BikeBookBread Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 (edited) .... please answer this question for me. As an "adventure" DH picked up a couple of coconuts from the grocery store this week. We cracked them open Les Stroud style (Survivorman) outside on the front porch and sampled the milk. I had to run inside and eat a salt and vinegar potato chip to get the taste out of my mouth... I LOVE coconut. Is the milk supposed to taste AWFUL?? The meat tasted like soap. They were from The Dominican Republic... do different varieties have different flavors? I understand that coconut from the store has been processed. Is it cooked somehow? (Not toasted... but blanched or something??) Edited September 18, 2010 by BikeBookBread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3littlekeets Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 From what I recall, the liquid inside is not the milk...you have to press the coconut to get the milk and then it will be milky and tasty. The liquid is coconut water and can vary in taste by growing area and age of the coconut. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyndie Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 I think coconut water is horribly sweet. My kids like it and we use it when they're sick. Normally we ferment it though and they prefer it that way... much less sweet! Maybe you got a bad coconut. If the water is pink or purpleish, it's bad. Was the meat white and firm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted September 18, 2010 Author Share Posted September 18, 2010 I think coconut water is horribly sweet. My kids like it and we use it when they're sick. Normally we ferment it though and they prefer it that way... much less sweet! Maybe you got a bad coconut. If the water is pink or purpleish, it's bad. Was the meat white and firm? Flesh was very firm in one, and the other, once cracked open was rotten. (Sorry, LLL - you got the bad one - her poor little face was pathetic as she drank that coconut water - we soon understood why.) The water wasn't sweet at all -- it tasted like soap. From what I recall, the liquid inside is not the milk...you have to press the coconut to get the milk and then it will be milky and tasty. The liquid is coconut water and can vary in taste by growing area and age of the coconut. Ahhhhh - coconut WATER versus coconut milk. Makes sense, PP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfOneFunOne Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Coconut milk tastes like coconut flavored water. It should look like not too terribly cloudy water and taste coconutty and sweet. I have never heard of a coconut going bad but surely they do. I think you got a bad one. The flesh should taste like nothing but coconut. it should be hard to separate from the shell and hard to the tooth and oily. After working with it a while, you should notice that you're fingers are simultaneously oily and sticky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BikeBookBread Posted September 18, 2010 Author Share Posted September 18, 2010 Coconut milk tastes like coconut flavored water. It should look like not too terribly cloudy water and taste coconutty and sweet. I have never heard of a coconut going bad but surely they do. I think you got a bad one. The flesh should taste like nothing but coconut. it should be hard to separate from the shell and hard to the tooth and oily. After working with it a while, you should notice that you're fingers are simultaneously oily and sticky. We got two bad coconuts then. The flesh was completely separate from the shell, and the outside was pink. Oh well. Hope the girls aren't totally turned off by coconut now. I know I feel kind of yucky. The taste was AWFUL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyndie Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Soap... not a taste one generally expects from a coconut. lol I'm sorry it didn't taste good. I have no idea why since it sounds like at least one of them was healthy. ETA posted after another poster mentioned both were bad. Hey, we ferment them all and it has been at least a year since I opened one to play with the flesh. But I agree, they always taste like coconut, not soap. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamnkats Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 I live with coconut trees and we only drink the water (it is called leche - milk but it is the clear liquid - water) from green cocos. Brown cocos yuck. No water but the meat is good. If you get a green coco and the meat is somewhat slimy (not hard) that is the best of all. But truthfully, the coco water has like NO taste at all. We use the coco water for electrolye replacement down here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smrtmama Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Well, if they came from the Dominican Republic, they likely weren't all that fresh. They'd probably been off the tree for weeks, simply by virtue of travel time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Sounds like a bad coconut. I agree -- coconut water is not particularly coconutty. More like a soft cucumber type flavor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetbasil Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Next time, try a young (i.e. green) coconut. Much better IMO. I see them for sale all the time at the huge Thai grocery store. There is coconut water for sale all over here (forgot the brand - but it's Mexican). It's really good; very refreshing. Coconut water was/is used in IVs as an emergency electrolyte solution (straight from the sterile interior of the coconut). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 That is coconut water, and you got a baddy. To make milk (and I wouldn't make it from a baddy), I crack the shells in to, bake at 400 F for 5 minutes (this lets you pull the meat off without a hassle at all), break into chunks, put into a food processor, add a little water and whirl with the sharp blades. I drain and press that milk out, and repeat. I use those two for cooking, and I whir the pulverized meat once more and use that for an icy drink or to enrich a baked item. You can freeze the whole meat bits, or the milk, quite well, if you get a deal on coconuts. These are mature ones. The green ones I eat with a spoon. Hubby loves them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quad Shot Academy Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 I have tried it several times and it tastes like mold to me. :ack2: I love refrigerated coconut milk though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FloridaLisa Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 They are peeled, wrapped in plastic and refrigerated. They have a shelf life but we eat them waaaay before they go bad. My dc love the milk straight from the coconut with a straw and then either spoon out the flesh (which is softish, not hard) or put the flesh into a smoothie. Yuuuummmm. Very good. Hope you get up the courage to try a good one! Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted September 18, 2010 Share Posted September 18, 2010 Ha ha--my answer would be that coconut milk tastes . . . disgusting! Yeah, I grew up in HI and must be the only person there who hates coconut. BTW most of the coconut you get at the grocery store is sweetened. Maybe that's why it tastes so good. To you. Not to me. :D Cinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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