I Hope There's Pudding

R to L: Jell-O Regular, Jell-O sugar-free, specialty fresh made, Vegan 

            A taste test: this should be an easy task just make sure you pick something that will allow you to pull a large spectrum of tastes.  I thought: ”why not chocolate pudding?”  I know chocolate pudding brings fond childhood memories of packed lunches there are so many different brands and types.  I thought that choosing a small sampling would be an easy decision, but the sheer amount of choices was overwhelming. In the end I bought vegan, sugar-free, regular Jell-O pudding and a specialty freshly made pudding. I honestly was the most nervous about the Vegan pudding because I was weary about how they would make something creamy without milk.  I know what the sugar-free and regular Jell-O’s taste like, but I also know that they are very processed when compared to homemade ingredient puddings and I hoped that the processed would stand out against the homemade.  I knew the puddings I was choosing and I knew I could not attempt to be unbiased in my opinions, so I asked a couple of my friends and my roommate if they would subject their taste buds for a gallant cause, and they did.  I prepared a system before they arrived so that they could attempt to be unbiased, I took a sticky note and labeled the puddings A, B, C, and D from this I placed a portion of the puddings on a zip-lock bag with the sticky note.  I thought it was flawless, but I left the puddings out in plan sight and they saw them.  I moved the puddings and told them what I wanted, them to try each pudding and describe their reactions.  

Pudding A- Vegan

Pudding A was the vegan pudding and the general consensus was that this one looked pretty much like pudding, maybe a little bit thicker, but it was pudding.  The taste though was interesting and for all of us not in a really good way.  It was really tangy and bitter due to the dark chocolate, but the aftertaste was really unpleasant.  Maybe it is an acquired taste, but our mouths were left with a nutty, bitter aftertaste that overpowered the dark chocolate. 

Pudding B-Real Ingredient

Pudding B was the specialty homemade pudding.  This one was a lot lighter then the other three puddings and a lot thicker.  We all had fun playing with how jiggly it was.  Here our tastes differed: everyone agreed that this was better then the vegan one, but some believed that it was still too bitter and that the texture was too dense for their liking.  One of our gang of puddingbusters really loved this pudding.  They loved the creamy chocolaty flavors and claimed the rest when we finished.  This was my personal favorite because it was very creamy and flavorful; the hint of vanilla left a bit of an aftertaste that I found pleasant.  

Pudding C- Sugar-Free Jell-O

Pudding C was the sugar-free Jell-O and we had fun commenting on how you could tell that this was processed, it looked like brown paint on the zip-lock bag.  Everyone said that this WAS pudding.  It was sweet and the consistency, even if it looked very liquidy, worked with the flavors. 

Pudding D- Regular Jell-O

Pudding D was the regular chocolate pudding and it also obviously looked processed but it looks like you expect pudding to look: not too liquidy and not like a solid.  This was also one of the favorites as well.  What is interesting is that it was not as sweet as Pudding C, this one tasted chocolaty but not overwhelming.  

What I found really interesting about Pudding C and Pudding D is that they both were actually very creamy, but having just eaten the unprocessed Pudding B you could tell that it was not as creamy and it really drove the flavors home.  We all decided that we would not be buying the vegan pudding again; our taste buds just are not ready for that flavor.  My personal favorite was the unprocessed Pudding B, but it was just really interesting that largely as a group we preferred the processed flavors of the sugar-free and regular Jell-O puddings to the homemade real ingredients.