RXBAR

Update Review, 2020 Tastings

Oh, RXBAR.  So nearly very tasty.  I've now tried much better flavors since my original review, but the texture of the bars just doesn't do it for me.

But ... I have now discovered their nut butter, RX Butter, and that ... that is magic.

Bars

"RXBARs are protein bars made with a few simple ingredients that are perfect for breakfast on the go, as protein-packed snack bars, or as a pre/post-workout fuel."

Mixed Berry.

"Mixed Berry combines the juicy taste of cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries. This bar's rich flavor mix bursts through with every bite."

Is this what I crave?  No way.  Was it a strange texture?  Absolutely.  But did it almost taste good?  Yes.

The berry flavor was very pronounced, a mix of cranberries, raspberries, and strawberries.  The berry flavor was not overshadowed by the dates or cashews, and I really liked the big chunks of almonds inside for crunch.

Much better than expected, and a nice play on "pb&j" in a way. **+.

Peanut Butter Chocolate.

"This one is so good. Peanut Butter Chocolate mixes the irresistibly creamy taste of peanut butter with the decadent taste of 100% chocolate. Two great flavors come together to make something even better."

I was really excited to discover this one.  I adore chocolate and peanut butter, and have most certainly been known to include a peanut butter cup in my breakfast lineup (you know, for the "protein" in the peanut butter ...).  Add in *actual* protein from the egg whites (12 grams in the bar!), and then I could legit feel good about this.

Like the others, the texture and look were not appealing, shiny, strangely chewy and dense.  But, it was almost awesome.

Inside were pockets of creamy peanut butter (along with some chunks of peanuts).  The little pockets of peanut butter were glorious!  The chocolate flavor wasn't the strongest, but it was present, and most welcome.

So what was wrong?  For me ... the dates.  I can look past the texture, and I really did like the other flavors, but I truly dislike dates, and it was just too date forward (they *are* the first ingredient after all).

So close to being great, but alas, not.  ***.

Maple Sea Salt.

"We don't make waffles, but if we did they'd taste like this. Our Maple Sea Salt protein bars are made with a touch of maple water and a few other simple ingredients - egg whites for protein, dates to bind and nuts for texture. All topped with a sprinkle of crunchy sea salt, it's the gold bar standard. Literally."

The most notable thing about this one was the aroma!  It was amazing.  I opened up the package and ... "mmm, maple!" is all I could think.  The maple was just amazing to smell.

But of course, it looked like all RXBARS ... a big solid shiny strange mass.  And it ate like all others too.  The texture was kinda mushy, chewy, and not really pleasant.  The flavor did have a beautiful maple flavor, and it actually tasted like maple walnut to me, but it is is made with pecans and cashews (and of course the date and egg white standard base, and maple and sea salt).

I again *wanted* to like the product, I could almost get past the date flavor, but the texture ... just not for me.  I can imagine chopping it up and integrating it into an ice cream sundae, perhaps with some roasted bananas and a drizzle of maple syrup ...

***.

RX Butter

"RX Nut Butter is a high-quality, protein-packed spread made from real ingredients like egg whites, dates and nuts that provides valuable nutrition and comes in a variety of great tasting flavors."

RX has expanded beyond bars, and they now make ... nut butters.  Nut butters that of course have some goodies added, to amp up the protein (e.g. the same egg whites, dates, and of course, "no b.s." as their bars).

The nut butters are available in both almond and peanut versions, in a bunch of varieties: honey cinnamon, vanilla, maple, chocolate ...

I didn't quite expect to like these, but I'm so glad I was given a sample to try at a fitness event.  I loved it, and now want to try the whole product line.

Individual Packet (Opened).

"You can buy almond butter or peanut butter in both single serve packs and full-sized jars. It’s the squeezable, spreadable snack that tastes good and is good for you."

Nut butters come packaged as individual grab-n-go packets, or jars.  I had just an individual portion, in a packet, easy to knead and uh, devour right from the package (honestly, it was so good you could just squeeze it direct to mouth!)

Honey Cinnamon Peanut Butter.

"It's sweet like cinnamon, smooth like honey, and as addicting as your favorite spread. If not more. By adding egg whites for protein we made your go-to protein-filled snack better. And portable. Keep out of reach of bears and hungry friends."

Seriously.  This stuff.  I took a tiny squeeze right from the pack and never looked back.  I see why they say to keep it out of reach of friends - I was *not* sharing this!

Yes, it is great direct package to mouth.  No shame.  I eventually got civil and pulled out a knife, and did spread it on something, but ... not until another bite went straight into my mouth on the knife.  

So what is in it?  Yup, peanuts, of course, and honey and cinnamon, but also the egg whites (which I didn't taste, nor notice any strange effect from) and dates (which again, usually I'd taste and not care for, but, I didn't taste them at all, it just had a nice sweetness), and sea salt (yes!).  The single serve is 32g, about 2 tablespoons, and has 180 calories, including 9 grams of protein and 3 grams sugar, compared to regular plain peanut butter that would have slighty less protein, and slightly more calories.

It is seriously good peanut butter.  Think creamy, rich, peanut forward peanut butter, with a hint of extra sweetness, almost like made from honey roasted peanuts, and a tiny tiny touch of cinnamon on the finish.  A slightly crispy texture which I liked, but mostly a smoother style (I *do* prefer chunky nut butters).  It would be great on toast, I'm sure.  It was *insane* on top of a white chocolate pretzel (white chocolate and peanut butter is such a favorite combo for me, inspired by the White Chocolate Wonderful flavor made by Peanut Butter & Co, which cemented this as an epic combo for me).

****.

Original Review, June 2017

"Whole Food Protein Bars with Real Ingredients."

Yup, another day, another type of snack bar to review.  RXBAR is a line of high protein bars made with real ingredients, gluten-free, soy free, yadda, yadda, yadda.  I often roll my eyes at these sorts of things, but these truly are made with real ingredients, or, as they say, "like eating 3 egg whites, 2 dates, and 6 almonds. With no B.S."

RXBAR currently comes in 8 varieties, all with egg whites, different nuts, and dates as the base.  The flavors sound pretty good, like peanut butter, coconut chocolate, maple sea salt, mint chocolate, peanut butter chocolate, and more.

Coffee Chocolate.

"Our Coffee Chocolate protein bar brings two favorites together in one delicious bar. Four core whole food ingredients, infused with 100% real chocolate and the perfect balance of coffee make this bar an instant favorite of both coffee and chocolate lovers. With no added sweeteners and only a hint of caffeine (5mg.), this is your anytime, chocolate and coffee break."

I tried the (now discontinued) coffee chocolate flavor.

The ingredients in this bar really are real ingredients, as promised: egg whites, almonds, and cashews for protein, dates for sweetener, cacao and coffee for the flavor, and a hint of salt.  That is it.  No random protein isolates, no scary ingredients.

But, as you can imagine, what do you get when you combine just those things?  Yup, you get a very strange texture and flavor, like the original Clif bars (or, at least how I remember them).  Dense, gummy, just ... odd.

There was a bit of crunch from bits of nuts, and some decent flavor from the coffee and chocolate, but, yeah, this was not for me.

On the plus side, it did have 12 grams of protein with no crazy ingredients, and was a decent 210 calories, but I didn't want another.

**.