Product Review: RXBAR vs. EPIC

[runpunkrun]

RXBAR Chocolate Sea Salt Protein Bar

Ingredients: Dates, Dried Egg Whites, Cashews, Almonds, Chocolate, Cocoa, Natural Flavors, Sea Salt.

Thick, stubby, and dense. You can see salt crystals sprinkled on top. Bite into it and it's chewy, slightly sticky, tastes very vaguely of cocoa and caramel (that's probably the dates), gritty (also probably the dates?) with little crunches of salt and big chunks of almond. I could see the chocolate chunks, but couldn't really taste them so I ate one straight; they're 100% cacao, bitter and not too flavorful; the cashews get lost in all the commotion, some bites tasted of coconut which shouldn't be happening.

That wasn't exactly easy to eat, a lot of chewing, with a lot of stuff stuck in my teeth afterward, and a bitter coffee-like aftertaste from the chocolate. I don't feel like eating that again. There's nothing wrong with it; it's just not for me.

The bar in my hand is labeled gluten free and has no gluten, dairy, or soy ingredients, but it's manufactured in a facility that processes peanuts, tree nuts, eggs, milk, soy, and wheat.

Now for the competition:

EPIC Almond Butter Chocolate Performance Bar

Ingredients: Dates, Egg Whites, Almonds, Unsweetened Chocolate, Sea Salt, Vanilla Extract.

Thick, stubby, and dense, but more tender than the RXBAR. Can taste coconut again, is that the dates? Can taste caramel again. The almonds are there, chopped in small pieces. The chocolate is not making itself known; it's in little chunks; you get occasional hints of its bitterness. This was chewy and stuck to my teeth but wasn't as gritty as the RXBAR. I could eat it again.

The bar in my hand is labeled gluten free, soy free, and non-GMO.

Comments

Re: Our tastes are converging

[runpunkrun]

I've been trying every snack/protein bar I'm capable of ingesting, and the RXBAR has, so far, been my least favorite. It was actual work to eat, and I don't need more obstacles between me and food.

Epic's performance bars aren't vegan, on account of the eggs, but they are vegetarian, which is definitely a departure from their usual products.

I really enjoy their Bison & Cranberry bars--smoky, tangy, a little sweet, a little greasy, a little salty--very very satisfying, and very easy to chew. I've tried nearly all their other meat bar flavors and, yes, either too spicy or too salty or too fatty for me. The bison's my favorite. I just bought one of their meat bars that has egg yolks in it, we'll see how that goes.

I'm currently eating my way through Larabars's back catalogue, and I find them to be very edible, though not as satisfying. I'm writing up a post with my findings.

Re: Our tastes are converging

[jesse_the_k]

Just when I think I've tried them all, someone comes up with a new bar!

When taste is my guide, I find KIND dark chocolate almond butter protein reliably delicious. Just the right amount of crunch without any buccal abrasions.

Tragically, I can't tolerate inulin (aka chicory). It's a prebiotic that appears in too many bars.

Re: Our tastes are converging

[runpunkrun]

I can't do inulin either, and that stuff shows up everywhere.

Re: Our tastes are converging

[jesse_the_k]

...had extra time this morning at the market, so I scored an EPIC Rise & Grind bar with Chicken, Egg Yolk & Apple. Very satisfying, just at my limit for black pepper. Super dense but not scratchy. Not a mindless nibble--I had to pay attention to each bite, and MMMMMMMMMMM.

chicken, organic dried egg yolk, dried apples, encapsulated lactic acid**, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cultured celery powder, chili powder, nutmeg, thyme, coriander seeds, black pepper, sage.

CONTAINS EGG INGREDIENTS

**Not from milk

Re: Our tastes are converging

[runpunkrun]

That sounds very promising! I like the addition of the apple in there. I have the pork one, which I still haven't tried:

Ingredients: uncured smoked bacon - no nitrates or nitrites added* (pork, water, salt, vinegar, celery powder), pork, organic dried egg yolk, maple sugar, encapsulated lactic acid**, sea salt, cultured celery powder

*Except for those naturally occurring in celery powder and sea salt.

**Not from milk

Re: Our tastes are converging

[runpunkrun]

Okay, I ate mine, the "Bacon and Egg Yolks Bar," and I liked it a lot. It was dense, but very tender and easy to chew, kind of melt-in-the-mouth even. It was slightly greasy in a way I found strangely satisfying, and it was a little sweet, which was unexpected, but I guess is the maple sugar for that bacon effect. A+ would definitely eat again.