Is So Delicious Really So Delicious?

So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer

I Paid: $2.39 for a pint (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 3 stars

Marketing: 3 stars

As a dude from a dairy state (nay, the Dairy State, at least as far as award-winning cheese is concerned), I'm inclined to distrust hippie-trippy dairy substitutes. Enter So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer. Points for marketing: Coconut Milk sounds kind of tasty, and, well, So Delicious sounds at least marginally delicious in actual practice.

But still: Subbing coconut milk for cream and regular old milk seems like an unwise choice—you're giving up a lot of the fatty richness that makes half-and-half so pleasing.

The other side of that coin, of course, is nutrition. A tablespoon of So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Milk Creamer stands up rather favorably against a tablespoon of Organic Valley French Vanilla Half & Half. The former versus the latter: 20 calories versus 35. Zero grams of total fat versus 1.75 grams. Zero cholesterol versus 5 milligrams. Zero sodium versus 5 milligrams.

As for flavor? Well, it's not a massacre. The Original variety of So Delicious is frothy and insubstantial, and certainly lacks some of the satisfying heft of half-and-half, but it's passable. French Vanilla is better: The cinnamon-spiced vanilla flavor and bit of sweetness help fill in the lack of substance, which makes for a merry, enjoyable morning cup of joe.

Tolerably close in flavor, and little to none of the bad nutritional impact—this stuff is pretty impressive ... particularly for a make-believe dairy product.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster Daily videos, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. (Click here to see all of James's previous Supertaster work.) You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook.