Rise Protein Bars

Blah, blah, blah, another healthy protein bar, made with natural ingredients, yadda yadda.

"Rise Bar: The Best Plant-Based, Vegan & Whey Protein Bars."

Yup, Rise Bar is another one in this genre.  I don't love bars, but they are handy to have in my bag for when I am out and about and need a snack on the go.  I try many, many brands, always looking for more good options, often trying them when given out in swag bags at different fitness events around town.  I'm not sure where I picked up a few Rise bars, likely at something like that.

Rise makes two main product lines, "energy" bars and "the simplest protein bar".  Rise bars all use a foundation of nuts as the base (protein, antioxidants, etc), are sweetened with honey (natural, yadda yadda), and use whey isolate to up the protein levels.  They of course have tempting named options like "Snicker Doodle" or "Mint Chip".  Some are vegan all are gluten-free.

Energy Bars

Blueberry Coconut.

"Antioxidant rich blueberries and delicious, healthful coconut fill this bar and give it a unique and tasty flavor combination."

The first bar I tried was an energy bar.  I almost liked it.

The crispy bits of amaranth were nice for crunch.  I liked the flavor from the blueberries, the coconut, the almonds.  I tolerated the raisins.  The flavors and textures of all these components worked for me.

But.  Sigh.  Dates.  I don't like the taste of dates.  And this was very date forward.

So close to being tasty.

**+.

The Simplest Protein Bar

Sunflower Cinnamon.

"This nut-free 5 ingredient bar tastes as delicious as it sounds! Made with sunflower butter, cinnamon and a hint of vanilla with 15g of hunger satisfying, pea protein. 100% plant-based."

Next I tried a protein bar.

This is another product I almost liked.  And yes, only 5 ingredients: two of which are just cinnamon and vanilla.  Sunflower butter, coconut nectar, and pea protein round it out.

I took one look at the bar, and laughed, thinking I'd likely spit it out.  I mean really, it looked awful.

But the aroma was enticing.  I smelt ... fresh cinnamon rolls.

I bit in.  Yup, the texture was as bad as it looked.  A strange dense puck, that had broken in half in the wrapper.  Nothing great going on texture-wise.

The flavor wasn't bad though.  Nice cinnamon and vanilla.  Decent sweetness, not fake tasting.  Really interesting flavor from the sunflower actually, and nothing funky about it.  It really was almost good.

I can't say I want more of these, but, it surprised me, and I wonder if other flavors that are more to my liking could actually be enjoyable.

***.