I'd like to get a good protein flavor review thread going so I can steer clear of gross ****. Score the taste of each protein on a scale of 1-10, and please include the preparation as sugar, milk, water can all affect the taste dramatically.
So, I bought the assorted pack of ON gold standard 100% whey from bodybuilding.com to try the different flavors out. It's got 16 different flavors in it, each package is one scoop. It was $19.99, so it's a rip off. Hopefully I can save you guys some money.
Tropical Punch
Preparation: Shaker bottle with water and some dextrose (~1:1 ratio).
Taste: Similar to pepto bismol, but not as bad. This would probably be better with some juice or berries. I would definitely dread having to finish off a tub of this. Will never purchase again.
Score: 5/10
Preparation: High heat sear for 1 minute on each side, you want the entire perimeter of the steak cooked to lock in the juice and seal in the goodness.
Taste: With salt and butter and a nice chunk of fat it's like an orgasm in your mouth.
Score 10/10
Syntha 6 Cookies and Cream 11/10
Syntha 6 Strawberry 9/10
Syntha 6 Banana 9/10
Syntha 6 Vanilla 9/10
ON/Vitamin Shoppe Choc Mint 9/10 PWO, 7.5/10 with water or milk
ON Vanilla 2/10
ON Strawberry 6/10
ON Chocolate 7/10 (staple protein for 2 years)
Isopure Strawberry cream 8/10 PWO, 3/10 with water or milk
Isopure Mango Peach 8/10 PWO, 2/10 with water or milk
I think that's all the proteins I've had in my entire lifetime. Loving the Snytha 6, though only use it in the morning.
I agree with the Syntha 6, but sometimes it gave me the hershy squirts.
ON vanila 5
ON cookies and cream: 1
ON chocolate mint 7
ON tropical punch 7.5
Beverly Nutrition Muscle provider chocolate: 10 (expensive but very tasty!)
Syntha 6 chocolate 8
San Infusiion Vanilla/Caramel: 9 (similar to muscle milk, but superior ingredients)
Muscle Milk Strawberry; mixed w/ milk it tastes like a milkshake 10/10
Muscle Milk Chocolate Mint; ditto 10/10
Biotest Metabolic Drive Chocolate Drinkable; kind of weird tasting 8/10
Biotest Metabolic Drive Vanilla Probably the best tasting Metabolic Drive 9/10
Biotest Metabolic Drive Banana Decent; 7/10
Biotest Metabolic Drive Strawberry Not nearly as good tasting as the muscle milk 7/10
Biotest Metabolic Drive Orange I didn't really like this one; my least favorite 4/10
Biotest Surge Rootbeer Tasted Weird; like sugary water 5/10
Biotest Surge Chocolate Best tasting Surge; 9/10
Biotest Surge Vanilla Sugar water taste again 5/10
Biotest Surge Raspberrry Better than vanilla and rootbeer; kind of sweet 7/10
Biotest Grow! Whey Protien No flavor; tastes kind of like paste, but I just chug it down as fast as possible. Then again, I didn't purchase for the taste; I bought it for the economy 3/10
FWIW, I finished tubs of all the above and it was no big deal. When I got bored with a flavor I mixed them up (chocolate+banana; strawberry+orange; etc) and they were okay.
FWIW I mix all my shakes with water most of the time:
ON Whey Chocolate 7/10 - Good, not great. I can drink these nearly everyday without a problem.
ON Whey Vanilla 2/10 - Awful, if the water wasn't very cold this made me gag a little. Texture and look reminded me of mayo, not a good image.
ON Whey Rocky Road 8/10 = Barely edges out the chocolate, highly recommended.
ON Casein Chocolate 6/10 - If you can get over the texture it's not horrible. Doesn't mix well but I think this is true for most caseins.
ON Casein Cookies and Cream 5/10 - Bought it by mistake, wouldn't buy again.
GNC PM Protein, Chocolate 4/10 - LOL GNC.
Metabolic Drive Chocolate 9.5/10 - Tastes great, has a hard to describe coffee taste to it IMO. Dunno if it's worth the price if I'm just trying to chug a shake though.
Metabolic Drive Banana 8/10 - This combined with oatmeal is seriously my favorite meal right now. Mixes a little rough though, very powdery compared to other proteins.
I'm so jealous you guys can drink milk. Mixing with water makes em all taste nasty I guess. Maybe I'll just put it in my oatmeal instead of making a shake using water.
I'm getting close to purchasing an order of Syntha-6 Cookies and Cream and ON Chocolate Mint, but is the soy in them any kind of problem? I've heard all those bad things about soy, but I think the amount of it in these is pretty insignificant.
I'm so jealous you guys can drink milk. Mixing with water makes em all taste nasty I guess. Maybe I'll just put it in my oatmeal instead of making a shake using water.
???
I mix all my ish with water and it isn't too bad at all.
I'm pretty sure he was talking about the macronutritional effect of adding milk (galactose sugars, etc.) to your protein shake, not to mention the fact that milk is extremely insulinogenic.