My personal theory:
First off, raw milk does taste noticably different than pasteurized and homogenized milk you find at the store.
Pasteurization: heating the milk triggers the unfolding of proteins (Denaturation). This is what kills the bacteria but can also change the flavor of the milk.
Homogenization. This process breaks up the fat into smaller segments so they stay in solution in the milk. The result is a less creamy flavor.
People instinctually associate flavor with nutritional value. They think that better flavored food = better for you. This sort-of works in tomatoes and a few other fruit/vegetables. However taste perception is a complex blend of genetics, environmental conditions, and psychology. So the results are inherently unpredictable and completely unreliable.
The unpasteurized crowd all fall for the 'it tastes better so it must be better". They then make all sorts of excuses to justify their instinct. " Big corporate milk is evil!!" Blah blah blah.
UHT has a very different taste to pasteurised milk, but is pasteurised to raw milk such a big difference?
It does taste different.l but it’s still milk.
I’ve grown up on a farm, and milk can even taste different from cow to cow, or at different times of the year if that changes their alimentation.
Raw milk also usually has a higher fat content than what most people buy.
Ours would average 4.5%.
Different breeds also taste different, holsteins, ayrshires, jerseys, etc.
I’ve never been a big fan of milk, so I can’t into much details on flavor.
I personally wouldn’t procure raw milk from a farm I didn’t know very well.
I can’t taste the breed in market milk, but I could differentiate most cows just by taste of milk from my family’s farm. I can still tell the difference between brands and seasons.
Market milk tastes kinda devoid of personality. But it is still milk. Just that milk from hundreds of cows gets mixed together
The only time I ever liked plain milk was still warm out of the cow. These days, I just don’t drink milk except for a very rare (couple of times a year) chocolate milk or milkshake where I don’t taste the milk itself, really.
Breed and diet definitely impact milk flavor and fat percentage, but some types of pasteurization seem to as well.
This is not an endorsement to drink milk that has not been pasteurized.
Aside from that, particularly with regard to colostrum, some people think treating the milk can damage things. As mentioned, I’m not a milk drinker to begin with, but I have no idea if (a) there are any studies showing benefits or even effects of drinking colostrum, particularly as an adult and from something other than a human or (b) regardless of point a if there is even any study on heat damaging it. I watch a lot of farming/homesteading content and some people are really into this.
