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Soylent Coffee: Nootropics, Fat, Carbs, Protein -- But Will It Give You The Toots? (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader writes from a report via Ars Technica: Soylent has ventured in a new direction with its latest beverage: breakfast. Called Coffiest, the new offering has the same ingredient makeup, nutritional mix, and 47/33/20 percent fat/carb/protein calorie distribution as the 2.0 premixed version, but it also adds coffee flavoring, 150mg of caffeine per serving, and 75mg of the nootropic L-Theanine. According to Soylent founder Rob Rhinehart, a bottle of Coffiest supplies the drinker with about 400 kilocalories and about 20 percent of the daily recommended values for "all essential vitamins and minerals." "A lot of people are skipping breakfast," Rhinehart told Ars in a phone interview. "We wanted to provide a convenient and also really tasty option for them to enjoy in the morning." Additionally, the company will also be releasing a nutrition bar, called the Soylent Bar. This one will deliver 250 kilocalories per bar, and has a macronutrient breakdown of 38/43/19 percent fat/carb/protein. "Coffee flavor is extremely complex," Rhinehart told Ars. "The direction I gave was a little bit of a more darker, richer roast it's a little darker coffee. A little bit of cocoa powder, just a barely perceptible amount, but it rounds out the flavor nicely." "It was a huge challenge to develop a coffee flavor that would survive processing," he continued. "You can't take any risks with health or safety, so we have to eliminate any sources of contamination from the product and that involves heat. So we had some great food scientists and flavor scientists work out a flavor system that combines natural coffee extracts with an artificial flavor system. And it turned out pretty great." As for the toots, neither Coffiest nor the Soylent Bar will cause consumers to erupt with "horse-killing farts," a complaint made by many of Soylent's customers as well as Ars Technica writer Lee Hutchinson. For those interested in Soylent's latest concoction, Coffiest is available for purchase today at the Soylent site for about $40 for a pack of 12 servings (or $37.05 with a recurring subscription). The Soylent Bar will launch later for about $2 per bar. You can view Coffiest's nutrition facts here.
As a once in a blue moon thing to eat/drink, these Soylent products are alright. However, I drink a cup of coffee every day. I shudder to think what the estrogenic effects of consuming vast amounts of soy protein daily are. Not to mention the other terrible ingredients listed in there. Maltodextrin is a simple sugar. Why not use a sugar like turbinado?
You'd be better off getting a casein/whey protein shake and mixing it with fruit, some nut butter (hehe), and some fibrous substance like psyllium as a meal replacement drink. Sure it's not vegan or lactose tolerant, but who really cares what vegans feel.
I'll pass on this.
I dont mind meal replacements. there are several used institutionally and in hospitals that never get this much publicity but have been around for years. My biggest concern however is our growing dependence upon multinational and branded consumer food companies to provide replacements for basic food staples. most americans already rely implicitly on betty crocker and stouffers to fill in the blanks of their culinary Repertoire. For the past 20 years most thanksgivings in america have been an olympic feast of multibillion dollar corporate sponsored brands of pre-cooked, processed foods that emerge at the supermarket shelf unaccountably and ubiquitously. Will the soylent generation know how to steam rice, or properly cook poultry? could they prepare porridge or vegetables, or even remember how to cook dry beans? Does soylent foster an even greater social divide in the 21st century by short-circuiting the social past-time of cooking and eating together? how will this generation cope when there is no soylent?
Almost no one can start a fire with a flint nor build a workable bow or arrow tips anymore. Almost now one knows how weave their own fabric, nor preserve meats with salt, beneficial molds, fermentation or smoking. Almost no one can make antiseptics out of urine, bile and herbs.
And you know what, we are fine. Unless we are waiting for an asteroid strike, the zombie apocalypse or some other shit that collapses human civilization, we will be fine.