I bought some organic skim milk recently, supposed to expire November
7. I sampled a little bit and it tasted funny.

I can't describe it any better than to say it had a kind of
"high-pitched sweetness," the kind of sickly sweetness medicine might
have to make it go down better. Not good at all. But then the milk
didn't seem lumpy or terribly sour or in any other way bad.

I've purchased this brand and type of milk for months and months, and
it's never had this taste before. I thought it might be just one
particular carton, but both the cartons I had bought at the same time
taste this way.

I remember this unpleasant flavor once or twice before in milk at
various places. Any idea what causes it?

Thanks.

"Akilesh Ayyar" wrote in message
m...
I bought some organic skim milk recently, supposed to expire November
7. I sampled a little bit and it tasted funny.

I can't describe it any better than to say it had a kind of
"high-pitched sweetness," the kind of sickly sweetness medicine might
have to make it go down better. Not good at all. But then the milk
didn't seem lumpy or terribly sour or in any other way bad.

I've purchased this brand and type of milk for months and months, and
it's never had this taste before. I thought it might be just one
particular carton, but both the cartons I had bought at the same time
taste this way.

I remember this unpleasant flavor once or twice before in milk at
various places. Any idea what causes it?

Thanks.

Are you sure the date is november 7? Milk is dated 17 days from the day
it is bottled. So, it's too soon to have a November 7 date. Maybe they
misdated the carton...

OTOH, the composition of milk is highly variable depending on what the cows
have been eating and how much water the cow has been drinking. Different
types of hay can impart a different taste (and, uh, for those real trivia
buffs, a different smell to the ,uh, excrement.)

DRB--the daughter of a dairy farmer

As an old farm raised boy it is my recollection that the taste of milk
is directly related to the last time the bull paid a visit. One of the
erasons I no longer drink milk.

DRB wrote:
"Akilesh Ayyar" wrote in message
m...

I bought some organic skim milk recently, supposed to expire November
7. I sampled a little bit and it tasted funny.

I can't describe it any better than to say it had a kind of
"high-pitched sweetness," the kind of sickly sweetness medicine might
have to make it go down better. Not good at all. But then the milk
didn't seem lumpy or terribly sour or in any other way bad.

I've purchased this brand and type of milk for months and months, and
it's never had this taste before. I thought it might be just one
particular carton, but both the cartons I had bought at the same time
taste this way.

I remember this unpleasant flavor once or twice before in milk at
various places. Any idea what causes it?

Thanks.


Are you sure the date is november 7? Milk is dated 17 days from the day
it is bottled. So, it's too soon to have a November 7 date. Maybe they
misdated the carton...

OTOH, the composition of milk is highly variable depending on what the cows
have been eating and how much water the cow has been drinking. Different
types of hay can impart a different taste (and, uh, for those real trivia
buffs, a different smell to the ,uh, excrement.)

DRB--the daughter of a dairy farmer

"TwoTon" wrote in message
...
As an old farm raised boy it is my recollection that the taste of milk
is directly related to the last time the bull paid a visit. One of the
erasons I no longer drink milk.


Would this be so much of an issue today though? With multiple cows milk
being pooled in the bulk tank and with more and more of the cows being bred
AI?

DRB wrote:

"TwoTon" wrote in message
...
As an old farm raised boy it is my recollection that the taste of milk
is directly related to the last time the bull paid a visit. One of the
erasons I no longer drink milk.


Would this be so much of an issue today though? With multiple cows milk
being pooled in the bulk tank and with more and more of the cows being bred
AI?



IIRC, the cow doesn't even PRODUCE milk unless the
bull (or nowadays the vet's syringe) has paid a visit.

gloria p

"Puester" wrote in message
...
IIRC, the cow doesn't even PRODUCE milk unless the
bull (or nowadays the vet's syringe) has paid a visit.

gloria p

Well, that is very true vbg. Most farmer's go the artificial insemination
route these days, most doing it themselves--the vet usually doesn't do it.
Our herd is primairly AI bred.

I was wondering if maybe the fact that the bull and cow have a middle man
these days, so to speak, if that would have an effect on the taste thing the
other poster was talking about. My other thought was that since the milk of
all the cows in the herd is pooled in the farmer's bulk tank, that if one
cow's milk was off due to being in heat, that it would be diluted out.

DRB wrote:

Are you sure the date is november 7? Milk is dated 17 days from the day
it is bottled. So, it's too soon to have a November 7 date. Maybe they
misdated the carton...



Ahhh, but what *year*???

Best regards, ;-)
Bob

a kind of
"high-pitched sweetness," the kind of sickly sweetness medicine might
have to make it go down better.

Perhaps you ate an artichoke before sipping the milk?

On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 21:34:16 GMT, "DRB" wrote:


"Akilesh Ayyar" wrote in message
om...
I bought some organic skim milk recently, supposed to expire November
7. I sampled a little bit and it tasted funny.

I can't describe it any better than to say it had a kind of
"high-pitched sweetness," the kind of sickly sweetness medicine might
have to make it go down better. Not good at all. But then the milk
didn't seem lumpy or terribly sour or in any other way bad.

I've purchased this brand and type of milk for months and months, and
it's never had this taste before. I thought it might be just one
particular carton, but both the cartons I had bought at the same time
taste this way.

I remember this unpleasant flavor once or twice before in milk at
various places. Any idea what causes it?

Thanks.

Are you sure the date is november 7? Milk is dated 17 days from the day
it is bottled. So, it's too soon to have a November 7 date. Maybe they
misdated the carton...

The organic milk always seems to have a much longer expiration date
than the normal kind. Usually seems like 3 weeks or more... And it
really does seem to last that long in my experience.

OTOH, the composition of milk is highly variable depending on what the cows
have been eating and how much water the cow has been drinking. Different
types of hay can impart a different taste (and, uh, for those real trivia
buffs, a different smell to the ,uh, excrement.)

Makes sense. Thanks for the explanation. I was just surprised, after
having enjoyed so many months with the same good taste, that I
experienced this sudden shift for the much worse...ugh.

DRB--the daughter of a dairy farmer

On 09 Oct 2003 23:16:32 GMT, (WardNA) wrote:

a kind of
"high-pitched sweetness," the kind of sickly sweetness medicine might
have to make it go down better.

Perhaps you ate an artichoke before sipping the milk?

Never liked artichokes much.

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:
Never liked artichokes much.


This might be an area to explore, though. When you first asked the
question, I couldn't think of anything that would affect the taste of
the milk except its going bad. I was interested in the answers. When I
saw the artichoke suggestion, I thought that might be it. Milk is one
of those things that tastes very different depending on what you've had
just before it. Toothpaste, juice, salt, all make a difference in how
milk tastes.

Also, milk seems to absorb flavors from refrigeration and its
surroundings more than many other foods. I can't explain the sweet
taste, but I do wonder if maybe the organic farm exposes the milk to
more barnyard smells than the big factory dairy.

--Lia

Akilesh Ayyar wrote:

I remember this unpleasant flavor once or twice before in milk at
various places. Any idea what causes it?


because milk is an ingredient... not a beverage...

~john!

Well shucks, now you got me. That old bull must be straining it pretty
thin or not eating enough celery or something.... A mystery. A
barnyard gangbang maybe?

DRB wrote:
"TwoTon" wrote in message
...

As an old farm raised boy it is my recollection that the taste of milk
is directly related to the last time the bull paid a visit. One of the
erasons I no longer drink milk.



Would this be so much of an issue today though? With multiple cows milk
being pooled in the bulk tank and with more and more of the cows being bred
AI?

"Akilesh Ayyar" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 09 Oct 2003 21:34:16 GMT, "DRB" wrote:


The organic milk always seems to have a much longer expiration date
than the normal kind. Usually seems like 3 weeks or more... And it
really does seem to last that long in my experience.

Hmm. To me, it doesn't seem to make much sense. I have the whole farm
background, undergrad degree in biology, and now I'm working on my Ph.D...
The majority of my Ph.D research is on the properties of milk, particularly
the antimicrobial properties. Organic milk still comes from cows... The only
difference is that the cows are fed organic food stuffs and do not receive
bst. Those two factors are going to have no effect in extending shelf life.
Also, IIRC, fresh milk is all going to have to be dated the same. Also, I
had to get some milk tonight. I don't get the organic stuff, but I looked
at the dates on it. None of it was dates any further out than the regular
milk.

Are you sure this wasn't the UHT (ultra high temp pasteruized) milk? UHT
milk has a much longer shelf life, and also a tendency to be off in flavor
sometimes.


DRB

"Akilesh Ayyar" wrote in message
m...
I bought some organic skim milk recently, supposed to expire November
7. I sampled a little bit and it tasted funny.

I can't describe it any better than to say it had a kind of
"high-pitched sweetness," the kind of sickly sweetness medicine might
have to make it go down better. Not good at all. But then the milk
didn't seem lumpy or terribly sour or in any other way bad.

I'm not sure what "organic" means to milk. It may have been from cows
eating some weird stuff that gives an odd flavor. Most milks are doctored
up with all sorts of crud from vitamins to fish oil. Perhaps as long as it
is organic, it may have been added to yours as well.

I enjoy many dairy products, butter cheese, ice cream etc. but I despise
drinking a glass of mild. Been that way for the past 50+ years.
Ed

http://pages.cthome.net/edhome