I like to try different brands and flavors of bars, but I have to admit that lately I have gotten into a bar safety rut. I have stuck to trusty brands like Clif Bar and trusty flavors like Chocolate Chip and Blueberry Crisp. I decided that a great post over my vacation would be a taste test of different types of bars.
It was exciting to chose all these different bars. I tried flavors and brands that I have never tasted. I was also BLOWN away by the difference in taste and texture between just about all of these bars. It took me about a half an hour to make these choices and then by the time I was on the way home I was already second guessing the kinds that I got. Oh well, just means that this is definitely a taste test that can be done again.
All the bars were bought at the Whole Foods in Clarendon, VA. Here are the bars:
Name: Weil: Pistachi-Oh! Pure Fruit & Nut Bar
Producer: Nature’s Path Organic
Price:$1.79
Nutrition:
Size: 45g
Calories: 190
Calories from fat: 70
Total Fat: 7g
Sodium: 0
Carbs: 27g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 20g
Protein: 4g
Ingredients: Dates, cashews, pistachios, dried unsweetened coconut, lemon juice, spices.
Name: Larabar: Pistachio
Producer: Larabar
Price:$1.39
Nutrition:
Size: 51g
Calories: 210
Calories from fat: 90
Total Fat: 10g
Sodium: 0
Carbs: 28g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 20g
Protein: 5g
Ingredients: Dates, pistachios, cashews
Name: Optimum Energy Bar: Orange Chocolate
Producer: Nature’s Path
Price:$0.99
Nutrition:
Size: 56g
Calories: 220
Calories from fat: 50
Total Fat: 6g
Sodium: 120mg
Carbs: 37g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 19g
Protein: 5g
Ingredients: Organic rolled oats, organic brown rice syrup, organic peanut butter (organic dry roasted peanuts, sea salt), organic date puree, organic peanuts, organic whole oat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic crisp rice (organic brown rice flour, organic evaporated cane juice, sea salt, organic molasses, rice bran extract), organic soy nuts, non GMO vegetable glycerine, organic barley flour, calcium carbonate, organic oat fiber, non GMO soy lecithin, sea salt, baking soda, natural flavors, organic vanilla extract, organic corn starch, organic palm oil, organic tapioca starch, vegetable gum (carrageenan, salt).
Name: Jocalat: Chocolate Orange
Producer: Larabar
Price:$1.39
Nutrition:
Size: 48g
Calories: 190
Calories from fat: 90
Total Fat: 10g
Sodium: 0mg
Carbs: 25g
Fiber: 5g
Sugar: 18g
Protein: 4g
Ingredients: Dates, almonds, cocoa mass, cocoa powder, orange flavor
Name: ZBar: Peanut Butter:
Producer: Clif Bar
Price:$0.49
Nutrition:
Size: 36g
Calories: 140
Calories from fat: 45
Total Fat: 5g
Sodium: 170mg
Carbs: 20g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 11g
Protein: 3g
Ingredients: LunaPro™ (Soy Rice Crisp [Soy Protein Isolate, Organic Rice Flour], Organic Toasted Oats, Organic Roasted Soybeans, Organic Soy Flour, Organic Flaxmeal), Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Coating (Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Palm Kernel Oil, Organic Soy Flour, Organic Soy Lecithin, Organic Vanilla), Organic Peanut Butter, Inulin (Chicory Extract), Vegetable Glycerin, Natural Flavors, Organic Roasted Peanuts, Peanut Flour, Sea Salt.
Name: Flavor&Fiber: Peanut Butter Bar
Producer: gnu foods
Price:$1.99
Nutrition:
Size: 40g
Calories: 150
Calories from fat: 30
Total Fat: 3g
Sodium: 64mg
Carbs: 32g
Fiber: 12g
Sugar: 9g
Protein: 5g
Ingredients: Gnu High Fiber Blend ™ (organic whole wheat flour, oats, wheat bran, psyllium, flax, millet, soy flour), chicory root fiber (inulin), fruit juices, rice dextrins, peanuts, canola oil, plums, rice, apples, natural flavors, aluminum-free baking powder.
Justin helped me do the tasting. He gave me a blind tasting based on flavor and then I did the same for him. We both wrote down our reviews.
Criteria for tasting:
- Taste
- Texture
- Flavor
- Accurate flavor description
(we did not take price or nutrition into account on our bar selections)
ALAN
Pistachio
Larabar: No crunch, mild sweetness. Strong flavor of prune. Wasn’t fabulous but had a clean aftertaste.
Weil: Pistachi-Oh!: Strong taste of spices, not sweet at all. Texture was almost baked goods/bread like.
WINNER: Wiel: Pistachi-Oh!
Peanut Butter
Zbar: Had a bit of a crunch. It was a very subtle PB flavor. Tasted very clean and all natural.
GNU: Very crunchy. It had a sweet flavor that was obviously from fruit. It did not taste much like PB. You could taste/feel the seeds when you bit into the bar.
WINNER: Z-Bar: Peanut Butter
Chocolate Orange
Jocalat: Terrible taste!! Similar to finger nail polish. It was very moist but had no chocolate/orange flavor. Tasted very artifical and chemical.
Optimum: Perfect amount of orange. Still quite dry and bland otherwise.
WINNER: Optimum (but I wouldn’t buy that one again either)
Justin
Pistachio
Larabar: Gooey, had a pistachio taste and was sweet. Strong pistachio after taste.
Weil: Pistachi-Oh!: Gooey, had no noticable pistachios. Other fruit flavors were more apparent.
WINNER: Larabar
Peanut Butter
Zbar: Good texture. Light PB flavor. Oatie.
GNU: Not gooey at all, good PB flavor. Not very oatie.
WINNER: GNU
Chocolate Orange
Jocalat: Strong orange peel flavor. No chocolate.
Optimum: Good, slight orange flavor. Tasted like it had chocolate chunks.
WINNER: Optimum
OVERALL FAVORITE ALAN: Z-BAR PEANUT BUTTER
OVERALL FAVORITE JUSTIN: GNU PEANUT BUTTER
I think we both had fun doing this taste test. I also think we were sort of let down by these flavors. I know there are much better and more consistent bars out there, but I wanted to try things that I had never had before, hence the pistachio and chocolate orange. Let me know your thoughts!!
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