as a nut creamer, it does have several good attributes. The cashew base we purchased had five ingredients: cashews, hydrolyzed oat flour, hazelnuts, organic pea protein and Himalayan Salt. Decent label and we love that there were no added sugars or sweeteners.
Hydrolyzed oat flour contains 2x the amount of protein of all-purpose flour. It is also moderately sweet. Interesting…
Joi is also non-GMO, kosher, gluten free and vegan. All positives.
After a great deal of discussion, we landed on an IMBHO-maybe for Joi. Maybe it would work as an ice cream base. Maybe it would be good in brownies or cookies. Maybe there are vegan recipes where this could work as an ingredient. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. This means we’ll let you decide.
“Since 2015, the JOI family has grown and continues to be a diverse group of people of very different lifestyles, all fighting for food freedom!” (straight from the website)
They look like a great group of people and we applaud what they’re doing in creating a product that “maybe” has some possibilities. It just didn’t work as a plant-based creamer… IMBHO.
