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[Execute/Dumbo.exe]

Then it'll come full circle, and all the hipsters will be eating pig flesh.

[Cthulhu]

Goodness there are so few foods that don't even come from an animal however distilled down.

Heck MOST "artificial" foods are... real food just processed in a non-traditional way.

Let me see... Foods that are completely not from a living being EXCEPT maybe from millions of years of process (So if Chalk was edible I'd count it).

Salt
Some forms of sugarless gum
Sulfur apperantly...

That is about all I can think of... and don't say Iron... it needs to be in another form to be digested properly.

I dunno if setting the line along "comes from a living thing" is all that valid.  When I think of "artificial" food I usually think of companies using plant-derived nothing (maltodextrin et al) to turn ten units of unprofitable food into a hundred units of highly profitable food* scented paste.

[SalmonGod]

Remember the difference between artificial and synthetic.  In context, of course.  Depending on who's concerned and what the subject is, these words can have different uses or be completely interchangeable.  But in the context of food, it would most commonly be as follows, and I think it's a case where it's important to recognize this.  People such as the "All Natural Organic!!!" crowd will use the term artificial as a smear when it shouldn't really apply.

Artificial is something man-made that only imitates the desired properties of a natural thing.  Artificial flavoring would be a non-food substance that is only designed to imitate a natural flavor.
Synthetic is the creation of something by unnatural means - either to create something identical to a natural product or a new thing completely.  Synthetic honey would be identical to natural honey - just not made by bees.

Soylent is a synthetic food.  Not artificial.

Hm. I ordered a week supply from Soylent towards the end of July or the early start of August. Have yet to get the shipment, probably because I'm a first time buyer and have lower priority than regular customers who may be living on the stuff.

Wonder if I'll be getting v1.1 or just v1.

Just got an e-mail tonight that my Soylent has shipped.  I'll likely have it by the end of the week.  It's currently at the Fedex hub in Middletown, PA.  My e-mail specific that I'll be one of the first to receive Soylent 1.1.  So anyone else who gets their order after me should also get v1.1.

Also, I ordered mine in the 2nd week of May.  So you probably have some time to wait yet.  But it seems like they're slowly catching up.  I know they've made it one of their primary goals to be able to keep up with subscriptions while filling new orders, and they're filling new orders in the order they were received.  So we know they've made it all the way through the pre-order crowd and are working on regular customers now.

-Edit-

Soylent has a competitor, trying to do the same thing with a premium, all-natural approach.  It's called Ambronite.  It's about 4x the price, but is strict about being made completely of fresh, organic ingredients.

Heh... their website's front page even imitates Soylent's unwieldy format, but with opposite style of visuals.

[MaximumZero]

"Just like Soylent, but for rich hipsters."

[Execute/Dumbo.exe]

I was thinking about being mad about the fact that everyone just decided that 'Soylent is so dangerous because artificial!', but looking with an un biased view point, I have to accept that, as someone who doesn't know anything about nutritional science, I would be afraid of it (Soylent, not Ambronite) if I wasn't adamantly for the progress of science in the way of improving quality of life in any way.
Still weird how quickly it pierced the barrier of how much it wanted, though.

[Sheb]

Probably less optimal than Ambronite as there is likely one micronutrient or the other that is moderately useful. Although it's not like you can't chug a fistful of berries every once in a while while on a Soylent diet: after all, those nutrients aren't going to be needed in large amount or we would know about them already.

[Dutchling]

I remember when the ETA on international shipping was summer 2014 :/

[Orange Wizard]

It's not Summer here yet, so I can put up with that.

[Bohandas]

Soylent has a competitor, trying to do the same thing with a premium, all-natural approach.  It's called Ambronite.  It's about 4x the price, but is strict about being made completely of fresh, organic ingredients.

So additional cost with no additional benefit then?

[Sheb]

Well, bragging right, and they probably have a couple micronutrients that haven't been discovered too. So marginal utility over Soylent.

I wonder if it's easier to digest too.

[Sheb]

Not exactly, the stuff in soylent has been refined to get anything that isn't in the ingredient list out.

Also, you're underestimating how hipster-friendly ambronite is. It's not only farm organic, but "Hand-gathered wild berries from the Finnish far north" kind of stuff.

It'd be interesting to have some kind of "BS-less ambronite", using standard versions of their ingredients, and see how much it costs. I wouldn't be surprised if they get it cheaper than Soylent.

[GiglameshDespair]

"We’re definitely on the premium side of the segment," said Suoheimo. "We work with some of the most precious, rare ingredients in the world—like wild berries that are hand-picked."

Yeah, there's definitely going at it the opposite way.

Surely it's unhealthy to have that much iron? Six times the GDA, every day...

[Sheb]

Ambronite is at 50mg/day according to their website....

[SalmonGod]

Came home for lunch today to find Soylent waiting on my doorstep.  Took pictures!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Boxed


Unboxed
The pouches seem overly large.  They're only about half full with powder.  The little bottles are the oil blend.  The pitcher and scoop are the "starter kit".


Whole pouch emptied into pitcher provided with starter kit


The pitcher is really nice.  The lid screws on, and has an inner section that also screws in to seal/out to pour without removing lid.  I shook the crap out of this, and there was zero leakage.  Feels solidly built in general.
I took this picture to show how much the powder absorbs water.  I filled it up to the indicated line with water, shook, and found that afterwards it was only filled to the "Sank To" line.  Before shaking, I also noticed that the powder was rapidly releasing bubbles.


My first completed batch of Soylent


Little chunks floated to the top once poured in glass.  Subsequent glasses didn't have this.


Obligatory first taste selfie


Decided to try some flavoring.  This is the stuff I put in my coffee.  Tried a little, and it didn't seem to penetrate.  Couldn't taste much difference.


So I tried this stuff.  Just a tiny bit made a huge difference, and was pretty good.

It's... bizarre.  I've never felt anything like it in my mouth before.  I'm not sure how to describe the flavor other than just "earthy".  Not a bad taste.  The texture is very grainy.  Not exactly unpleasant, but off-putting by just how strange it is.  The consistency is very liquid.  Not thick at all like a milkshake.  It's like water with silt floating in it.

I drank two glasses of the amount pictured, and it was more than enough.  About halfway through the second glass, I encountered a really strong feeling of being satiated.  I've never felt anything like it.  I'm not normally satisfied until I'm full, but I didn't feel full like I was stuffed with food.  I just felt like my body had what it needed, and wasn't interested in consuming anything more.  I've never felt that kind of signal from my body before.  Felt this way for roughly the next 5 hours.  Totally uninterested in eating anything else, even though my office had food catered that day and there were several pies in the break room.  I also didn't feel like I needed my usual afternoon cup of coffee.  It's also sat quite comfortably with me.  No flatulence or discomfort or anything.  And I've even been on antibiotics this week that have been giving me trouble with food.

Also interesting - my kids love the stuff.  Like totally crazy about it.  I wasn't expecting that.

[Spehss _]

Also interesting - my kids love the stuff.  Like totally crazy about it.  I wasn't expecting that.

Cute. All these people who find the idea of replacing normal eating routines with a sludgy drink is abhorrent, then there's kids who love it. Makes me smile.

What's the serving sizes like? Is it one pouch for one day? How is that handled?