BochaSweet Sweetener

[EnglishLit]

I would definitely recommend to wait and see a couple of reviews first. At nearly $20 a bag when you include shipping, it's definitely not a purchase you want to just shove into your pantry if it doesn't work out. I was burned with allulose and I have three bottles of that stuff left and no one I dislike enough to pawn it off on. lol

When I get my big shipment, I'll make my daughter, who's home on college break, experiment with it and see how it affects her.

[marshamarsha]

Originally Posted by Baricat

I completely agree, Marsha!! The LC life really IS so much easier in countless ways.

What were your initial symptoms with this sweetener? When I get them, like with xylitol and polyD, it's way worse than gas. What Happens to me makes me long for only gas. The last one nearly had me in the ER for IV fluids! Anyone who has used Bocha Sweet, can you please share your adverse reactions, and a little something about the severity?

Trying to weigh out the benefit vs the liability. Thanks for any help you can give.

@baricat: i actually didn't have any reaction using the Bochasweet. This was the first sweetener, for me, to not have any reactions to. NO headaches, stomach pain, gas, bloating, etc.

[marshamarsha]

I would honestly say to anyone trying something new, try it in small amounts and build up from there. I was lucky and didn't experience any side effects from this stuff. my sugars didn't even spike and for me and my type one diabetic son that was the biggest seller alone. The taste and cooking/baking qualities was an added bonus overall. i don't bake as often anymore, but when i do i bake a lot. and as EnglishLit said, fall season usually ramps up the baking.

[Baricat]

Marsha, sounds like it's a godsend for you and your son. And it might well be for me, too. It's just that I can't figure out a way to try only a small amount. As English pointed out, the $20 is a lot if it turns out not to work out for me. I really do wish that the company would sell just a small "try me" packet for those of us who just want to dip a test toe into the waters to know if it's worth the cost and to know that it's well tolerated.

[Charski]

Originally Posted by Baricat

Marsha, sounds like it's a godsend for you and your son. And it might well be for me, too. It's just that I can't figure out a way to try only a small amount. As English pointed out, the $20 is a lot if it turns out not to work out for me. I really do wish that the company would sell just a small "try me" packet for those of us who just want to dip a test toe into the waters to know if it's worth the cost and to know that it's well tolerated.

I'd email them and tell them you'd like to try a small amount, that you've had problems with sweeteners in the past, and that if you like it, not only will you buy it, but you'll also extoll its virtues on your favorite very active low carb forum! I've had that tactic work in the past! Couldn't hurt to throw in that you're an accomplished pastry chef while you're at it!

[Baricat]

You always have the best ideas, Char! I'm gonna do it. The worst they can say is no (or ignore me) and I'll be none the worse.

[Charski]

Well let us know what happens!

WAAAAY back in the beginning of time as we know it, when I did Weight Watchers, I was on another forum that also had a bunch of good cooks/chefs. One of my discoveries at that time was DaVinci sugarfree syrups. I made EVERYTHING with them, all kinds of stuff, including sweet & sour chicken, in my BBQ sauce, lots of flavored drinks.

Well the other gals on that forum who benefitted from my experimentations and bought their OWN DV syrups decided on the sly that they were gonna tell DaVinci what a loyal customer I was and how I always posted new recipes and ways to use their products - and shortly after that I had a full case of assorted DV sugarfree syrups arrive at my door!

So it does pay sometimes to let them know you really like their products, or would LIKE to like their products!

[ouizoid]

I remember that Char! You were the DV queen!

[Charski]

LOL Ouis! Seems like yesterday, huh?

[EnglishLit]

I love to hear about people here getting compensated and rewarded for their time and experimenting! Some of the best low carb recipes in existence were made right here on this forum.

[JJJ'sMom]

Well just ordered a 1lb bag, just gotta try this for myself now. Will post here when I get it.
FYI......amazon or the bocha website, same price. Amazon showing ordering fr Pumpkin Pure,
that's the bocha sweet company.

[Baricat]

Originally Posted by JJJ'sMom

FYI......amazon or the bocha website, same price.

Actually, purchasing the one pound bag is net of about a dollar less expensive on the Bocha Sweet website.

Amazon price: $15.99+4.99 shipping=$20.98
Bocha Sweet site: $13.99+$6=$19.99

Not a lot, but every $ adds up. The shipping is directly from the Bocha Sweet store, so you won't save any time ordering it through Amazon. Now,
if only Amazon would make it Prime eligible, that would make it a total game changer!

[JJJ'sMom]

FYI........Bocha Sweet does have a 30 day money bk guarantee, I would assume less shipping and if I had to pay to ship it bk, I would empty the bag and put in a envelope.

[EnglishLit]

When I ordered my 1 pound bag, they shipped it out to me asap, I think I got it a day and a half later. When I placed my second order for 6 pounds, it took almost a week to get it, so be sure to keep that in mind if you don't want to run out.

[JJJ'sMom]

Ok, I rec'd my Bochasweet and tasted it this morning. So I removed about 1 tsp fr the bag, it's granular and looks like white sugar, maybe the granules are a bit larger. I licked my finger and stuck it in the sweetner, melts quickly in the mouth. Did this 3 times and then tried some reg. white sugar. I personally would say it's about 70% as sweet as white sugar, which is what I find xylitol to be. But there really isn't any other taste other than sweet. White table sugar hits you immediately w/ a sweet taste and then leaves, BochaSweet hits w/ the sweetness a tad bit later. My son was here and he also tasted, he tht the same as I , about 70% sweet as white sugar. Bottom line for me is..........70% sweet as white sugar, no other taste than pure sweetness. I want to try it in something where I use it as my total sweetner, that will tell another tale. And being diabetic, I'll ck my bg#'s. Paused for about 10 mins, trying to figure out what I would make, looked thru recipes to see if I could find a lc recipe where I only use 1 sweetner. So the pb cake/bread is what I'll try. In that I only use xylitol as my sweetner. And I'll just eat the pb cake for a meal, that will give me a good reading on what it will do to my bg#'s. I'll use this first 1 lb bag and hopefully it works and then I'll order the larger size. What this BochaSweet (if it works) would allow me to do , is to sub it out for recipes where I use the white Truvia as part of a sweetner combo. I tend to use the white and brown Truvia's when I want hubby and son to eat what I've made. My bulk sweetner of choice is xylitol. FYI on xylitol..........can be made from corn and come fr China or can be made from birch trees in the US or Canada. 18 yrs ago is when I was introduced to xylitol made fr birch at $8 lb. I then tried the route of cheaper xylitol, only to find out it was made fr corn and in China. I then dropped the lc lifestyle for 10 yrs. My xylitol fr a company in Texas (fr birch trees) had been in a food grade sealed 5 gal container in the basement. And yes, after 10 yrs, it was just fine. I now purchase from a US company called Xylitol USA at $4 lb when it goes on sale. As many of us do, I buy in bulk. I'll report bk but this stuff has serious promise for lc'ers and diabetics.

As lc'ers who eat lc all the time, one doesn't need a sugar sub to be at 100% w/ white sugar, we've gotten use to not having things so sweet.

[Baricat]

Thanks for the detailed review, JJJ'sMom. Will be very interested in what it does to your blood sugar levels, so please update us when you can.

I did write to customer service, asking if I could purchase a small sample amount, as I have had severe reactions to several sugar alternatives, and don't want to get stuck again with a large, expensive amount of useless product. As Char suggested, I did explain that as a food service professional, I'd be happy to leave a candid review on the most informative site on the web for all things low carb. When the message wa submitted, it said I could expect a response by the next business day.

Five days later, it would appear they've chosen to ignore my customer service form/request. No response whatsoever.

Doesn't give me the warm-and-fuzzies that they're confident about their product not causing gastric problems. Of course, it could just mean that they have lousy customer "service." Who knows? Either way, not good.

In any case, if they ever do respond, I'll update here. But I'm not holding my breath.

[EnglishLit]

I tasted it right off the spoon too and it didn't seem to be too sweet, but I used it as the only sweetener in a muffin recipe, and it sweetened like sugar cup for cup.

I placed a large bulk order and didn't get any sort of order/shipping notification. I finally emailed them a few days later requesting a shipping notification and they never responded back. Finally, five days after initially placing the order, they finally sent a shipping notification and never responded back to my email, so that was disappointing. I agree, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.

I did ask them a question on Twitter once and they responded almost immediately, so I might try that next time.

[ChelePA]

Just made chocolate chip cookies with this sweetener. Going to test glucose. Will keep you posted.

[marshamarsha]

Originally Posted by ChelePA

Just made chocolate chip cookies with this sweetener. Going to test glucose. Will keep you posted.

how was the blood sugar check

[ChelePA]

I tested eating twice with a normal meal. No significant rise. Then I tested eating one cookie without a meal. 6-10 point rise at 1 and 2 hours.

[JJJ'sMom]

OMG.........so far I'm very impressed with the taste.

Ok, made the PB cake, which is the PB bread recipe out there, I just add sweetner. Have always added 3/4 c. xylitol to the recipe and the xylitol gave a glittery appearance on top.
Well let it cool a bit, ate a slice and tht, darn, maybe too sweet for me and tastes like white sugar but......late at night and first thing I've baked w/ the BochaSweet. So just a few mins ago, ate 1/2 slice......omg, took me bk to the peanut butter cake I made for my boys growing up, no icing, just a made fr scratch pb cake in a 13 x 9 pan. It was the exact same taste, exactly !! This stuff tastes like reg. white sugar to me so far. Now personally, since I've gotten use to less sweet tastes, I may bk off of the BochaSweet in this pb cake next time to 1/2 c + 1/8 c. Sometimes lc sweet items tend to get sweeter as they sit, I'll see if that happens. I plan to eat some of this pb cake in the morning and nothing else, will ck my blood sugar #. My next thing to try is a cup of coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker, only once in awhile but would use coffeemate and sugar when I did. Have only had 1 cup in the last 5 yrs because I didn't like it w/out white sugar and knew xylitol wouldn't work. So a cup of coffee will also tell a tale for me................Thks for bringing this to our attention MarshaMarsha.......and I would think that in the morning, just eating a slice of this should tell me if I find any gastric distress. Although what I ate last night was 3 hrs after I had eaten, nothing yet from that slice.

[marshamarsha]

Originally Posted by JJJ'sMom

OMG.........so far I'm very impressed with the taste.

Ok, made the PB cake, which is the PB bread recipe out there, I just add sweetner. Have always added 3/4 c. xylitol to the recipe and the xylitol gave a glittery appearance on top.
Well let it cool a bit, ate a slice and tht, darn, maybe too sweet for me and tastes like white sugar but......late at night and first thing I've baked w/ the BochaSweet. So just a few mins ago, ate 1/2 slice......omg, took me bk to the peanut butter cake I made for my boys growing up, no icing, just a made fr scratch pb cake in a 13 x 9 pan. It was the exact same taste, exactly !! This stuff tastes like reg. white sugar to me so far. Now personally, since I've gotten use to less sweet tastes, I may bk off of the BochaSweet in this pb cake next time to 1/2 c + 1/8 c. Sometimes lc sweet items tend to get sweeter as they sit, I'll see if that happens. I plan to eat some of this pb cake in the morning and nothing else, will ck my blood sugar #. My next thing to try is a cup of coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker, only once in awhile but would use coffeemate and sugar when I did. Have only had 1 cup in the last 5 yrs because I didn't like it w/out white sugar and knew xylitol wouldn't work. So a cup of coffee will also tell a tale for me................Thks for bringing this to our attention MarshaMarsha.......and I would think that in the morning, just eating a slice of this should tell me if I find any gastric distress. Although what I ate last night was 3 hrs after I had eaten, nothing yet from that slice.

with all the stuff i'v made with this, i never noticed a change in sweetness in baked goods. very consistant taste and sweetness. love this stuff! i was just int he process of viewing their website to purchase my next batch. the first batch i tried the 3lb and its lasted me for three months, but then again, i wasn't baking as much until now due to the holidays coming up... lol now, i'm looking into the 6lb bargain they have right now with free shipping. This should last me, i hope for 6 months about...if not longer.. i'm into making smaller batch baking so not needing as much sweenter overall. its been great!

please let me know how your sugar reacts.

[EnglishLit]

Originally Posted by JJJ'sMom

OMG.........so far I'm very impressed with the taste.

Ok, made the PB cake, which is the PB bread recipe out there, I just add sweetner. Have always added 3/4 c. xylitol to the recipe and the xylitol gave a glittery appearance on top.
Well let it cool a bit, ate a slice and tht, darn, maybe too sweet for me and tastes like white sugar but......late at night and first thing I've baked w/ the BochaSweet. So just a few mins ago, ate 1/2 slice......omg, took me bk to the peanut butter cake I made for my boys growing up, no icing, just a made fr scratch pb cake in a 13 x 9 pan. It was the exact same taste, exactly !! This stuff tastes like reg. white sugar to me so far. Now personally, since I've gotten use to less sweet tastes, I may bk off of the BochaSweet in this pb cake next time to 1/2 c + 1/8 c. Sometimes lc sweet items tend to get sweeter as they sit, I'll see if that happens. I plan to eat some of this pb cake in the morning and nothing else, will ck my blood sugar #. My next thing to try is a cup of coffee. I'm not a coffee drinker, only once in awhile but would use coffeemate and sugar when I did. Have only had 1 cup in the last 5 yrs because I didn't like it w/out white sugar and knew xylitol wouldn't work. So a cup of coffee will also tell a tale for me................Thks for bringing this to our attention MarshaMarsha.......and I would think that in the morning, just eating a slice of this should tell me if I find any gastric distress. Although what I ate last night was 3 hrs after I had eaten, nothing yet from that slice.

Do you have a link to the pb bread recipe? Just want to make sure I'm making the right one.

The only thing I don't like the bochasweet in is coffee, and that's because it tastes exactly like sugar to me and I haaaaate sugar in my coffee. I had Splenda for like 20 years and now an assortment of other sweeteners, and I just can't go back to pure sugar.

[ChelePA]

I would love PB recipe too

[JJJ'sMom]

Didn't eat the pb cake today, had to get up really early to see hubby off, so my day is off kilter. here's the pb bread recipe

1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth
3 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tablespoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

**to make a sweet cake, add 3/4 c. xylitol or 3/4 c. BochaSweet
Mix in order given and get into pan and in oven as soon as you've mixed in the vinegar and baking soda. I bake in a loaf pan at 350 and size depends on time, 27 mins to 42 mins. Do the toothpick test, this will fall a tad bid as it cools. I always make this sweet and mix the sweetner and eggs first until my sweetner is dissolved. I got the recipe off of 24hr Low Carb Diner

[JJJ'sMom]

Ok, so I'm diabetic, tested 1 piece (significant slice) on a empty stomach, at 1 hr my bg # rose by 10 pts. I won't test at the 2 hr mark because I'm hungry and getting ready to eat a meal. But from knowing myself, the 2 hr mark would be lower . Had I eaten this right after a lc meal, I wouldn't have had a 10pt rise from the pb cake, I would have had a higher rise but that's because I would have eaten a meal. A non diabetic person won't have a 10pt rise at the 1 hr mark if I did. I don't use insulin, only metformin. HTH

[JJJ'sMom]

Ok, so at around the 1 1/2 hr mark after eating the slice of pb cake, I started to have gas symptoms and it was quite gassy I will say. But the first 2 slices I ate didn't do this, but the 1st 2 slices were eaten when I had other food on my stomach. This slice was eaten about 15 hrs after I had eaten.............so I'm thinking, when eaten closer to a meal, no gas effects, or as w/ beans, if you eat them enough, the gas thing doesn't happen. Still going to order the lg bag, this has a very impressive taste. Next I want to try it in a pineapple upside down cake, using a bit of molasses to give me brown sugar. Will let you know.

[EnglishLit]

I was sick a couple of weeks ago and basically lived on broth and tea and honey. Once I got back into the swing of things, I noticed that in the beginning, eating anything with bochasweet on an empty stomach was a terrible idea. lol But once I had fully incorporated it into my diet again, it's fine and I can eat it at any time.

[Baricat]

Just wondering if anyone who has difficulty digesting polyD and/or xylitol has tried this product yet and can report on how well it was tolerated.

[ouizoid]

I have had some difficulty with it--not as terrible as the first time I tried it when I had too large a dose (tried to make caramel)--It seems like if I don't use very much it is ok, discomfort seems dose dependent--I may get a little gassy, but not in pain.