As far as I can tell, those packets of raw sugar have the same calories as refined sugar, with 1/10th the ability to sweeten. So if you wish to sweeten your coffee, for example, you end up consuming about 5x the sugar, than if your stupid coffee shop just offered regular damn white sugar. Why? Why does this stuff exist? Who prefers it?
Health wise they’re the same thing. Flavor wise Sugar in the Raw (turbinado sugar) has a little bit of molasses in it so the flavor is slightly different. I think using it in coffee and tea is a waste personally, but it’s very good on top of baked goods.
I use it in coffee specifically because I don’t want the hyper sweetness that white sugar provides. I think that the molasses takes the edge out of the coffee which allows me to use less of it. It could also be a mental thing but I’m still using less sugar so…
It’s Turbinado sugar. Essentially brown sugar but bigger crystals.
People want it because it’s less refined compared to white sugar and still contains molasses.
I assume the fact that the crystals are bigger means you require more.
I assume the fact that the crystals are bigger means you require more.
OP seems to be using it to sweeten a drink, so the crystal size should only affect how long it takes to dissolve, not how sweet it tastes. The additional flavor from the molasses might make it seem a little less sweet than white sugar, but only a little.
the crystal size should only affect how long it takes to dissolve, not how sweet it tastes
Unless OP isn’t giving the crystals sufficient time to dissolve, which would give it the appearance of having less sweetening power
It’s just sugar with a teensy bit of the natural brown color from unrefined molasses left in it. I don’t find your observation that it takes 5 or 10 times as much of it to sweeten something to be true for me whatsoever, it’s almost exactly the same, and leaves me wondering if perhaps you also find that today’s low-flow toilets need to be flushed dozens of times to work, or that you turn on modern showers and just a tiny trickle comes out :)
Websearch told me that what you’re calling “sugar in the raw” is simply a type of “naturally” brown sugar (instead of extracting the molasses, concentrating them, and putting them back, you simply remove the water). If that’s correct:
Calories-wise it’s roughly the same deal as refined sugar. It should contain a bit more iron, but not enough to be a good source of. (Go eat some meat or legumes for that.)
Main difference is a more complex flavour. It shouldn’t be meaningfully less able to sweeten things, unless not properly dissolved.
I suspect marketing bullshittery. I’ve bought “sugar in the raw” a few years ago to try, and it reminded me of back in In high school chemistry II in which I did an experiment where I took a brand name sugar and a lower budget brand sugar and examined it under a microscope. The budget brand sugars’ crystal structure was larger but hollow. Weighing the two by volume showed less mass for the budget brand. Putting the same volume of the two in a mortar and grinding with a pestle yielded less volume for the budget brand which means for the same volume you’re getting less sugar.
I believe that “sugar in the raw” does the same thing to give you less for more price, but compounds it’s marketing by telling you it’s unprocessed and more natural. Maybe that’s true but you’re certainly getting less product for the price. One would think less processing would cost less. The only difference from the experiment was that you were paying less for less. Kind of interesting how business ethics have changed over the years.
But isn’t it all sold by weight? The same with how the calories are counted?
