Milksta Boobie Latte Review - a decaf coffee lactation drink
This is a review post! I was sent a package of the Boobie Latte Vegan & Decaf Creamy Coffee from Milksta, so that I could provide an honest review. While this post does contain a couple affiliate links (learn more about that here), everything written in this post are my own truthful reflections.
I’ll start off by clarifying that I am not currently lactating but I did breastfeed my once upon a time babies (twins!), in the past.
My breastfeeding journey was not without difficulty - at points it was much more heavily weighted towards difficulty than it was to ease. Like many lactating parents, I dabbled with galactgogues.
For those unfamiliar with the term, galactgogues are substances that can help increase milk production. Galactagogues can be specific foods, teas, tinctures, herbs, and prescribed medicines, like domperidone.
Over the past 6 years, I have also provided support to 100s of families across their prenatal, birth and postpartum, across the city of Toronto. This has included breastfeeding support, as a certified Breastfeeding Educator and as a trainee lactation consultant (just waiting for my exam results, to fully complete my training now!). Galactagogues are a common topic, when providing this support.
Let me tell you, the world of milk supporting substances has changed over a short period of time - okay, I guess 7 years is not that short a time period and perhaps, I’m in denial that my kids are growing up fast!
Anyway - there are A LOT more products on the market now. Pre-made cookies, drinks and combination supplements, are available at every retailer that offers postpartum supplies. Back in my day (😂), it was homemade cookies, oatmeal, and straight up fenugreek tincture - I still highly recommend the cookies and oatmeal. They’re delicious and nutritious and may boost milk supply too. There are now much better alternatives, taste wise, to the fenugreek tincture.
Milksta is one of these products.
Milksta was started by Philippine born, Canadian resident Lian Delos Reyes. Like many breastfeeding parents before her, Lian ran into issues along her breastfeeding journey - pain and damage, a tongue tie, and milk supply concerns. She tried the gamut of galactagogues, both herbal and medicinal. It wasn’t until she started taking Moringa (also known as Mulungay - a plant that is traditionally used in the Philippines to enhance milk production), that she noticed an improvement in her milk supply.
Lian created Milksta’s Boobie Latte with two intentions - to help boost milk productions and to also simultaneously provide a tasty decaf coffee.
This is the moringa plant. It’s not only gorgeous, but it’s also full of great nutrients and potentially milk boosting properties. It’s one of the main ingredients in Milksta products.
Before we get to the heart of our Milksta review, we need to clarify a couple of things.
First off, a quick but necessary note on caffeine. Caffeine is completely safe to consume when lactating. However, some parents do find that consuming too much caffeine, during lactation, does affect their baby. According to Kelly Mom (such a great resource for breastfeeding information), the current evidence on caffeine consumption during lactation is to consume less than 5 cups of coffee (approximately 500mg), or the equivalent, per day. The upper limit range seems to be between 300-750mg of caffeine per day. While that may seem like a lot, 5 cups of coffee is the upper limit and how caffeine affects a baby, will also depend on their age and their size - 2 cups may be enough for you! As with anything to do with breastfeeding, watch the baby and adjust as necessary. Certainly, Milksta decaf blends could be a great alternative for you, if you’re looking to reduce your coffee consumption while breastfeeding.
Secondly, while galactagogues are commonly used, unfortunately, there is not a lot of robust evidence on their effectiveness. This doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t effective - there really just aren’t very many studies out there, that have measured the effectiveness of particular galactagogues. So, a lot of the evidence is anecdotal - like word of mouth testimonials, or reviews on sites like Milksta’s.
This is why I’ve said and will keep saying, a galactagogue may increase milk supply. Added to this, every body is different, and every body has different things going on with it, so each person will respond to herbs and medicines differently. There is no guarantee with any galactagogue.
When choosing to consume anything, particularly during pregnancy and lactation, we want to weigh the benefits and the risks. Fortunately, herbal galactagogues offer no major risks - although there are some risks for some people, so make sure that you do your research - that can be a combination of anecdotal and evidence based sources.
For more information on milk boosting foods and herbs, you can check out our Boosting Your Milk Supply with Foods, Herbs and Medicine blog post, that includes more in depth information on galactagogues. Information is sourced from Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production by Lisa Marasco and Diana West, which is another great resource to explore, if you need more information or you want to skip our blog post.
All that to say, dabbling with galactagogues is something that a lot of lactating parents do and for the experience to be worthwhile, we want to consider a number of things.
As I’ve already mentioned, a prime desire is that it is effective and safe (more milk & low risk!). But we also want it to be easy (there’s not a lot of time to waste with a baby!), taste decent (good or amazing is preferable but we’ll take decent!), be cost effective (babies are expensive enough already), and perhaps abide by some other health/eco requirements - recyclable packaging, vegan or gluten free etc.
So that’s how I’ve chosen to rate Milksta’s Boobie Latte. Here we go - finally!
The Milksta Review
At this point, I’ve now had 8 cups of the Boobie Latte. I wanted to give Milksta many chances to meet my review requirements. Note that all ratings are out of a maximum of 5.
EASE. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Ease, easily gets a 5/5. The sachets are pre-measured so there’s nothing more to do, then cut it open, pour hot water on top and give it a stir. Perfect.
TASTE. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Taste, not so easily, gets a 4/5.
I really wanted to love the taste of the Boobie Latte. So I tried cup after cup on different days, at different points in the day, to see if this affected my opinion. Unfortunately, it did not. While I don’t LOVE it or CRAVE it, I don’t dislike it - there is simply a certain sweet tang to it, that is not my ideal taste.
Overall, the creaminess was enjoyable and it definitely felt comforting, when drinking it. A couple things that I found helped my taste buds enjoy the drink more, was adding a splash (or more) of almond milk or oat milk.
If I were breastfeeding, I would definitely continue to drink Milksta, even though the taste is not my absolute favourite. I would not feel like I was simply tolerating it - I know that I would enjoy the experience - and much more so than fenugreek tea or tincture! They do offer two tea based options, which are potentially more my jam - I’m not a regular coffee drinker.
PACKAGING. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Packaging, not so easily, gets a 4/5.
I also really wanted to give Milksta’s packaging a 5 but I just couldn’t. I love the imaging -it’s gorgeous and the colours are eye cathing. The look and ease of the sachets is also wonderful.
However, I am not a fan of disposable items. I inevitably use them but I detest putting things into the garbage and landfill. This is obviously not just an issue with Milksta, but it’s also happening with the millions of other products we consume. We need more reusable, biodegradable, and recyclable packaging options, to keep the Earth clean for our babies and their future babies.
COST. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Cost, easily gets a 5/5.
1 package of the Boobie Latte costs approximately $65 USD. Each package contains 30 sachets. This works out to approximately $2/sachet. Right now, Milksta has a sale on and the reduced price is $49.95. This works out to $1.67/sachet.
This pricing seems like a lot, at first glance. However, the reason I’ve given this category a 5/5 is two fold - buying a cup of coffee out is certainly more expensive than $1.67/cup with the sale price. Secondly, milk boosting supplements, in pill or tincture form, are not cheap either. I haven’t worked out the cost comparison but my guess (do note that it’s just a guess!) is that Milksta provides better value for money.
So, overall, would I recommend the Boobie Latte? If you’re a coffee drinker looking for a decaf alternative, that offers some potentially milk boosting properties, absolutely! If you’re a tea drinker, Milksta does offer a Moringa Latte with black tea and a Pink a Boob Berry Latte - to be honest I think I’d prefer these one, as I’m not a regular coffee drinker.
Happy milk making!
Have you tried or are you using galactagogues? Have you tried Milksta? Let me know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
Making More Milk: The Breastfeeding Guide to Increasing Your Milk Production by Lisa Marasco and Diana West is a fantastic book that explores the ins and outs of galactagogues. You can also explore our blog that discusses foods, herbs and medicines to boost your milk production here.
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Prenatal and Postpartum yoga and movement