I first tasted almond milk in its traditional Italian form 20 years ago in Puglia.  It was a beating hot day in the city of Lecce and we were given large glasses of iced sweet almond milk.  It tasted amazing.  I prefer something that’s a little more vitality-enhancing (i.e. not full of pro-inflammatory, immune sabotaging added sugar) so here’s my take.

Use this drink in place of animal milk OR for a summer cooler add liquid stevia to sweeten, a bit more water, lots of ice and maybe a couple of drops of natural almond extract.

100g almonds, soaked overnight in filtered water (you don’t need blanched almonds)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (if you are glulten-free make sure to avoid vanilla “essence”)
1.25 litres filtered water

Drain the soaked nuts, blend with the filtered water.
Strain through a nut milk bag or muslin cloth, milking it to squeeze out all the liquid.
Add the vanilla extract, mix and serve.

Tip:
If you want to get more “value” from your almonds, blitz the soaked nuts with just 3/4 l of water.  Strain through the nut milk bag.  Put the ground nuts into the blender again with the remaining 3/4L water.  That way you will find you get more almond milk out of the nuts.