Posts Tagged ‘Coffee’

Protein Bar Review #21: Simple Squares Coffee Nuts and Honey Snack Bar

Posted: August 13, 2015 in Bike Culture, Burning Man, Cooking, Science
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Post 21 - Simple Squares Coffee

Brand: Simple Squares

Product: Coffee Nuts & Honey Organic Snack Bar

Weight: 1.6oz / 45g

Cost: $2.49/per from manufacturer

Stats

Calories: 230

Total Fat: 17g, Sat. Fat 5g

Cholesterol: 0g

Sodium: 95mg

Total Carb: 16g

Fiber: 3g

Sugars: 10g

Protein: 6g

Protein per ounce: 3.75g

Protein, Cost per gram: $0.41

Carb to Protein Ratio: 2.6-1

Vit A: 0% DV

Vit C: 0% DV

Calcium: 4% DV

Iron: 10% DV

Organic, gluten free, wheat free, kosher, no refined sugars, soy and dairy free.

Not made in a gluten free facility.

Flavor:

It would seem I spoke too soon when I said the Daily Mocha Mantra bar, from my first post, was the only one made with real organic coffee; now that I have had the coffee Simple Square I know my error. It would seem there are two made with coffee (if any of you readers know of another one let me know). The flavor was similar to the ginger Simple Square, but with hints of coffee instead of ginger. It was not nearly as tasty as the coconut Simple Square I started with, but hey, it had coffee in it so that’s pretty cool, right? The mouth feel of all of these Simple Squares is the same, as the ingredients are virtually identical in all of their products. Simple Square created one template to rule them all, and then made a bunch of flavors to apply to that template. The nutrient content is not very good and the protein ratio is also lacking, the major win for this bar is that it is made with coffee and is still kosher.

Another win for the entire Simple Square family of products is that they have nothing in them to melt in high heat situations, making them all great for Burning Man. I picked up a few Simple Squares and other bars that seem Burn-friendly to bring out with me this year to test them first-hand in the desert heat.

Advertisement

Protein Bar Review #1: 22 Days Daily Mocha Mantra

Posted: June 7, 2015 in Bike Culture, Burning Man, Cooking, Science
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
0

Hey readers, my apologies for my extended absence. My writing career has begun to take off and I have been doing a lot of cannabis writing for other sites, at the expense of my own blog. I’ve decided to correct that by starting a new series of posts on here profiling the various organic protein bars I have found at my local health food store. I have always been big on physical exercise in various forms: dance, weight lifting, biking, soccer, sword fighting, parkour, running, basketball, martial arts, boxing, volleyball, football, archery, and much more. I have also always been a big fan of proper nutrition, the combination of those two loves has given rise to this current series.

As the focus of this series is on the protein part of the protein bar I have included a “protein per ounce” category. Protein bars come in all shapes and sizes and some inferior ones use creative packaging to appear more nutritious than others. I feel that calculating a protein per ounce ratio of weight-protein is a simple and effective way to level the playing field. For the budget conscious I also included a cost per gram of protein. I do recognize that more than the protein content matters, which is why I have included the full nutritional content and a flavor profile.

The first protein bar I am profiling is 22 Days Daily Mocha Mantra.

Post 1 - Daily Mocha Mantra

Brand: 22 Days

Product: Daily Mocha Mantra

Weight: 1.7oz / 50g

Cost: $2.99/per from manufacturer.

Stats

Calories: 220

Total Fat: 12g, Sat. Fat 2.5g, Poly Unsaturated 2.5g, Mono Unsat. 6.5%

Cholesterol: 0g

Sodium: 20mg

Total Carb: 21g

Fiber: 5g

Sugars: 14g

Protein: 10g

Protein per ounce: 5.8g

Protein, Cost per gram: $0.30

Carb to Protein Ratio: 2.1-1

Vit A: 0% DV

Vit C: 0% DV

Calcium: 6% DV

Iron: 10% DV

Fair Trade organic, plant based, dairy free, gluten free, Natural Food Certified, Produced with Solar Energy.

Not made in gluten free facility.

Flavor:

While this review is of the Daily Mocha Mantra flavor I have had various protein bars by 22 Days and they have been my go-to protein bar, up until this protein bar review series. Who knows which one my favorite will be by the end of these posts? The Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Nirvana flavor is delicious but also pretty standard chocolate/peanut protein bar. Looking over 22 Days website for this post I see they have stepped their game up and now have 20g protein versions I will need to check out for a future post. As of now, the Daly Mocha Mantra packs in more protein per ounce than any other bar I am reviewing, but not necessarily at the best price or with the best flavor.

The Daily Mocha Mantra protein bar is the only one I have come across that is made with real coffee. This protein bar is caffeinated and flavored with actual coffee, not any BS or fillers. If you want a real “get up and go” protein bar for your morning work out then this is it. You can pass on the Starbucks with this protein bar. I am a huge coffee fan, so I found this to be a selling point; for the same reason other people may not like it. I’m not sure if it is the coffee or the hemp protein powder they use but something gives this bar a slight grittiness. I really don’t mind it, because at least it isn’t that chalky powdery taste that nearly all non-organic protein bars have from cheap protein powder. I will take coffee grittiness over a dry chalked up mouth any day. As this is my first review in the series I can’t give you any comparison. But stay tuned to future posts and the recap I do at the end of the series.