Saturday, March 29, 2008

Mojo Bars are AWESOME!

Alright, alright, here it is, the long-awaited Mojo Bar Taste Test. Thanks to Danielb for hooking me up with these. My palatte is sensitive, my opinion highly-sought, so this will be an extremely worthwhile blog.
I am not going to describe each different bar because there are genres to which I can assign them.
DIPPED BARS:
I absolutely loved the Peanut Butter and Jelly bar. It was the first one I tried and it was awesome. I basically love any bar that was dipped in chocolate. However Mojo is making two "dipped" varieties. I super did not like the vanilla dipped bars. It was too sweet, the flavor of the vanilla competed in a weird and unpleasing way with the fruit stuff. I was actually really bummed at the first bite of a vanilla bar- I didn't read the package carefully and my mouth was preparing for a delicious repeat to the chocolate dipping. I didn't even finish any other bar that was dipped in vanilla.
SALTY:
I give a thumbs up to the salty genre. Actually, any bar that wasn't dipped in vanilla and had pretzles in it was a favorite. As I write I'm eating the Honey Roasted Peanut bar. Y U M. I actually wish it was a little MORE salty.

My favorite bars are the ones that don't add fruit- if I'm eating a nutty bar, I want it nutty, with pretzles and salt. Kind of like I'm having bar food in a bar. I didn't especially care for the bar (I can't remember which one it was because I tried to save the wrapper and well, an empty wrapper is actually garbage so it was discarded before I could blog) with dried cranberries. They had a tangy/sweet flavor that just overtook the rest of the yum in the bar. So I would not ever ever buy that. And it's not because I'm eschew the cranberry. It just didn't work.

So here's my other issue. The ones I liked, Mountain Mix, PB&J, Honey Roasted Peanut, I super liked. The others were a total no-go. I completely love the low glycemic index nature of these- I had just started learning about that when Daniel gave me the bars and I was so pleased to have a snack that fit the bill.

BUT- these bars are almost too good. They taste like a snack and not a cycling food-and by cycling food I mean I'm-in-mile-73-of-a-century-and-I-want-something-to-get-me-to-the-finish. Maybe the super nutty ones, yes. It feels like these should taste more medicinal or give me the gag reflex that other cycling-marketed products like Gu do. I have to choke it down but I know it will help me out. Yes, I'd grab these on a ride, but they're so yummy I might not think of them as a training food. Can spell it out for me on why they're better (more easily absorbed, more carbs, more salt, etc) than say Gu or Powerbars or Shotblocks? I feel like they're probably really good for me, but I'm so not the kind of person to research the differences and figure it out. Actually, don't explain it to me. Tell me which one will help me cycle longer/faster/better/with a high cadence/climb faster/do my taxes/ and I'll just eat that one.

Especially since my primary interest in these is for hard-core cycling, I think they need more salt. I sweat like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. I'm just saying.

Clif Bar people, can you please compare the various bars for me?

I also love the 70% organic nature, the rice crisps were delish. Also, if the package could be made to open a little easier with my teeth while I'm riding, that'd be good too. I also wonder if I took the chocolate dipped ones on a summer ride, would I open the package to a slathery mess-o-melted chocolate?

P.S. This review was written by a vegetarian who like earthy, granola-y less-sweet stuff.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

They're "better" for you for two simple reasons.

1) Blocks, shots, etc are basically pure sugar. They may be non-refined sugar, but they're sugar. They'll increase your blood sugar level, but then it'll drop heavily as soon as you process them.

Since these bars have some fat to them and some roughage, they take longer for your body to process, which is like a slow-acting sugar release.

2) These bars contain nuts, fruits in some, and grains, all of which contain natural vitamins, which is better for you than just plain ol rice syrup.

Anonymous said...

I liked them all. But I am not so sophisticated as you. Maybe you lose your sense of taste when you get old. Or maybe just you lose your sense......