Is Fairlife Really The Best Ultra-Filtered Milk? I Tried 6 Brands To Find Out

As milk is a grocery staple, you might have seen ultra-filtered milk options from your favorite brands crop up in stores. Ultra-filtered milk gets filtered multiple times, hence its name, which typically means a higher protein content with less sugar. One cup of standard 2% milk may contain 12 to 14 grams of sugar with around 8 to 10 grams of protein, but ultra-filtered milk might have closer to 6 grams of sugar with 13 grams of protein. Sometimes it also means you'll get a lactose-free dairy product (usually thanks to the addition of lactase enzyme), but this may vary per product. This is ideal if you have lactose intolerance or simply want milk without all the sugar. 

Fairlife, in particular, is well known for its ultra-filtered milk, but there are plenty of other options on the market when you're seeking more health-conscious milk. I set out to try six ultra-filtered milks to find the best. I stuck with 2% milk because a whole-fat option could easily sway the results with its richness. I usually drink whole milk but wanted to find something with less sugar without skimping on protein. Therefore, taste is the biggest factor. I was looking for the best-tasting, creamiest milk with a pleasant dairy flavor that didn't leave a funky aftertaste. Which brand knocked it out of the park? I was genuinely surprised by the results, and you might be too. 

While Friendly Farms 2% Ultra-Filtered Milk ranks last, it's still a great product. Don't get me wrong: I think it's a worthy option, particularly if you're already shopping at Aldi. It doesn't always make sense to drive to another store just for ultra-filtered milk, so this Aldi alternative is convenient if you like to save money at the discount grocery store. However, when sipped side by side with the rest of the options on this list, Aldi's was clearly the lightest and most watery. 

Alone, it doesn't have the same body and richness to make it enticing to drink. In coffee, it doesn't bring the creaminess I usually seek. It adds a smidge of watery milkiness, but not much decadence that I'd get with whole milk. And I didn't want to continue pouring more into it, effectively just having milk with a splash of coffee. However, it could still be a good product to add protein to breakfast sweets, like oatmeal, overnight oats, or chia pudding. It's a fine ultra-filtered milk, but there are better ones coming up. Friendly Farms comes in a 59-ounce carton and has 120 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbohydrates (with all 7 grams coming from sugar), and 14 grams of protein per 1-cup serving. 

Fairlife's milk fared slightly better than Friendly Farms, but clearly, it's not the best I tried — so we've already solved the article's titular mystery. Fairlife's Ultra-Filtered Reduced Fat 2% Milk tastes like 2% milk, meaning it has a less rich, sort of watery taste that you don't get from higher-fat milk. Of course, people buy 2% milk for many reasons, health and taste among them. However, I didn't want to forgo flavor for nutritional value; I was seeking the best of both worlds, and Fairlife doesn't provide as much decadence as some of the upcoming flavors. 

It has that distinct dairy aftertaste that I seem to notice specifically in lighter, less fatty milks. I find it has a slightly creamier mouthfeel than Friendly Farms, which gives it a boost in the ranking. Fairlife's chocolate milk didn't do very well in a chocolate milk ranking because of its extreme sweetness, so you're better off sticking to this unflavored one — it doesn't taste particularly bad and is more versatile. You get 52 ounces in a container with a 1-cup serving offering 120 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 6 grams of carbohydrates (with all 6 grams coming from sugar), and 13 grams of protein.

About a month ago, I realized my Albertsons was selling 59-ounce cartons of Darigold FIT Ultra-Filtered Milk, so I started buying the whole milk version of this product for my family — I have had no complaints. Now that I've tried the 2% option, I can say it is considerably less decadent than the whole milk (as to be expected), but it holds up against Fairlife and Friendly Farms. 

I find it has a richer taste than the previous two, with a creamier mouthfeel that lingers on the tongue after sipping. There's a slight milky aftertaste, but nothing offensive. And still, it's less noticeable than the Fairlife aftertaste. However, it doesn't quite hit the same craving as the Darigold whole milk version I've been getting, and I would rather just get that in future shopping trips.

The whole milk FIT is higher in fat and calories but has the same protein and sugar; the latter of which is more important to me personally, so there's no need to switch to 2% if it isn't as tasty. A 1-cup serving has 140 calories, 5 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbohydrates (with all 7 grams coming from sugar), and 14 grams of protein. It has the highest fat and calorie content of the three so far, which I can taste in the overall richness of the product.

Good and Gather's 52-ounce 2% Ultra-Filtered Milk is so new that it wasn't even on the shelves when I went to the store. I checked the app to confirm it was in stock, so I went to an associate to attempt to locate it. Turns out, it was still in the back, and they hadn't taken off the paletts yet. Clearly, the bottle shape is meant to look like Fairlife because they are very similar. Even the Target associate thought it was Fairlife when I showed them a picture. I'm happy to report that I found it better, more flavorful, and milkier than the name brand.

It has a noticeably rich mouthfeel without the mild, low-fat dairy aftertaste that stuck to my tongue in the previous three products. Target has created really solid competition with this product. If I were already shopping at Target, I would absolutely purchase it again. That's why I'm surprised to see that the small number of reviews it currently has point out that Fairlife is vastly superior. After sipping the products side by side, I don't agree with that. Again, this clearly boils down to personal preference, or it could be an issue with a specific batch because of the filtration process. A 1-cup serving has 120 calories, 5 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbohydrates (with all 7 grams coming from sugar), and 14 grams of protein.

I've never heard of Pioneer Pastures, but I was happy to give its 59-ounce Lactose Free 2% A2 Ultra-Filtered Milk carton a try in this taste test. I'm pleased to report that it fared extremely well. It has the most luxurious, creamy taste out of the previous options, and you wouldn't guess it was 2% milk straight off the bat. It has a clean dairy taste that doesn't leave any funky lingering flavor after sipping. 

The Pioneer Pastures milk makes a fantastic addition to a cup of coffee, requiring only a small amount to achieve the desired richness. It stands out from the rest of the list because it uses A2 milk, produced by cows that carry the A2 beta-casein gene. This is supposed to help consumers digest milk more easily, a finding generally supported by clinical trials. While this was not a factor in my ranking, it's useful to know. Even so, this milk still contains lactase enzyme (like everything else on the list) to ensure it's completely free of lactose. One cup of milk has 130 calories, 5 grams of fat, 7 grams of carbohydrates (6 of which are sugar), and 14 grams of protein.

Despite being a loyal Costco fan and card member, I didn't have high expectations for its Kirkland Signature Ultra-Filtered 2% Lactose Free Milk. It's just milk, after all, but here we are at the top of the pack. Not only is this Kirkland item a budget-friendly dupe of Fairlife, but it's better, richer, and creamier. I would never guess that it's 2% milk because it tastes and feels so much fattier than that. 

Typically, 2% milk has a mildly watery aftertaste, kind of like you mixed milk with a couple of glugs of water. Kirkland's ultra-filtered milk will be my go-to milk moving forward. I will forgo my Darigold whole ultra-filtered milk for this one. Of course, it doesn't hurt that it's economical since you get the lowest price per carton compared to other options, including Aldi. Not only that, but one carton holds 64 ounces — which is 5 ounces more than the 59-ounce options on the list. 

One cup of milk has 120 calories, 4.5 g of fat, 6 grams of carbs (with all 6 grams coming from sugar), and 13 grams of protein; that means it has the same macros as Fairlife, but it's much, much tastier. This gets first place purely for flavor, but the nutrition seals the deal, while the economics make a no-brainer. Granted, if you don't have room for three milk cartons in your fridge, go with my second-place pick.

I tested each milk one after another to taste the differences between them. I tried each one several times, even in different orders, to establish the ranking and to better understand how each tasted. I was looking for the best, richest milk with a balanced taste that didn't leave any aftertaste (which I find happens with skim milk, like 2%, compared to whole milk). I didn't set out to find an ultra-filtered, whole milk-like dupe, but I found something close; this means I don't feel like I skimped on flavor to have milk with less sugar (which is why I switched to ultra-filtered in the first place). 

The lower-ranked drinks had a more noticeable aftertaste and a lighter, waterier body, whereas the higher-ranked ones were creamy and flavorful. I included nutritional value as it is relevant to help consumers understand the differences between the brands. I also included some insights into how the milk worked in a cup of coffee because ultra-filtered milk is the easiest way to boost the protein content of your morning brew; this info may help educate people about how each milk tastes with other foods and drinks to assist them in deciding which is best for their food and nutritional needs. I'm happy to drink any of these; nothing was unpleasant per se, but some were clearly more indulgent and enjoyable beyond their nutrition.