My no BS take on the protein bars everyone is talking about...

[gymjunkie09]

Yes I used local honey. I've had bars that taste WAY better than these, but are not as healthy compared to these.

They aren't bad for what they are made from. People talk about these things like they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, IMO they aren't. They are good considering what they are made from though. Maybe I'll pick up another bag and just add in what is said on the package instead of adding in extra protein powder and peanut butter, and see what the difference is.

they are much better from a bodybuilding standpoint than your average protein bar and that's why i think people like them so much including myself..and they taste good too, maybe not as good as the protein bar at your local grocery store but i'll sacrifice a littel taste for a better product

 

[DeathMetal]

I posted this in the original thread, I'm with ya

FOREWARD
I'd like to thank Mr.Spellwin for coming out with such an innovative product that so many helpful members of this site have found to be nothing short of 'win'. As we all know, taste is SUBJECTIVE, and it just wasn't to my liking. This is NOT a stab at the product, just one man's review. Please don't turn this in to a flame-fest, I respect the integrity of the board and hope that open, constructive dialogue can be preserved when matters such as this arise.

BUT, over a long enough timeline, as we all know, data will normalize and there will be feedback on both ends of the curve. That being said, I am writing from the lamenting left-hand side and probably am the third, forth, or fifth sigma and obviously represent a VERY small portion of the population who wasn't a big fan of this product. Here's the breakdown:

PROS
- Fresh, DIY protein. If you're serious about your shape, you know the importance of FRESH food, and this fits the bill nicely
- Quality - the bars a super-compact for the nutrients that it provides, and left me asking: "WTF are all other protein bar manufactures adding to their bars if it's 3x the size at the SAME macros?!"
- Customizable to your liking, so you can be creative in catering the flavor to your taste

CONS
MIXING
I followed the directions PRECISELY as listed. 3/4cup honey, 1cup PB, mix by hand. What a massive mistake that was. Unless you have a teflon-lined skin, these things are a nightmare to mix. After a few frustrating sticky-handed minutes I sprayed by hands down with PAM and things went much better. EXCEPT...that even after a THOROUGH mixing, the wet ingredients were far insufficient to properly suspend all of the mix. I came close with the Choco Nanner mix...NO WHERE CLOSE ENOUGH for the PB mix, so I have to add water.

So, IMHO, the wet ingredients for the recipe, made in the manner described on the package, and mixed as recommended, took significantly more effort and time than I could have ever anticipated.

FLAVOR
Good. BUT the flavor of the packaged goodness easily gets lost and overpowered by the PB and honey.

MACROS
Ok, this was the one that really bit my ass. The package details, AS MADE, is 414-cal/21F/26P/36C. Seriously? You couldn't just give me the 'as-is' and let me do the rest (or are people that bad at calculating their own macros?) Curiosity then got the best of me...so let's walk through a rough estimation of what's "really" in the bag: (NOTE: I'm using the values obtained from calories count.com)

NATTY PB: 1 cup / 12bars = 1.33tbsp per bar: 133cal/10.5F/6.5P/ 4C
NATTY CLOVE HONEY: 3/4 cup / 12 bars = 1tbsp per bar: 60cal / 17C

Calculating it all out
CALORIES: 414 - 133 - 60 = 221calories
FAT: 21 - 10.5 = 10.5g
PROTEIN: 26 - 6.5 = 19.5g
CARBS: 36g - 4g -17g = 15g

"ESTIMATED MACROS IN BAG (per Bar,. assuming 1 dzn"
221cal
10.g Fat
19.5g Protein
15g Carbohyrates

$1.50 / 19.5g per bar for mix, assuming free shipping

...damn. And that's assuming FREE shipping and not even factoring the cost of my natty PB, and Honey. So almost HALF of all macros are dreived from the PB and honey.

TASTE
Finally, the taste. When I was a child my mother used to make this amazing snack by rolling oats with PB and honey and lil bit 'o flour. The taste brought my back to eagerly standing on my tippy-toes awaiting the tasty goodness she used to prepare, which is great for nastalgic purposes, not so much for an adult looking for some diverse texture/flavor in a protein bar.

CONCLUSION
Given the cost, effort, and overall flavor of the bars, it's just not my thing.

 

[superflex02]

Deathmetal; On the part of mixing, there's no way in hell I could completely mix these with my hands and I knew that as soon as I reviewed the ingredients and what needed to be added. That being said, I used my kitchenaid mixer and it worked fine until the end when I had a big clump of sticky dough.

they are much better from a bodybuilding standpoint than your average protein bar and that's why i think people like them so much including myself..and they taste good too, maybe not as good as the protein bar at your local grocery store but i'll sacrifice a littel taste for a better product

I'm not arguing that, I said considering what they are they taste good just IN MY OPINION they are no were close to amazing like the majority of people say on here. Also seeing as they are made from very basic ingredients they would be extremely easy to recreate at home with store bough ingredients so the cost of them I can't justify for my personal use.

I definitely like seeing these types of products on the market though, and glad they are quite popular.

 

[Stryker1992]

wait.. these have been around for over 20years? I have a discount code, thanks though.

I meant protein bars. My daughter was messing with my keyboard while I was typing...

 

[thebigoz]

wait.. these have been around for over 20years? I have a discount code, thanks though.

Pretty sure he meant 2 years