Way to make maca tasty?

[katie01]

Hi All,

Is there a way to make maca more tasty? I have been adding it to my fruit smoothies (bananas, berries, etc) but it is too strong for me. Is there a way to mask the taste or make it better?

lol... also, my maca tastes a little bitter... do I have a bad batch or does it always taste like that? :p Thanks!

[Dimond]

Maca is the worse tasting stuff. I ended up throwing mine away after trying everything possible to make it work. I will try the caps next time.

[Sunshine9]

What brand do you have? And how much are you using?

I find I do best with small amounts, maybe say 1/2 teaspoon in one smoothie... for me, that is enough. I think it goes best with chocolate flavors, vanilla, or strawberry. The classic shakes ;)

I think it really enhances a chocolate (or carob) shake. Maybe do almond milk, cacao or carob, coconut butter, maca, drop of agave, banana (if you're into that.. I use coconuts).. and you have an amazing recipe

[katie01]

GilmoreGirl -- Thanks! You gave me a good laugh and *lots* of hope! :D But, definitely let me know how the capsules work out.

Sunshine9 -- Not sure what brand it is. But I bought it from a raw food restaurant, so unfortunately it might be from some raw generic brand? Do you recommend another brand?

I'll definitely try a carob/chocolate blend. Funny thing, I made raw chocolate sauce and started thinking about the maca. :)

[Gelis]

What is maca????

[Lay-Lay]

it is good made in a smoothie with cacoa. YUMMY!

[katie01]

Hi Gelis,

Here is a the first story I ever read about maca from the Discovery Channel:
http://health.discovery.com/centers/sex/libido/maca.html

Here's another general link:
http://www.navitasnaturals.com/maca-qanda.html

[Dimond]

Too bad I missed out on trying it with cacao. No one mentioned this when I started a thread on the same thing. Oh well.

[katie01]

I tried out a drink with kale, cherries, bananas, carob, cacao, coconut oil and it wasn't so bad, though I still tasted that weird burning thing (think acid reflux vomit) in the back of my throat. lol .. I also put in a smaller amount. I may be a little too hyper though with the cacao + maca. :P

I wanted to mention that there's a tip in RFRW where Salma says to mix the maca with a small amount of juice and down it like a shot. Then enjoy the rest of the smoothie. I tried it and it wasn't so bad that way. Maybe you can do that and save yourself the hassle of the gel capsules?

Thanks again all for the great advice!

[PATH301]

One good trick to escaping the taste of maca, ( I actualy can handle the taste - it's sorta like burnt peanut butter, to me :rolleyes: ), is to squeeze your nose while your drinking it in your smoothie. Once the is consumed, then while still holding your nose use some sort of a chaser to mask the taste of the maca. Then release your nose hold. This used to work great for me when I was a kid and was forced to eat canned green beans cooked - yuk :eek: . I discovered that if I couldn't smell what I was eating then the taste also dimenished :D

[sherahtaylor]

Has anyone tried the Maca from Alissa's site? I ordered it and it's arriving Thursday - I wonder if it's better, same, worse than other places? Or maybe they're all the same. =)

[Rawkinlocs]

You can also just look into geting those empty vegetarian capsules and put the powder in those and take it that way. We purchased some from our local food co-op and my dh was filling them with a ginger/garlic concoction he made.

I've never tried Maca though, so I can't give any ideas on masking the flavor.

[Lady Green Jeans]

I used mine in a fake mocha type drink seemed to hide the flavor. In a Vitamix add 1 or 2 bananas, 6 brazil nuts, a squirt of agave, a shake or two of cinnamon, 1T cocoa nibs, the desire amount of maca, 1 1/2 c water or more to desired thickness. You can use frozen bananas for a colder drink, but most usually I blended mine until it is nice and warm--reminiscent of the mocha's I used to drink.

[rawdelight]

I tried a brand from my local health food store and I didn’t really like it.
I just got a bag from Alissa and it has a much better flavor. It takes 'fresher' to me and more alive somehow.