Thoughts on Huel Black Vanilla

Experiences
1

I finally got around to opening my pouch of Huel Black Vanilla and I have to say…it’s REALLY good.

Refrigerated for 24 hours the sweetness is just right, the flavor rich but not over-powering and the texture is smooth and creamy.

I know Huel has been taking a bit of flak over the changes they made to chocolate, but the Black vanilla is excellent. The 3.0 vanilla is good but IMHO Black vanilla blows everything out of the water. I feel inclined to change my subscription but then I’ll miss the health benefits from the oats…so I’m split.

3 Likes
2

How many Huel meals are you consuming per day? Why not do the original in the morning and black as meal 2?

I’m considering this as well.

2 Likes
3

I’m doing two a day (breakfast and lunch) so I could definitely do one of each. I know oats are supposed to have some kind of magical cholesterol lowering powers so even though I’m now hooked on Vanilla Black…I’ll probably end up doing 1 3.0 and 1 VB each day for now

1 Like
4

Is your third meal also plant based? Switching to a fully plant based diet will also help lower cholesterol in the long run.

5

Not typically, although evening meal generally consists of vegetables, fruit and low-fat dairy (Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, ricotta etc). I think they’ve upped the flax and tapioca starch in Black so not sure if they have similar health benefits to oats.

6

It’s the beta-glucans (a specific type of fibre).

Flaxseed is also high in fiber and therefore so is Black Edition which helps with lowering cholesterol too.

Your typical evening meal sounds great, no need to change. Full-fat dairy seems to be fine too, there’s something around the dairy matrix that affects what fat does in the body.

1 Like
7

How would you say the flavor is different form Vanilla 3.0?

8

Thanks Dan - that’s useful info.

1 Like
9

Hey Eric - first-off, the sweetness is so much better. It’s really well balanced and tastes much softer and natural. Definitely different from the blowtorch-on-the-face sweet sensation that artificial sweeteners can sometimes elicit.

Same is true for the overall flavor. I like 3.0 vanilla but the flavor is strong, immediate and reminds me of a vanilla cookie. It’s good, but not natural. I find Black Vanilla to be softer, well rounded and not so much of an immediate assault on the tastebuds - which for me is great. The vanilla is perfectly sweet and creamy. I’m totally addicted to it.

I do want to stress that I’ve been making mine in an electric blender and letting it sit in the fridge for at least 6-7 hours…so I haven’t tried a simple shake-and-drink approach yet!

2 Likes
10

I enjoyed 1.1 the Original flavor quite a bit, but the artificial sweetener was too strong. 3.0 toned down the sweetness somewhat, but the Vanilla flavor itself is a little over the top in my opinion, like what I would expect from a protein shake.

The checkout process when I made my most recent order asked me if I wanted to try a bag of Huel Black and I declined–now I’m kicking myself.

1 Like
11

I really wish that they would make an unflavored/unsweetened Black so that I could mix it 50/50 with the vanilla. It is just too sweet for me most days.

3 Likes
12

Do you drink it as soon as you mix it or refrigerate it first? I’ve only been drinking mine after 6-12 hours of refrigeration and don’t find the sweetness to be overpowering…but taste is so subjective!

I do like the fact that Black contains zero artificial sweeteners. I know the science seems to suggest that sucralose is totally safe but as a general rule I try to minimize my consumption as much as possible. I just picked-up some protein bars sweetened with monk fruit and I have to say they’re really good. No idea if this would ever be an option for Huel (maybe it’s cost prohibitive?) but I suspect the “no artificial sweeteners” approach would be appealing to a lot of people.

1 Like
13

I mix it in the shaker and consume immediately. You find the taste profile shifts after sitting? Huh, I’ll have to give that a try.

1 Like
14

I was actually amazed at how dramatically chilling it changes the flavor profile. I first noticed it with Black chocolate flavor. I used to drink that straight after mixing and found there was a fairly distinct aftertaste (I guessed it might be the additional flax they use in the formula). But after chilling it for about 6-7 hours the flavor completely mellowed-out and I really liked it. So when I opened Black vanilla I went straight to drinking it chilled and never looked back. I know it’s not always convenient to do this if you’re at work, but for breakfast and at weekends it works great for me.

1 Like
15

I just tried chilling it for 45 minutes, and for certain it has mellowed out the intensity of the sweetness. Really appreciate the tip, I’ll try to give it even more time tomorrow.

2 Likes
16

Yes! I’ve been consuming unsweetened Huel to date, but switched to Vanilla Black when I started my keto diet and I’ve found it to be WAAAY too sweet. Yuck! My belief is that Huel should be only nutrients and the flavoring should be left to the end user.