Top critical review
1.0 out of 5 starsThis brand of "coconut" sugar has been deteriorating with every order
Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2018
I dont know what happened with most recent review I left but thought I'd repost by keeping it shorter and by adding pictures so people can see what I'm talking about:
1st order, sugar was awesome. Nice chunky granules as natural sugars tend to be. 2nd order, smaller granules yet flavor was still there. 3rd order, hardly "chunky" and veering towards powder-like and diminishing flavor. Recent order, POWDERED SUGAR and different flavor. As a person of Indian descent, I know my coconut items along with jaggery sugars as bleached sugar is virtually non-existent in those and other tropical parts of the world.
I use this sugar as a mineral source for making my water kefir along with kombucha. I always predissolve my sugars to be added into these probiotic ferments as the sugar crystals can harm/kill the kefir grains and SCOBY in ferments as the colony will form around crystalline chunks and eventually diminish as a result. Recently noticed that this sugar will not fully dissolve??? A lighter form of very hard "sugar" chunks resides on bottom of sugar/water solution. "Hard" as in it i need to use a spoon to crush it and even then it hardly dissolves... (Note: I dont consume sugar, I merely purchase sugars to FEED MY FERMENTS, resulting in sugar-free beverages with loads of probiotics). In my pics, you can clearly see that the water is brown from presence of coconut sugar (I hope its coconut sugar and not coloring agent) but you can see the lighter substance in the spoon, why the different colors and solubility?
Also, one can see the differences in the sugar by merely glancing at the bottle: the larger dark chunks is what used to make up 100% of this product but by looking at picture, one can see that it's mostly a lighter/powderized form of something residing just below the granular chunks. If you shake the container with lid open, u can see POWDER going into the air... this product never did this until now, indicating it's mostly powder.
My theory as to why the powdered sugar vs granular chunks of previous batches? It's easier to CUT WITH different/inferior/cheaper sugars this way, think about it. If you have granular chunks, then you cant simply "add" other ingredients as it wont mix and the shaking experienced during shipping will show as smaller particles will sink towards bottom while larger chunks remain on top. Now I cannot definitively say this is the case but since I've been regularly ordering this particular sugar and have noticed a rather declining PATTERN, it makes one wonder: "What is this? Its sweet but... different..."
I believe my review along with others who have regularly purchased this sugar for over a year should he looked at, not 1st time buyers who have not tried the original sugar that this supplier USED TO supply. This is why that things labeled "organic" or "non-GMO" arent to be taken serious these days. Also, one should look at the rising costs of coconut products in general: Coconut trees are almost a FINITE RESOURCE due to the fact that it takes many years for a small palm to form into a producing tree. With the rising trends in coconut this-that, it's easy to see that global supplies of coconut products in general will be gone rather quickly. Hence the possible "improvising" manufacturers can/do utilize. Remember, you can only find coconut plants along the COASTLINES for most part, this is why coconuts arent found inland. With rising sea levels, increased demands, etc... connect the dots folks... thanks for reading if you bothered.
