Sweeter sugar?
By arkaf61
@arkaf61 (10881)
Canada
August 13, 2009 3:36pm CST
Here's something I never thought about and I'm not sure if I'm imagining or not.
WHen my mom was here last summer, I worried about the amount of sugar she was eating. She would use so much sugar on her tea it was incredible - and this coming from the 3 spoon full in my tea please person.
I actually told her to check the doctor when she got home, because I was worried.
Last night I visited hubby's aunt. She had a friend that came from Portugal and we were having tea when aunt realized she had no more sugar. Her friend said not to worry she always has lots of packets of sugar on her purse. It seems that whenever she goes for a coffee she always puts some packets of sugar on her purse.
Problem solved. When she asked me how many I wanted, I said immediately 3. I really don't like tea that much, I usually drink it just when in company, but the condition is that it has to be really sweet.
I put one packet of sugar stirred and tried it and to my surprise it was sweet enough, I didn't need the other two. Now I have the exact same tea at home. I make it exactly the same way, why the difference?
I asked aunt's friend if I could take the other two packets of sugar and she gave me even a few more.
When I got home I experimented with the same tea, and a few packets of sugar from here. One wasn't enough.I needed the usual 3.
Tried the same tea with the sugar from Portugal. More than one was too sweet.
Asked my kids and hubby to check it. We all got the same result. Could it be that the sugar there is sweeter than in here?
What's the story? Are we all going insane in my home? How can the results be so different?
I never thought about sugar other than just sugar.
Can it be sweeter or less sweet?
I guess I now can understand why my mom was using so much sugar, I think.
I know that back home people use brown sugar more than white, and the taste is stronger so we use less, I actually use more brown sugar here too. But this was just regular white sugar, the kind we will find in small packets when we go for a coffee.
Have you ever notice any difference from one country to another? Could we all in our home just be on the way to the funny house?
Anyone who can share some light in here?
4 people like this
8 responses
@AmbiePam (86266)
• United States
13 Aug 09
I rarely drink tea, but when I do, I sweeten it with one packet of Nutrasweet or Stevia. More than one is too much for me. I've never used sugar, I guess because my mom never put sugar in it for health reasons. I never knew people used brown sugar in their tea. I don't like to use artificial sweeteners anyway, so I guess it's good I don't drink tea that much (since I use Nutrasweet or Stevia). I really miss iced tea.
2 people like this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
13 Aug 09
I really don't like the taste of most artificial sweeteners. Stevia is not completely bad, but still not my choice either.
I use sugar. I prefer to use less sugar and have the taste I like than use something I don't like.
I don't really drink much tea either because - just like coffee - I don't exactly like the taste. I only drink it when there's company and someone wants tea, just so they won't drink it by themselves kind of thing.
My main puzzle right now it's not even if sugar is good or if people should use other ways to sweeten anything, but more the fact that last night I needed to use less sugar from the packets from Portugal than the ones in here. I didn't really think of sugar in terms of this one is sweeter than that one. It never crossed my mind. Sugar was always .. well sugar.It is quite strange, the same quantity, white sugar, and different results from a packet from Portugal and a packet from here.
2 people like this
@drannhh (15219)
• United States
13 Aug 09
To me, xylitol tastes better than regular sugar and seems to be sweeter, but it looks just like regular sugar as far I am concerned. Did the packet actually say "regular sugar" on it? Did it say cane sugar? Or have the ingredients listed? I used to put too much sugar in tea in order to make it palatable, but now I mostly drink roibus (red bush) tea, which is herbal, calorie free, and naturally sweet, so I don't add sugar any more. In fact, I think that sugar ruins the wonderful flavor of the red tea.
2 people like this
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
13 Aug 09
It is regular sugar. I just checked the packet again.
I am just puzzled on why it is sweeter.
I remember I used to us less sugar when I was back home, but when I came here I started using a bit more. Not much, but certainly more than there. But I never thought if there was a reason to it.
I am wondering now. Really. Is it because sugar is sweeter there so we use less? Is it even possible?
Strange, very strange.
Never heard about that tea. Maybe I should try it.
I actually am not much of a tea drinker, but I drink sometimes when I have someone visiting and they want tea.
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (158131)
• United States
14 Aug 09
I wonder if there are fillers in the sugar you purchase here. Or you may be getting beet sugar,or corn sugar, not cane sugar. Wherever you sugar is grown may have depleted soil that makes it not so sweet. I do not know for sure. Is the sugar from Portugal enhanced with something like stevia, a naturally sweet plant that is fifteen to two hundred times sweeter than regular sugar.
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
14 Aug 09
Yes, what you're saying makes sense. The sugar in Portugal is not enhanced with anything but it is from sugar cane.
I wonder about fillers. My mother in law said the same thing this morning. Wow!! Here I am admitting that she said something that actually makes sense LOLLLLLLLLL ( just joking, she can't be wrong all the time, on occasion she comes up with good stuff too hehe )
1 person likes this
@dpk262006 (58675)
• Delhi, India
14 Aug 09
Hi ark!
I am not an expert on this issue, however, I understand that sugar is made from different raw materials such as sugar cane or jaggery. I think sweetness of sugar may depend upon the quality of raw materials used and it may differ from country to country. However, it is advised that instead of using sugar, it is safer to use honey in tea etc., as it is considered good for our health.
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
14 Aug 09
dpk I am thinking that it is probably that, the quality of the raw product or even a different one being used in each country.
I am not a tea drinker, not really. I will drink it occasionally.
I also use honey in many things, but I use sugar as well depending on what I am doing. I don't avoid using sugar, my opinion is that if we are balanced about using it it's just fine. People tend to go to extremes avoiding this or that, but it's not exactly necessary, as long as they use common sense.
Personally I prefer brown sugar. It tastes better to me and because the taste is a bit stronger people tend to use less of it.
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
14 Aug 09
agv I have also heard about stevia and I tried it as well. Personally I don't like it all that much, but it's certainly better than most of those artificial sweeteners out there.
I prefer to use brown sugar instead of white, but it doesn't really matter. I am not really worried about my sugar intake. I don't always crave sweet things. Actually even as a kid, if I was offered to choose between a dessert or a steak, I would choose the steak LOL
But when I do eat something that is supposed to be sweet, I want it to be sweet, not just pretend to be. I prefer to eat a small portion of something sweet enough, than a huge serving of something that it isn't.
@agv0419 (3022)
• Philippines
14 Aug 09
I heard about stevia it is like a herbal plant that's sweet. It is a good substitute to sugar if you are worried a lot about your sugar intake. Honey and brown sugar are healthier than the refined one but it is expensive here. It is rare to find stevia here I want to plant it in our backyard.
1 person likes this
@whyaskq (7523)
• Singapore
14 Aug 09
Thanks for sharing this information. I am aware that sweetness differ for same brand of chocolates bought from different countries. That is because the chocolates were "tailored" to the tastebuds of the country. So it could be the same with sugar and some other food.
1 person likes this
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
14 Aug 09
I have never noticed the difference in sugars but then i havenot been able to try sugars from Any place but her in the US. I know
that stevia a sugar substitue is very sweet and you just use a
very small amount. I believeit is made from the agave plant I know that diabetics can use it;
1 person likes this
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
13 Aug 09
Hi there Twin, here in the UK we have different types of Sugar and I have been told that some are sweeter then others, I buy the Regular Sugar as I do not use Sugar unless having Tea and I do not drink tea often, very very rare, I prefer my Coffee with Coffee Mate lol
I just keep it in for visitors
But I have heard that there are different types of Sugar now
@arkaf61 (10881)
• Canada
13 Aug 09
Hmmm so it is possible twin. I wasn't even sure that it was possible to have sugar tasting more or less sweeter than other sugar. Well, not exactly, I know that brown sugar does taste sweeter - or rather it just tastes stronger so we tend to use less of it.
I use brown sugar for most things in here.
I am afraid sugar is one of the things that I will not cut our of my diet. I might have less , but will not cut out LOL
Plus my philosophy is that there is that in general and if we're healthy, there is no need to cut anything out of our diet if we are balanced in the way we eat it.
Well.. thanks for answering twin dear, now I know that it is possible and that we weren't going cuckoo in here LOL
1 person likes this
@sblossom (2168)
•
14 Aug 09
I did notice the difference of sugar in my country and in the UK. One day I tried to do blackberry jam and put a few white sugar inside. Later I found the jam was not as sweet as I thought. I thought maybe the sugar I bought was not qualified. I asked my husband and he told me even white sugar also has difference. Now I realised the sugar I used for my jam is less sweeter than I was used to. I don’t like brown sugar, however it’s a very healthy sugar for our body especially for female as I know.
