Premier Protein: looking for a protein that actually tastes good

I’ve mentioned before that I was lucky enough to win a “protein pop” package from Premier Protein, during a twitter chat I participated in. Like the other items I’m featuring this week, I never got around to writing up a review.

For starters, I want to show you what exactly I got in the mail.

For starters, I LOVED the packaging…it made me feel like it was my birthday!

High gloss information sheet, explaining more about Premier Protein and its benefits.

Holy Cow! I was shocked to see I hadn’t just received a bar or drink, but 2 drinks (2 of each flavor) and 6 bars (also 2 of each). Yep, I believe I just hit the jackpot I thought.

Now came the fun part, to test everything and decide if I actually liked the products or not. First up was the chocolate drink, which I drank right after a cross race as my recovery drink.

Chocolate Shake
-initial impressions; dang this stuff tastes good!!!
I love chocolate milk but I am picky. Most chocolate milk powders leave clumps, I don’t like herseys chocolate syrup just added to my milk, and when it comes to chocolate protein powders, they all seem to still keep the protein taste. This shake nailed it and was the perfect consistency, perfect taste and had no noticeable protein taste present.
-shocked at how much protein was contained and no hint of it in taste
-surprised at how few calories for something that tasted that good
-worked great as a recovery drink; easy to transport and gave me necessary recovery nutrients after a tough race

Next, I tried the double chocolate crunch bar as a breakfast meal replacement.

-initial impressions; a little too “thick/heavy” for my liking
I liked the taste, even though my first choice would definitely be for something a little less chocolatey. I don’t eat one large meal for breakfast, but instead eat too smaller breakfasts, so for me this bar was a little too much. It was quite dense, and I felt like I had eaten an entire thanksgiving feast after I finished. It definitely filled me up and I was not hungry for hours later, so for anyone who prefers one larger breakfast in the morning I think this is a great option.
-easy for busy lifestyle
-would prefer smaller sizes to keep in car/purse/etc to use as snacks on the go

Close up of what the inside of the bar looks like.

Next sample I tried was the vanilla shake.
-initial impressions; way too sweet
I was really looking forward to this after loving the chocolate shake, however, I was definitely disappointed in the taste. It still had the same great texture/thickness as the chocolate and I was not able to taste the protein here either, however, the shake was VERY sweet! Much like the bar, I decided to use this shake as a breakfast meal replacement, but I found it very hard to drink something this sweet in the morning. In all fairness, I am not a fan of sweet drinks anytime of day, so I am sure this would be a great product for someone who gets sweet toothed cravings, especially in the morning.

My next test was to sample the chocolate peanut butter bar.
-initial impressions; half is the perfect amount
After my experience with the other bar, I decided to only eat half of this bar at a time, and that made all the difference. I also felt like this bar didn’t have the same weight issues as the double chocolate, but maybe this was just due to the fact that their was less chocolate. Either way, I think this is a great bar for anyone who likes both chocolate and peanut butter (seriously, is there anyone who doesn’t love this combination?).
-not as smooth/creamy as other breakfast protein bars I have tried
-left me feeling full and not hungry in 30 mins

And last, but not not least I tried the yogurt peanut crunch bar.
-initial impressions; crunchy
Obviously crunch is in the name, but for me the one big downfall of this bar was the crunchiness. I’m a smooth (vs crunchy) peanut butter type of girl and the same thing applies to bars. I much prefer soft/chewy bars to ones with a crunch. Now obviously I realize this is definitely a personal taste thing, so I recognize that some people will love that about this bar. Also, I would have really like to see a different pairing with the yogurt, than peanut. I think strawberry or some type of fruit would have been a better accent to the yogurt than peanut, especially with already having a chocolate peanut butter bar option.
-again ate just 1/2 of bar at once

Overall Impressions
Pros
-don’t have protein taste but pack A LOT of protein in
-great consistency on shakes
-flavor/texture options for different preferences
-shake comes is environmentally friendly tetra pack

Cons
-would have really liked to try strawberry shake, after such a difference between chocolate & vanilla
-bars need to come in smaller “snack” sizes
-prices definitely not the cheapest (though can find discounted on amazon)
-would like to see more variety in bar flavors
-not sold locally in stores (that I have seen)

QOTD
-Have you tried Premier Protein? If so, what are your pros/cons?
-Any questions for me, what did I miss in my review?