Hot and Cold!

As it warms up around the country, we’re all starting to think about frozen treats and switching to iced tea and iced coffees. Now think about how much sweetener you put in a hot mug of tea versus an iced coffee? Is it different? To think about it another way, would you drink melted ice cream or would you say yuck, cloyingly sweet?

The truth is, the warmer the food or drink, the stronger the perception of sweetness for the same amount of sweetener! That means as food gets colder, our taste buds perceive it as becoming less and less sweet. It also means it takes more sweetener to make very cold foods like frozen pops or cold soups (same is true for salt!) taste the way we want them to.

As a result, be careful seasoning food when it’s cold if you’ll be heating it up, like tomato sauce or a pot of beans, because those salty and sweet flavors will become much brighter and stronger with as the temperature increases.

Similarly, when making a smoothie or freeze pop or even homemade sorbet, add a little extra sweetener than you think you need while you’re tasting it at room temperature to make sure you hit the mark every time!

And if you’re craving something sweet but want to cut down on sugar, try a nice hot beverage with just a touch of sweetness to fool your palette! (Because science!)

Just another everyday tip from Peas of Mind