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Sweetening a juice
submitted about 10 years ago by bodohgila

Hey guys, I just got a batch of juices I ordered and I love the flavour but feel it would be better a little sweeter. I was just wondering if I could add anything to a juice to sweeten it without completely ruining it.

Is this what sucralose is for? Should I go with TFA Marshmallow or TFA Brown Sugar Extra? It it helps, the flavours I want sweetened are all creamy/custardy flavours.

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8 points
 
by meanrockSDabout 10 years ago

Sucralose adds a lot of sugar flavoring very quickly, use very sparingly for creams and desert flavors. If you use too much, you will only taste burning sugar/caramel. Brown sugar Extra is very similar to sucralose, but is more palatable with similar flavors like caramel and dulce de leche. Sucralose will cause coils to blacken and crust. Marshmallow adds sweetness and a hint of very sugary cream at very low percentages, but it can hide savory top notes. Ethyl maltol adds lingering sweetness and is very, very strong. It will mute flavors over time, especially piquant tropical or citrus flavors. I'd recommend it for fruit flavors at 3-12 drops per 30ml depending on the recipe, you will likely have to alter flavor percentages to account for it, but you won't know for sure until 3-5 days after blending.

5 points
 
by DrMclovensabout 10 years agoThe Mad Alchemist

What you are getting into now is additives. the answer to your question is yes. However, there is no EXACT science when adding additives. they really can make or brake a recipe though.

You can find a list of different additives on the side bar

for sweetener, the most common one is by far EM (Ethyl Maltol). which you can purchase from TFA.

probably followed by TFA Sweetner.

you also have other options such as Marshmallow, brown sugar, and plenty of others.

The best way for you to learn how to properly use these is by getting them and well...using them.

I can't tell you how many trial and errors I have been through with different additives, but i promise, the reward can be well worth it when you get them to work correctly.

Don't Learn to Mix. Mix to Learn :)

2 points
 
by theVoksterabout 10 years ago

>Don't Learn to Mix. Mix to Learn :)

deep.

0 points
 
by DrMclovensabout 10 years agoThe Mad Alchemist

it's my modo man ;)

5 points
 
by turkourjurbsabout 10 years agoFrugivore

I've tried a few with not good results (IMO). Stevia and Sucralose suck if you don't like that diet soda aftertaste. EM was ok but I didn't find it made a huge difference and muted a lot of the flavors. Brown Sugar is a good one if you want something mild. If you want knock your ass off sweet, TFA Maple Syrup. It doesn't taste like Maple (I'm Canadian, trust me, it doesn't taste anything like Maple) but is a great syrup flavor and strong.

3 points
 
by coop34about 10 years ago

I have one simple recipe that benefits greatly from a very small addition of tfa sweetner (sucralose). Like only 2 drops per 10 of finished juice makes it much better tasting. Without it taste is just....flat, meh. And its instant results, no waiting. I also second the comment about EM. It really will mute flavors after the steep. And I never really noticed a benefit of using it.

3 points
 
by catdumplingabout 10 years ago

I use TFA Sweetener, which is just pre-mixed sucralose in PG. The most I'll use is 2.75%, and even that's pushing it; anything more and it starts tasting like artificial sweetener to me. It also depends on the recipe though, if I'm using something like TFA Marshmallow (which has its own sweetness), I'll use less Sweetener. I don't use EM to sweeten anymore: I like fairly sweet liquids, and the amount of EM I'd use to get the sweetness where I wanted it would usually mute a lot of the other flavors. I only have one recipe that uses EM now, and that's just because I want a hint of cotton candy flavor (in fact, TFA Circus Cotton Candy would probably taste better, but I bought a big container of EM crystals several months back so I just use that.)

TFA Marshmallow, Brown Sugar or Sweetener would all work, but will all taste slightly different. I'd suggest buying small bottles of each (plus some empties to mix in), and mix them with small amounts of your juice. Don't just start adding them to a full bottle of juice you bought, because you could very well end up ruining an $18 bottle if you're not careful. Of course, once you figure out a ratio you like, then you can scale it up to sweeten a whole 30ml bottle or whatever, but don't start off doing that.

Adding anything to a bottle of commercial juice will dilute the nic strength, but because sweeteners tend to be strong, it shouldn't make enough difference to be noticeable.

2 points
 
by DuskMSabout 10 years ago

Of the ones you listed; TFA Marshmallow 1-2% by taste. This is gonna dilute the overall mix and could throw off the entire flavor or flat out mute it and your juice will taste like nothing albeit a bit sweet as it most likely has one or more sweeteners already in it.

2 points
 
by Fortinbrazabout 10 years ago

I prefer ethyl maltol as a sweetener, but it is subjective. You can get a 10% EM solution or use TFA Cotton Candy (not Circus).

2 points
 
by To0nMaNabout 10 years ago

I use a little bit of Cheesecake (LA) to sweeten my plain custards, Cream Cheese Icing (LA) will work in a pinch too. Both require some curing time when added, 1% for Cheesecake and .5% for CHI.

I dont use sucralose and only use MM (1% or less) to smooth a liquid.

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