In this episode of "I try things so you don't have to," I was on the hunt for palatable vegan protein powder and high-fiber convenience food.
Specifically, I was looking for stevia-free vegan protein powder - the proverbial needle in a haystack. It's possible to find some sweetened with monkfruit or sucralose, but I was curious if any employed nutritive sweeteners - a.k.a., sugar. In short: very few.
We'll start with the winner, which turned out to be a fake-out: Be Amazing's Pineapple Dole Whip flavor. I never would have bought this if I'd realized "Reb M" is another name for stevia, so I guess I'm grateful for the obfuscation. This is the most delicious vegan protein powder I have ever encountered: not too sweet, very natural tasting pineapple flavor, mixes easily. I figured this company had cracked the code for making stevia potable and promptly ordered the blueberry pancake and brownie batter flavors.
Unfortunately, I figured wrong. The blueberry pancake flavor was incredibly intense: a super sweet, peculiarly persistent blueberry-maple punch to the face that I continued to taste and smell hours later. And the brownie batter? Possibly the worst protein powder I've ever tried. Aside from the sickly sweet stevia, it was almost flavorless: the LaCroix of chocolate, a hollow whisper of an equally hollow, cheap, waxy Easter bunny. I re-read the ingredient list and realized it didn't even contain any actual cocoa.
I vowed to pay closer attention to sneaky sweeteners and ordered Vega's Protein Made Simple line. Just pea protein, sugar, coconut cream powder, and natural flavors (and in the case of the chocolate flavor, real cocoa). How could this go wrong? I don't know, but wrong it went - undrinkably so. Next.
The Orgain Simple line had a longer but still entirely intelligible ingredient list and a weirdly nostalgic taste. If you are of a certain age, you may remember Shaklee, a nutrition MLM that was at the height of its popularity in the late '70s and early '80s. If you ever wondered what 1979 tasted like, wonder no more. Very, uh, natural.
This triggered a memory of another Ghost of Protein Powder Past, and I wondered if my 1990s go-to Spiru-Tein still existed. Moments later, it was in my cart. Mere days later, I was magically transported to 1996. After Be Amazing's Pineapple Dole Whip, the vanilla Spiru-Tein topped my list for taste. Ignore the promises on the packaging (lies); this stuff requires a blender - unless you enjoy sipping slimy soy clumps. But when well-blended, the vanilla flavor is delightfully marshmallowy, the perfect partner for fresh strawberries or cocoa powder or both, and makes a great base for a fluffernutter shake to which to add peanut butter or peanut powder.
And here's where I had a breakthrough. Peanut powder! The PB Fit Classic is just peanut powder, sugar, and salt. Packed with protein. Scrumptious. I don't know why I always thought of it as an addition and failed to consider it as a stand-alone protein powder. Add cocoa or don't. Banana or nah. Good stuff.
And now for the fiber. The Floura bars (created by the founder of Jeni's ice cream) reminded me of a cross between a Lara Bar and a fruit roll-up. Chewy, fruity, tart, studded with almonds, and stuffed with 13 grams of fiber, I found them incredibly filling and quite acceptable flavor-wise. The vanilla rooibos and blueberry matcha were the most neutral to my palate. If you are not a fan of floral flavors, I would advise you to steer clear of the raspberry rose and brambleberry lavender, as the rose and lavender are quite prominent. Cardamom fans will rejoice in how assertive the spice is in the mango cardamom.
The Well Bean German chocolate pecan nuggets were also very Lara Bar-esque. If you like Lara Bars, you would like these. Not much else to add. The Well Bean chocolate mug cake ("Bean Muggin") was ready in 90 seconds and convincingly cake-like. It filled the kitchen with the rich aroma of chocolate, the taste of which somehow managed to mask the 10 grams of fiber per serving. I expected this to be dense, heavy, and possibly grainy or gritty, but it was none of those things. Just a nice, not-too-sweet, chocolatey treat.
