Alright, let me walk you through my kitchen experiment today – trying to recreate Tang powdered drink from scratch! Total spur-of-the moment idea after seeing that empty jar.
The Hunt for Ingredients
Scoured my pantry like a detective first. Found this bag of granulated sugar that’s been sitting there since last Thanksgiving. Measured two cups into my mixing bowl – whoosh, sugar cloud puffing up everywhere!
Flavor Time
Now the tricky part: getting that tangy kick. Dumped in three tablespoons of citric acid powder that I use for canning. Smelled kinda like old lemons at first. Then added the magic – two little packets of orange Kool-Aid mix I stole from my kid’s lunchbox stash. Added a bright orange explosion!
The Mixing Disaster
Grabbed my whisk and went to town. Big mistake! Orange dust mushroom cloud all over my black shirt instantly. Coughing fit happened. Should’ve used the dang spoon like a normal person. Note to self: wear apron next time or just accept becoming a human orange powder sculpture.
Taste Testing
Got brave and scooped half a teaspoon into water. Stirred it up and took a sip. Holy tart bomb! Mouth puckered up like I ate a whole lemon. Too much citric acid clearly. Dumped in another half cup of sugar to balance it out – much better now.
The Final Product
Ended up with this crazy orange powder that looks legit! Stuck it in an old jam jar with a sticky note saying “Tang Clone – DO NOT DRINK??” Kidding about that last part… probably. My takeaways:
- Kool-Aid packets work better than fancy extracts
- Citric acid is powerful stuff – respect it
- Kitchen looks like a Cheeto explosion happened
- Still cheaper than buying actual Tang
Fun little project overall, though my lungs might disagree. Kid tried some and gave a thumbs up – high praise coming from a juice box snob. Might try grape flavor tomorrow… with a gas mask this time.
