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Comment by vermontdevil | Hacker News Reader

Has anyone tried the drink? Is it good?

It's simultaneously neutral and filling—sort of like the fullness you get when you have a big bite of oatmeal (except it's a liquid, of course). I compare the taste to pancake batter, but might be in the minority on that.

My new thing is to mix it with 1:1:1 coffee:soylent:water (normally it's 1:2 soylent:water) and have it for breakfast, which I've found rather pleasant.

Do you use instant coffee or just mix in a cup of regular 'ol coffee?

I use standard coffee because I get it free at work. But I've heard instant coffee is also good.

I've been using Soylant as my daily lunch meal for several months now. Enjoy the convenience. Taste and texture are acceptable. Not in any hurry to switch to Soylant for all my meals -- just enjoying the lunchtime convenience.

I think that's how most people do it, and the founder has implied in the past that it's kind of how he intends/expects it.

The biggest criticism of Soylent seems to be "Who would ever want to give up food for all meals forever?" when that's not really what the point is.

Well then what is the point? If you're eating one or two balanced real meals a day, eating something ready-made for the calories is very easy and cheap. There's no need for anything like soylent. Have a coke and a pickled egg for lunch everyday.

I think the point is that Soylent also accounts for all the various nutrients you would want in a balanced diet, and does so conveniently and affordably.

I would have to consult my doctor, but my guess is that a Coke and pickled egg would meet those requirements.

Actually eggs contain a lot of the things you need. They are mainly missing carbs (his coke) and fibre. His meal suggestion does not appeal to me. However, as part of an otherwise balanced diet it could be perfectly healthy.

A Coke and a pickled egg isn't exactly healthy.

The founder said in his first blog post about the subject that, prior to pursuing his Soylent idea, he was eating a lot of fast food and frozen burritos.

Of course, if you're just looking for a cheap, quick hunger fix, those things will work. As will a candy bar, bag of chips, etc. But if you're trying to eat healthy, it's kinda tough to find something that's also quick, convenient, and filling. Soylent solves that problem.

A coke and an egg is perfectly healthy. A coke is ~150 allergen free calories, with a useful dose of sodium and some caffeine. An egg is a good bolus of protein, minerals, and vitamins. The only way I'd consider that combo unhealthy is if the person in question happens to have an egg albumin allergy. On the other hand, soylent has glaring problems with its ingredient list. I would never eat it and consider it garbage.

I like it, but can certainly see where some wouldn't. Tastes like slightly sweeter and thinner oatmeal.

Reddit has a good amount of discussion and is probably a better place than HN for it: http://reddit.com/r/soylent

I've gotten some great information from that reddit subgroup, especially on some of the variants of Soylent that people have created.

I have some Keto Chow on order to see how that goes.

It's alright, sort of tastes like bland vanilla rice.

Had to stop 'cause the girlfriend is celiac and they can't guarantee gluten free.

Wasn't it enough for your girlfriend not to drink it?

Not really, we share a lot of meals and we maintain a gluten-free household.

Actually they do seem to be gluten-free now, fwiw.

According to their FAQ they are not gluten-free.

https://faq.soylent.com/hc/en-us/articles/201274745-Vegan-Or...

In 2014 they wrote: "Soylent is vegetarian but does contain fish oil. While no ingredients by nature contain gluten a preliminary test has shown gluten present at around the FDA limit of 20ppm, likely from the oats. We are working on sourcing certified GF oats but for now cannot claim to be fully GF."

So, they were GF by the US definition of gluten free, but not fully as in certified GF.

I've been having Soylent for breakfast for 6 months. Super easy, I just put a scoop in a bottle with some protein powder, shake and drink. Tastes fine. A very easy way to get 500 calories in the morning between gym and work. Sometimes I'll do half a cup at night if I'm hungry. It's nice to know that there's a quick meal option that's perfectly balanced nutrition wise.

Haven't tried it myself, but this month's Oh No Ross and Carrie was all about Soylent http://ohnopodcast.com/investigations/2015/6/3/ross-and-carr...

I came here to mention exactly this. A lot of the comments on this thread also seem to corroborate their general reaction to it (assessment of taste, bodily response, etc.).

Imagine mixing oatmeal flour in water until you get the texture of pancake mix. Taste is very neutral. I add flavored whey protein which makes it taste better. [Oh -- I forgot to mention -- looks a little like baby barf -- don't think baby barf when you drink it and you'll be fine].

> don't think baby barf when you drink it and you'll be fine

While you're at it, be sure not to think of a purple elephant ....

It tastes just like the more pleasant protein powder drinks. No awful aftertaste. It's also not sweet, they are going for as neutral a taste as possible.

I like the idea but unfortunately I don't do well with oats. They've been decreasing it over time but I still get major indigestion from it that I don't get from other food. I'm in the minority on that, though. I'll try again with v1.5 which was just announced.

I had some acid reflux from Soylent about 2/3 of the time. This decreased as I continued to use it and then has gone away completely now that I put a bunch of protein powder and coconut oil in it to get a protein/fat/carb balance that I'm happier with.

It tastes like liquid pancake batter. You get used to it pretty quickly. But I wouldn't call it "good".

As someone who very much enjoys the taste of pancake batter, you and I seem to have differing definitions of the word "good".

Vice video on soylent - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8NCigh54jg

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