There is no shortage of dairy-free milk alternatives out there these days. Perhaps lesser-known is tigernut milk, a naturally creamy, sweet variety of nut milk that impressed Helenah Sinclair so much that she decided to create her own range of homemade nut-based milks.

I Like You Raw is Islington-based Sinclair's "side hustle" to working as a primary school teacher (she also works part-time as a restaurant manager at Merewether Surfhouse) which she launched in June after COVID-19-induced boredom at home inspired her to start making her own nut milks.

Sinclair was seven months into a year-long stint living in New York City after graduating from university when the Coronavirus pandemic hit.

She made the decision to return to Australia in March ("I wasn't sure whether to stay but then it went from zero to 100 very quickly, so I am lucky I was able to get out," she says) and self-isolated in her home.

"It sounds bad to say, because COVID is horrible, but the one good thing is it gave everyone time to think," Sinclair says.

"People had time to do things they have wanted to do for so long, which I think is amazing. That's how I got started with I Like You Raw.

"I have always wanted to start a little side hustle. Always. It's been my goal for a long time to have something on the side that keeps me busy, something that I am passionate about and something that is just mine."

Sinclair discovered tigernut milk during her time in New York City. She was working at cafe, Ruby's, in SoHo when she struck up a friendship with the owner of a neighbouring cafe, Tulo House, which was owned by an Australian woman who was making her own nut milks in-house.

"I watched her open the cafe up and she was experimenting with different nut milks and would give me a little taste test," Sinclair says.

"Out of the [nut] pulp she would make bliss balls or cashew butter, stuff like that, and then bring it over and let me sample. I would go there every day and chat, and she became my inspiration.

"She introduced me to these little nuts called tigernuts. I didn't know about them at all. I'd never heard of them. I was like 'What is this thing?'."

Tigernut milk has a creamy texture and natural sweetness. High in fibre and low in calories, tigernuts (which are actually a small root vegetable) are an ancient superfood native to Africa that offer a long list of health benefits being high in magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, vitamins C and E, and have been shown to help control blood pressure and promote a healthy digestive system.

Sinclair began making her own tigernut milk in isolation and, by June, she had launched the I Like You Raw website and online ordering system.

"I was making it at home and I thought 'This would be such a great little business in Newcastle', because no one else does it. I was bored in isolation and I thought 'I'm just going to do it'.

"I messaged my friend in New York and told her that she had inspired me to start making nut milk in Newcastle. She was really excited for me and gave me recipes, and links to equipment and bulk nut buying.

"I first started selling the milk in June. When I posted that I'd gone live with the website, I sold out in two hours."

Sinclair soaks the tigernuts in filtered water for two days before blending and straining, then bottling in jars. Her emphasis is on creating nut milks without additives such as sugar and gums. As well as tigernut milk, I Like You Raw's range includes cashew and coconut milk, and the best-selling almond choc which is Sinclair's version of a choccy milk made with filtered water, almonds, cinnamon, cacao and dates.

Her bio on the I Like You Raw Instagram page tells it like it is: "Raw nut milks made with complete and nutter love. Zero crap".

"I love a morning coffee and I love going out and getting coffees, but I get so sick of the crap that is in nut milks," she says.

"I understand that when something like almond milk is mass produced, it's hard to remove all of the gums and that kind of stuff because it doesn't last very long. I wanted to make nut milk that doesn't have any sugar in it, so I can actually enjoy my morning coffee and not feel guilty.

"I decided to start making tigernut milk for myself and literally all I put in it is filtered water and tigernuts. That's it."

Sinclair dedicates one day each week to making the nut milks which can be ordered online for pick-up or delivery. The tigernut milk and cashew and coconut milk are available in 500ml jars ($9 each) and choc almond milk is $9 for a 750ml bottle. Sinclair recommends using the tigernut milk in coffee, oats, smoothie bowls and cooking.