Ready to drink vs. Powder - help

Hey
Having tried and loved the ready made Huel Berry, I went ahead and ordered the powder mainly for the economic sense. Was very disappointed by the powdery texture and weak flavour. Have now used a blender which has improved things a little.
My question is this - what is in the ready made drink compared to a powder based concoction? Less volume, clearly, so in what proportion is it made? What else has been added?
I need some clues here because right now, the taste/texture experience is turning me off Huel and I really want to be onboard without having to shell out for the bottles.

Any thoughts would be welcome :blush:

What flavour powder did you try?
And what weight of Huel powder to mls of water did you mix?

Getting good results with the powder is easy after a while - it just takes a bit of experimentation to find the flavour and consistency you like.

The Original vanilla powder has a similar sweetness to the berry RTD in my opinion. Choose a flavour boost that you fancy (mint-choc, mocha, caramel, cacao are my personal favourites). Try adding 100g powder to 400ml water and 1 tsp of flavour boost.
Use a blender or mixer ball to get a smoother consistency than the shaker alone.
Refrigerate it to thicken over night.
This should give you a better result!

Also adding milk can make a massive difference to texture, consistency and flavour.
My preference is oat milk, but dairy milk, or any plant milk also works well

Hi :blush:
Followed the instructions initiallyā€¦so 400 ml cold water, 3 scoops (Berry) and mix then add 200 ml more and shake again. Have tried the same using blender and refrigerate overnight, tried 2 scoops, currently trying 100ml with 500ml plus iceā€¦ will be having that one today!

What I was getting at was the ready made drink is 500ml so presumably made using different proportions to instructions on powder and it also tasted sweeter, in my opinion. I understand that the consistency will be better from a commercially produced product; it is the powdery texture more than the flavour that is the issue.

Thanks for your comments :ok_hand:

The ingredients of the two products are totally different, itā€™s not just a case of Huel taking some of the powder and then making their own liquid Huel and pouring it into RTD bottles. Hence why you get a more powdery product at home. Blending and refrigerating does help in my opinion, although you seemed not to agree. Iā€™ve been drinking Huel a long time and the powdery texture hasnā€™t ever been an issue for me, but I appreciate others are different.

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I think the powder is superior to the RTD - itā€™s probably just a matter of finding the right ā€˜recipeā€™ and also getting used to it.

Berry powder and Berry RTD are completely different in flavour though and personally Iā€™m not surprised youā€™re disappointed.
In my opinion berry RTD is awesome and berry powder is terrible !
Opinions and tastes vary wildly however as you will notice after reading the forum.

Iā€™d suggest trying a few different flavour of powder. See what your favourite is.
Textureā€¦ blend, refrigerate, and try adding plant or dairy milk - all of this will help. But it wonā€™t make it like the RTD. But I think after a few days you will get to like it very much! Itā€™s kind of an acquired taste / texture !

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Yes I agree. The Berry RTD is lovely.

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I need to get some of that Berry RTD just to show Iā€™m not berry-ist.

I know a grave digger who is berry-ist.

In all honesty, like others said you should think about it like two completely different products.

There are many reasons for this, from the ingredients, to the manufacturing process and the format.

Perhaps the biggest difference is the manufacturing and how it is stored. When you make the RTD, it needs to be in liquid state for the next 6 months + (whatever the shelf life is); avoid the precipitation of the ingredients; keep the smooth texture and still be edible.

In order to do so, you will appreciate that the ingredient list varies (to a degree that the macronutrient split is different):

  • Oats are first for powder; pea protein and then tapioca starch is for RTD etc.
    (I cover more of the differences in this huel rtd review).

So you have a different list of ingredients. That will affect the flavour.

Then you have industrial blending. Any RTD in the market will be smoother than the Powder counterpart; due to the fact that they are blended in companies specialised making these drinks. The blending process can take minutes or hours; in order to achieve an homogeneous texture.

The location, the water and the process this company uses can also change the flavour of the drink (as other brands have experienced).

All in all, you wonā€™t be able to achieve the same drink with the powder, and I would recommend you instead trying to achieve something you like with it. Either via adding milk; more berries and blending; or going for a different flavour.

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Thatā€™s not even a ā€œso bad itā€™s goodā€ joke. Itā€™s so unlike a functioning joke that Iā€™m not sure itā€™s supposed to be one. Are you alright? Have you got a concussion? I am concerned.

But thinking about it a bit more, I think Iā€™m more insulted than concerned. You thought ā€œberry/bury, thatā€™s a good enough gag for these plebsā€ and then you went right ahead and posted it. How dare you. We deserve better than that.

And now Iā€™ve had a few more seconds to think, I wonder if Iā€™m overreacting. I donā€™t know any more.

If only bury wasnā€™t a verb itā€™d all be much easier. Actually, you know what? Thank you for trying. Thank god for you, for trying.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply!
I now fully grasp that there are significant differences in the two products and using one to recommend the other was my bad.
If I could improve the texture a little that would help.
There have been a couple of mentions of using milk; what are peopleā€™s thoughts about this? Use all milk, or some mixed with water etc etc. Whole/semi-skimmed/skimmed?

I thought it was a berry good try.

Thatā€™s a better one. I dig it.

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Yup, Berry is definitely my favourite of the RTD flavours. Iā€™d say itā€™s a shame that itā€™s not stocked by Sainsburyā€™s but given neither of the other RTDs seem to be either it makes no difference.

I canā€™t personally comment on using dairy milk as I donā€™t drink it, but others do use 100% dairy milk in place of water and have said itā€™s very good. Skimmed or full fat - just use whatever you would normally use for your tea or cereal etc.

I personally love plant milk in Huel. Oatly or Oatly barista are fantastic.
Alpro coconut, hazelnut or almond are also excellent but be aware of combining flavours !
Hazelnut is awesome in chocolate Huel but probably disgusting in Berry!
For plant milk, use maybe only 1/4 plant milk and 3/4 water because the gums in the milk will cause the Huel to thicken.
Experiment with quantities a bit until you get the consistency you like.

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For diary, it varies. It will change the sweetness and the thickness (more milk, the thicker). I usually do 30Milk/70water or 50/50. I am also wary of how milk adds calories easily.

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I used to use 100ml plant milk + 300ml water + 100g Huel powder. Now I just use water. Iā€™m finding Huel thickens up nicely on standing for a short time, say 20 mins, refrigerated or not.

Ooh! I see today is the anniversary of the day I joined the community :+1:

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Happy anniversary @Bee

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Iā€™ve learned to really love the berry powder, and I recommend you make it at least 30 minutes or more before drinking it, let it thicken a bit (possibly add a bit more water) and shake again before drinking it. I also add frozen berries and ice cubes and shake several times so the berries get nice and smoshed. Just remember to remove the grid before drinking so youā€™ll get the berries as happy surprises! It also helps if you think of it more like porridge with berries than a milky drink, then the texture makes more sense in your brain and wont be as off-putting. Enjoy :slight_smile:

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