New Customer Help! Masking the taste

Hi!
My first batch of Huel was delivered yesterday. I love the idea… the health, the covenience, the finance, the ease.

I’m really keen to make this work however so far I can’t finish one. At first I thought it was too sweet but now I think it’s because it tastes like coconut water which I find revolting. I know other people enjoy the flavour so it’s just my personal preference.

However what can I do to mask the taste? I’m worried that adding flavours like cocoa will make it even sweeter or not go well with the vanilla flavouring. Unfortunately I’ve now got two big bags of vanilla to get through!

Are there any ways to exchange? Are there any tips to hide the flavour? Any help would be appreciated. I’ve got to make this work!

Calum

Hmm, everyone is different. My very first drink of the vanilla I didn’t like much, and thought OMG should have just started with a sample, but now I really like it…it is like a subtle porridge flavour. Some people say better if chilled. I always put mine in fridge over night and drink next day…and it is lovely…and fine at room temp too.

Stick the word flavour in the search box for ways to flavour it.

Yes! It is like porridge! Like overly sweet coconuty porridge.

Cheers for the quick response

I had this myself - I really didn’t like the taste when I first tried it. But I stuck with it and got used to it, now I rather enjoy it (I’d prefer if it didn’t have that slight artificial sweetener aftertaste, but I can live with that).
Just stick with it a little longer!

Yes it’s definitely got that sweetener flavour.

I’ll keep trying. I’m really really hungry today because I couldn’t finish last night’s dinner or this morning’s breakfast haha

Hopefully I’ll get so hungry that I stop caring about the flavour!

Thanks
Calum

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Yes, I don’t like the taste of artificial sweeteners generally, but this one I got used to really quickly.

Although this is a meal replacement rather than just a protein powder, I must say it has by far the best taste and texture than any protein powders I have tried…and I have used quite a few (only vegan ones though). I’ve never tried any other meal replacement powders however.

You could try it with unsweetened almond milk, as that (in my mind) makes it taste even better…I use 30% almond milk and 70% water, and it doesn’t add massively more calories.

@Calum My best tips are:

1 - adjust the amount of water, the more water the more diluted the flavour will be
2 - add ice or chill in the fridge, this will reduce strength of the flavour
3 - add coffee (I just add a teaspoon of coffee granules and shake, no need to make a coffee with hot water first)
4 - try other ideas from here: https://huel.com/pages/how-to-use-huel#flavour

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You can train yourself to like the taste of things apparently:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/feb/26/healthy-food-train-yourself-like-it

Buy u/u and mix in a ratio that you find to your palate?

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30mg’s of cocoa powder per 100g of huel left in the fridge overnight.

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I tried the Banana Flavour System and cocoa powder yesterday - it was lovely! a little too nice, I nearly went back for another one…

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Hi there! This is actually my first post, so I thought it a good idea for it to be a useful one!

Definitely try cocoa powder - the one you find in the baking section. It’s naturally bitter rather than sweet so will counter the sweetness of the vanilla. Ice and/or frozen fruit, because of the temperate, reduces the sweetness too.

Here are a couple recipes I like (I use a blender, so if you use the shaker they obviously won’t work):

  • Add a frozen banana to water, 3 scoops Huel, 1.5 teaspoons of instant coffee, 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder
  • Add a small handful of frozen cherries (you can buy a pack from Tesco for £2) to 3 scoops of Huel and water, and 2 teaspoons of cocoa for a “black forest” type of flavour. The cherries are more on the sour side so they don’t add to the sweetness much.

You obviously have to factor in the calories of the fruit if you add it (1 banana is about 90, maybe about 30 in the amount of cherries I use) and these recipes only work with a blender but something like a nutribullet is good as they’re easy to clean up too.

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I’m in the same boat - I tried half of my sample that arrived yesterday. eek! Tried adding banana to some. Coffee to some of the rest. Also cinnamon. I cant handle the aftertaste but I really want to be able to use this product. Will definitely try the Cocoa! I also had it at room temperature so will need to try it chilled.

don’t drink it at room temperature, it’s no good IMO!

I’d advise refrigerating for an hour, the flavours seem to mature.

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This morning I used 40g vanilla, 5g bourneville Cocoa and 200ml water, you could still taste a little of the vanilla but it went really well with the cocoa as the bitterness complimented the sweetness of the vanilla Huel :slight_smile:

You could even add more cocoa or even use milk/half milk half water instead of water for a thicker and creamier consistency :slight_smile:

Thanks for all the help!

Good news!..

I’m now really enjoying the Huel. Three scoops of Huel and two spoons of cocoa (or banana Nesquik) works a treat!

It’s also nice cooled down too.

I find adding half water, shaking, topping up with water and shaking again makes it pretty smooth too.

I wish I had this when I was a student! Would have saved so much money on an unhealthy diet haha

Cheers
Calum

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I actually like it at room temperature as it tastes more like a thin ready brek…something I ate a lot as a kid but haven’t for many years. I blend it first, put in fridge overnight and have a cold one first thing and a room temperature 1 or 2 later. They do taste different…guess different people prefer different ways of prep.

In the coldest part of the winter I stopped chilling it because I really didn’t like having cold Huel on a freezing cold day. I’ve gone back to chilling it now that the weather is warming up a bit.

I don’t like the artificial sweetener taste either. I’m using the unflavoured one at the moment. I add 1 teaspoon of honey and three tablespoons of drinking chocolate to 4 scoops of huel, with enough to fill the container. I use hot water as I like the ready break experience, but it’s just as good as it cools Down. It lasts me all morning.

So I had my first drink of it early over the weekend - my friend who started around the same time asked how I liked it (He really likes it)

My response was that I really liked the texture and the immediate taste was fine, but the after taste was a bit…blergh. I said I hoped it would vanish when I got used to it.

I’m already used to it :slight_smile: I blend, chill, and now I’m alllll good drinks my lunch happily

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