Ive been drinking Huel Black daily ever since I got my first bag some year ago or so. It used to be such a treat, especially loved the Coffee Caramel and Cookies & Cream flavors. However, now with the introduction of v1.2 they both taste extremely bland and I no longer look forward to having my daily Huel.
I’m very curious how others have perceived these “improvements” to Huel Black with the v1.2. Saw a lot of people complaining about it over on Reddit, but to my surprise the feedback on this forum has been mostly limited to the topic which introduced the new version. Do you feel that the introduction of v1.2 improved the product or made it worse?
At first, I liked it. The strong flavours of v1.1 were sometimes a bit much for me so I would swop in some U/U to dial them back. v1.2 seemed like it was more delicately flavoured, and mixed better. I felt like it was an improvement.
But more recently I think I’m changing my mind. I miss the strong flavours, especially if the water is chilled there are times now when I think the flavour isn’t strong enough. I feel like I drink it more quickly, it seems lighter and less substantial. That sense might just come from the taste difference. Anyway, I’m beginning to feel that I miss the stronger taste of v1.1.
Of course this is completely subjective and I haven’t done a side-by-side comparison, so who knows? Maybe it’s memory-tricks, but if I was offered a choice of v1.1 or v1.2 right now I’d want to try the old stuff again.
I compared them side by side. The v1.1 Coffee Caramel actually tasted like a strong, thick, nice iced coffee when chilled, and I could swear the v1.1 Cookies & Cream was close to crushed Oreos. In contrast, the v1.2 ones taste like their watered-down cousins straight from Temu…
I contacted Huel’s support regarding this, and they specifically claimed that the flavor should be richer, which is strange, to say the least:
This newer formula features a different cocoa and flavouring blend which was included to add a richer flavour, and enhance creaminess and sweetness, which might be causing the differences you’re noticing.
I’m really hoping its some bigger bad batch and not the way they intended.
You’ve done the right contacting us because we’d never want you sitting on a bad batch if you catch our drift! We primarily updated our Black Edition Powder to improve taste and texture. The support team should have taken all the details for you so this can be raised in house to make sure it’s not a wider issue
I agree it’s surprising to read the suggestion that the flavours are ‘richer’. They may be more refined, subtle, balanced; but they certainly seem less strong. ‘Richer’ does suggest depth and strength but the change seems to be the opposite of that.
It’d be interesting to know if the move to improve the flavours was deliberately focused on reducing the flavour-strengths (for folk like me who sometimes felt it was a bit much), or if this was an unintended consequence of other changes to texture, formula or whatnot.
I have difficulty distinguishing the difference between version 1.2 coffee caramel and salted caramel, both when drinking and when tasting the powder to make sure I’ve got the right container (decanting Huel into tupperware makes for less mess in the long run). I’ve taken to making coffee caramel up with cold coffee and using caramel syrup in the salted caramel, while wishing the flavour sachets were still available.
I never had powdered Huel Black before 1.2, but my feedback in isolation:
I really like the banana flavour, it tastes like actual bananas rather than ‘banana’ flavouring; there is a slightly weird ‘hit’ when you take the first sip, like you’ve had a spoonful of MSG, or neat vanilla essence (not that, but that’s the only way I know to describe it!).
The chocolate flavour gives more oat than chocolate to me, like a low-calorie ‘chocolate flavoured’ oat bar; it’s not bad, but not chocolatey.
I dont think bad batch, they have just tried to make it taste more like cream filling than biscuit and it just doesnt work. Oh and the smell now is so bad.
Thats my thoughts on it, another thing is more sweet too.
Its no tricks its true! Tastes worse than it did, this is my last 3 bags of huel, sick of changes for the better than actually make it worse, its unreal, who is complaining!!!
There seems to be a mixed bag of views here but I’m sorry the general consensus is people are not fans of the Cookies and cream!
It’s worth mentioning, if you ever feel like something tastes chemically/off please reach out to us! We take all feedback seriously so would want to look into this for you to make sure everything is okay but most of all if you are unhappy find something that can work!
Hi I agree since black V1.2 changed the chocolate doesn’t taste the same, neither does the cookies and cream, neither does the banana or the coffee caramel, which doesn’t taste like coffee at all. The strawberries &cream tastes better though!
Hey Mark, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this. I’m curious to hear why Huel describes the new flavors as “richer” when a significant majority of users, both here and elsewhere, seem to disagree. Has the decline in product quality been acknowledged internally? And are there any plans to reconsider the changes introduced in the latest version of Black?
I tried strawberry in my last order (every now and then I try something different from my usual double caramel) and I don’t know whether it’s me expecting salted caramel or whether it’s something in the powder, but on first taste there’s a cartoon fanfare of “hi there, I’m your artificial flavour for the night” chemicals. It settles down to something more natural after a couple of mouthfuls, but it’s going to be a while before I try strawberry again
Sorry about not getting back to you sooner, I was out of the office back the end of last week so just getting around to everyone
I want to make sure we are answering your question with the detail it deserves so I’ve reached out to various people to see if there is any more I can share with you.
We are constantly striving to provide the best products, which is why we regularly review and update our recipes. This time, we have decided to upgrade Black Edition Powder from v1.1 to v1.2 to enhance the taste and texture, as well as make other improvements:
We have introduced Tony’s Chocolonely cocoa supply chain for our Chocolate and Salted Caramel Flavours.
We have removed kombucha and lycopene as, following extensive nutritional testing, we found that they contributed minimally to the nutrition and were adding unnecessary complexity.
When it comes to internal comms, we are always monitoring complaints and will always make sure we make any changes to our products with our customers in mind
