Soylent bounces back from diarrhea scandal with two new flavors

There's a new nutritious fluid on the block, and it tastes like "Nectar."

Meal-replacement company Soylent introduced the new flavor, along with Cacao, in a typically dramatic video Wednesday. The news follows the introduction of Coffiest, a coffee-flavored drink, last August.

Like the Original and Coffiest drinks, the new flavors will "deliver 20 percent of daily nutritional requirements," per the company.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Some Soylent enthusiasts have ordered the new drink early via an early posting on Amazon a few weeks ago. Many people compare the taste of original Soylent to "cereal milk" — the taste of milk after you've eaten all the cereal it contained.

Similarly, people are comparing the new Nectar flavor to the cereal milk from Fruity Pebbles.

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Reviews for the Cacao flavor are less pleasant. On r/soylent, the subreddit home to the most diehard Soylent enthusiasts, one user describes it thus: "If you've ever had hot chocolate, it tastes like that crap that ends up at the bottom of the cup that you think is a good idea to drink and then realize that was a bad plan."

The flavors have only just launched and are not widely available yet, so overall reception remains to be seen. Nectar and Cacao, along with Coffiest, could be Soylent's chance to break into a wider market of consumers who may not be keen on the bland original flavor or powder.

These flavors also show Soylent's move into attempting to attract a wider, more casual audience who would use the product more like granola bars rather than a complete replacement for solid food.

The blog post announcing the new flavors says "These additions to the Soylent drink line demonstrate the company’s commitment to ongoing innovation." This is likely referring to the last few months of mishaps and recalls with Soylent's powder and food bar.

The bar was recalled following complaints of diarrhea and other stomach issues from it. Similar complaints were found from consumption of the powder, but not the drink or Coffiest products.

While the company did acknowledge the issue in a public blog post, no culprit ingredient was shared with consumers. Instead, the company says it will be "reformulating Bar and Powder 1.6 to remove the likely ingredients."