In order to make almond milk, almonds are ball-milled until the particle size reaches an average diameter of about 30 micrometers, which is fine enough to preve

In order to make almond milk, almonds are ball-milled until the particle size reaches an average diameter of about 30 micrometers, which is fine enough to prevent a "grainy" feeling on the human tongue. If these ultrafine almond particles were to be suspended in water at a high enough concentration to mimic the thickness of milk, the resulting almond flavor would be overwhelming. This is described in the following patent: https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2476317A1/en https://patents.google.com/patent/EP2476317A1/en Instead, a small amount of ultrafine almond is suspended in water along with a tasteless long-chain polysaccharide, usually xanthan gum but occasionally other PS such as guar gum, psyllium mucilage or carob bean gum. Xanthan gum is the highest quality in any case. Source: I once considered trying to start a business around a tabletop ball mill for producing homemade nut milk, and similar assorted accessories. However, after some consideration, this is probably not viable. Fun fact: Hempseeds are extremely soft, and can be ground to an acceptable fineness by an ordinary blender. However, the resulting hemp milk has a strong flavor resembling undercooked eggplant. It may be suitable as a substitute for coconut in curries (not yet trialled).