The Milk Thief kefir review
Here we will give a hands-on, taste-tested review of The Milk Thief kefir. We’ll look into the benefits, ingredients, nutrition, use and flavour of this organic kefir.
You can find this kefir in some health foods stores in Australia. This brand is owned by Soulfresh which also owns Lo Bros kombucha and Emma and Tom’s probiotic smoothies.
About kefir
Kefir is a fermented dairy drink which is made by adding kefir grains - full of different strains of bacteria and yeast - to milk. (There’s also non-dairy kefir, but we won’t get into that here.)
The result is a tangy dairy drink which is similar to yoghurt but more runny. It also has a lot more bacterial diversity than yoghurt does which makes it better for our gut.
Because of this diversity and increased microbial activity, kefir can sometimes taste a bit more ‘funky’ than yoghurt.
Kefir can be had on its own or you can add it to cereal, smoothies or dressings to increase your probiotic intake.
And because of the strong fermentation of the milk sugars, it is better for people with some degree of lactose intolerance.
Read more about the benefits of kefir and how it differs to yoghurt.
Ingredients of The Milk Thief kefir
This is an organic kefir but it unfortunately includes some use of milk powders, instead of being authentically made entirely with fresh milk. The full ingredients are milk, skim milk powder and live cultures.
It’s worth noting that on the bottle they say: “We stick to the time-honoured kefir making process and only use fresh organic whole milk“, but their ingredients lists ‘skim milk powder’. So this is either a mislabelling (perhaps their recipe has changed??) or it’s disingenuous. Hmmmm.
We’ll see later on how the milk powder might affect the taste.
Benefits of The Milk Thief kefir
This kefir comes with various health benefits, particular related to its probiotics. For context, we’ll compare a few key factors against Table of Plenty kefir which is a high-quality kefir made with fresh milk only.
Probiotics
Probiotics are live cultures (usually bacteria) which have been proven to give us health benefits.
The Milk Thief claim this kefir is fermented with ‘5 probiotic strains’. Unfortunately, they give no information on the exact strains included.
The term ‘probiotic’ is often used loosely in marketing to refer to live cultures which aren’t sufficiently beneficial to our health to be considered actually probiotic. So while it’s likely some of these strains are actually probiotic, we don’t know for sure.
In contrast, Table of Plenty specifies the 10 strains of live cultures it includes - and around half of these are considered probiotic.
In terms of the actual amount of live cultures present (ie colony forming units), The Milk Thief does better - it has over 40 billion CFU per 100g. For comparison, Table of Plenty has over 37 billion colony forming units per 100g.
Learn more about the benefits of probiotics.
Other health measures
Various health measures in this kefir (like Table of Plenty) come in fairly mid-range, with none being very low or high.
Fat: This kefir has moderate fat levels at 3.4% which is above Table of Plenty which is 2.7% fat.
Protein: Its protein content is fairly good at 3.7% - which is above Table of Plenty at 2.9%. However it’s worth noting this is much below The Collective Protein Kefir which is 7.3% protein.
Calcium: Its calcium content is moderate at 110mg per 100g - which is under Table of Plenty at 120mg.
Appearance
The appearance is like lumpy milk. It doesn’t look ‘split’ like other kefir can.
As the picture below shows, the lumpiness causes it to pour very unevenly into the glass and it splashes a lot because of this. You can also see the fat cap which has poured out with the first pour.
Texture
The texture is very unevenly lumpy. It goes from being fairly thin to a huge lump hitting your lips! The texture of these lumps are quite unique as they feel like they have a soft casing around them.
Flavour
The aroma is much like normal milk. There’s also a slight ‘off’ vibe to it - like sweaty cheddar - which is not ideal.
The taste is also predominantly of normal milk and it doesn’t have the usual strong sourness or complexity of other kefir. It has a slight effervescence, but again this is lower than other kefir.
Overall, the normal milk taste is fine - but it’s not enough like a kefir in my opinion. It’s a bit one dimensional for a kefir and not sour enough.
Use
This kefir is palatble enough to use in almost any way, such as on cereal, in smoothies, in dressings and drunk on its own.
Cost of The Milk Thief kefir
We bought a 1L bottle from a wholefoods store for $10.95. This places it at the higher end of the spectrum and makes it quite overpriced for what it offers in our opinion.
Summary
Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5.
Verdict: The Milk Thief kefir is an organic kefir with a good total number of live cultures. However, it is let down by the use of milk powders, a high price point and an underwhelming taste which is perhaps more like a normal milk than a kefir.
Pros
organic
good total number of live cultures (ie colony forming units)
Cons
taste is nothing to write home about
uses some milk powders
needs more information which strains of live cultures are included
expensive for what it offers
Other health benefits of kefir
Along with the specific benefits of this kefir mentioned above, kefir in general is good for our health in the following ways.
Vitamins and minerals
Kefir is a source of various vitamins and minerals including:
calcium
B vitamins (B12 and riboflavin)
magnesium
potassium
phosphorous
These vitamins collectively support bone health, energy production, muscle function, immune function and cardiovascular health.
Probiotics
These are the beneficial living microbes you are ingesting when you drink kefir. And kefir in general usually has a lot more different strains of probiotics than yoghurt or kombucha does.
Probiotics offer many health benefits including:
better digestive health
better immune function
reduced inflammation
reduced allergies
better nutrient absorption
Postbiotics
Postbiotics are essentially things probiotics produce during fermentation. These include healthy short-chain fatty acids which nourish our gut lining and may help reduce symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.
Reduced lactose
Because of the strong fermentation of milk sugars by a diverse range of bacteria and yeasts, kefir is better for people with some degree of lactose intolerance compared to milk or yoghurt.
Your reviewer
This hands-on review was written by Travis, the founder of this website, long-time gut-health enthusiast, science nerd and passionate kombucha maker of over 10 years!
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