powder sugar

[cuppED]

How come coffee shops don't use powder sugar to sweeten their drinks? I would think it'd be easier to dissolve, especially in cold drinks; is the taste different? Just curious.

 

[equus007]

p. suga daddy

there are a couple of issues with confectioner's sugar wrt coffee shops.
1. People rarely pay attention to what they are doing when pouring sugar and the last thing you want to do is pester your clientelle with reminders like...please do not let the shaker touch the coffee.
2. Knowing where you are...powdered sugar will not remain powdered long in the mugginess that is Central Texas(especially next to a large body of water)
3. Health inspectors frown on it(at least in Austin)
4. Most shops already carry three or four forms of sweetener(raw, bleached, cubes, splenda, the pink cancer packets, the blue cancer packets, honey, etc) and few actually have room to store more.

However...If you frequent one shop regularly you should go ahead and just ask them to keep some behind the bar for you. No good barista will turn you down especially if you bring your own.

 

[ValueClique]

Most commercially available powdered sugars also contain a fair amount of starch. I don't mind a bit of starch for ironing my shirt, but for my coffee, I'll take a pass on that.

 

[Bean Bandit]

Plus, the powdered sugar would only clump and cling to the side of the cup. Prefer the pure raw turbinado cane sugar the best!