CalNaturale Drinks

I haven't reviewed many, but I went through a phase where I drank lots of protein shakes and smoothies.  I was always on a quest to find some that satisfied, but I honestly still don't have a brand I'd recommend highly.

CalNaturale is part of California Natural Products, a natural foods company.  The CalNaturale label makes two product lines: Svelte Protein Shakes and ... Wine.  I've never tried their wine.

The shakes are all dairy-free and gluten-free, soy based, and fairly low sugar, sweetened with Stevia.  When I was on a liquids diet, I tried out many, many brands of protein drinks, and these were some of my favorites.  I wouldn't really pick one up now, as I kinda want nothing to do with smoothies and shakes after months of being required to only have liquids, but if I needed to again, I'd probably start with these. Not a strong recommendation, but decent.

• "Enjoy Yourself", aka, Cappuccino.  Tasting notes: Subtle coffee flavor.  Very sweet, with fake sweetener taste.  Don’t taste much soy.  Meh.  [ Too fake tasting, the fake sweetener just rules the flavor. Even when diluted with plain soy milk, not very good.  Least favorite, by far, will not try again. ]
• "Hello Beautiful", aka, Chocolate.  Tasting notes: Kinda thick and too much on its own.  Better when diluted with almond milk, as the chocolate and almond are a nice combo.  Slightly too fake sweet tasting. [ On its own, it was a bit too think, and very, very sweet, in a fake way.  It mixed very well with almond milk again, about 60% Svelte and 40% almond milk was a good combination, chocolatey and almondy, thinner, and not as well.  Best served super chilled. ] [ Next, I blended it up with frozen banana and almond milk.  It was way too sweet for me that way.  So I added regular milk.  And coconut, since who doesn't like coconut and chocolate.  And then ... peanut butter!  At that point, it turned into a delicious banana-chocolate-peanut butter-coconut shake.  Which I topped with whipped cream.  Totally not what this drink is intended for, but I liked it this way :) ]
• "Just Your Style", aka, Spiced Chai.  Tasting notes: This was by far my favorite.  Nice spicing, it almost reminded me of a pumpkin pie spiced drink.  Maybe October is just getting to me :)  It also wasn't too sweet, and didn't have the fake taste to it that other varieties did.  Would get this again.
• "Looking Good", aka French Vanilla.  Tasting notes: This was pretty good.  Mostly like yummy vanilla flavored soy milk but had added protein to make more complete meal. [ Way too sweet, way too fake tasting. ]  [ Way, way too sweet. Not sure how I ever tolerated this! ]