David's Blog

Zone Bars

I've been on this Zone Bar craze since Joy had me try one of these back in February or March of 2004... I remember this because it was shortly before Southwestern, and I'd eat one or two of these things every day (excpet Sunday) for that entire summer.

After all that I still like them, so I thought I'd dip into eccentricity again, and write up what I thought about each flavor like I did when I went through my Healthy Choice Frozen Entree thing.

Right now there are 15 flavors of Zone Perfect Nutrition Bars. I like some flavors more than others and there are a few flavors that I don't even like at all. In addition to that there are two to three flavors that I have not yet had the chance to try. Here are the flavors and what I feel about them. Hopefully, I can get some comments from Joy on her thoughts about Zone Bars.

Chocolate Raspberry

I really like this flavor, but I don't like it so much that I would want to eat it all the time or even anytime. The raspberry flavoring is very robust, so I like to eat this with milk. Also, I usually like to eat this when I am not in a rush, because it tastes decadent to me.
8/10

Strawberry Yogurt

To me, this flavor is a classic. I think it has been around since the beginning and I would have at least two of these in any given week when I was selling books door-to-door in Alabama. I like the taste of this bar even without the nostalgia (it was often the only positive thing about my day) it brings, but I like to eat this slightly warm because it tastes even better that way. The fact that it has a yogurt outside is great too, because you don't always feel like chocolate.
8/10

Apple Cinnamon

I've tried this one and I liked it, but I definitely did not love it. This is another bar that I would want to keep in my kitchen, but would only want to eat occasionally. The outer coating is a caramel flavor and the inside does taste a bit like apple cinnamon. I definitely like this flavor, but I wouldn't eat it all of the time.
7/10

Chocolate Mint

This is another classic in my mind. A definite favorite flavor, but still not a flavor I would want to eat all the time or even anytime. There are many times when I want something that tastes minty, and this hits the spot. When I was selling books last summer I would buy these by the case along with Strawberry Yogurt so I obviously place it in my top five or six flavors.
8/10

Lemon Yogurt

I don't really like strong lemony or sour flavors, so this bar fell flat with me. I'm not going to buy it again, and even though I would eat it if I was hungry I probably wouldn't be so happy about it.
1/10

Fudge Graham

I think this is the #1 favorite right now. I can eat this anytime. Anywhere. No matter what my mood. If I am craving a particular flavor… this one typically fills the #2 or #3 spot. I like to eat this with milk, water, or even alone. It's just great. Even more appealing is the fact that Joy really likes this flavor as well. Finally, I can frequently find this flavor in bulk, so I like to have a lot of these bars around to save money.
10/10

Chocolate Peanut Butter

I can get a box of 12 of these packaged with a box of 12 Fudge Graham at Costco at a really decent price. So, I often have this flavor around. I like that it includes real peanuts in with the soy nuggets. I like this flavor, but I don't like it anytime, anywhere. I will always want something to drink with it -- but I like that I can enjoy it with water and not just milk.
7/10

Chocolate Caramel Cluster

This is what I call my morning bar. This bar has a strong flavor and tastes really great, but for some reason it tastes the best to me right when I wake up in the morning. There are quite a few mornings when I wake up and I'll want a zone bar in this flavor and only this flavor -- even in lieu of cereal. For me, this flavor can rival Fudge Graham, but it doesn't have the anytime, anywhere, with any chaser aspect that Fudge Graham has. Another downside to this bar is that Joy doesn't care for it all that much. I forget why, and I forget the extent to which she does not like this bar, but it means that I have fewer of this flavor around.
8/10

Chocolate Vanilla Creme

I'm not so into this flavor. I've tried it. It was OK. Joy hated it. It has the chocolate on the inside, which is something I don't really like in this flavor or in Double Chocolate. Probably a bar for chocolate lovers that like any type of chocolate flavor.
0/10

Caramel Apple

I like this flavor a lot. The downside to it is that I wouldn't want it anytime. In fact, I rarely want to eat this bar. When I am in the mood for it I love it. When I am not, it just feels wrong. It has a caramel coating, which is pretty good and an apple flavored inside. Tastes kind of like candy because of the apple flavored center, and sometimes that is a great thing. Most of the time it doesn't work for it though. If I have two bars at once… I like to have this one second.
6/10

Double Chocolate

I've tried this bar, but I did not like it. I'm not really into double chocolate anything, but I like all these weird Zone Bar flavors that I would not normally like, so I thought I'd try this out anyway. Obviously, I am fine with a chocolate coating, but the flavoring of the soy nuggets tastes wrong to me. I think it is because I don't like cocoa flavoring.
0/10

Peach Yogurt

I've tried this bar, but I haven't had it again since I've tried it. The peach flavoring was too powerful for me. This shouldn't be taken to mean that it is too powerful though, because I'm just not a big peach flavor fan. I like real peaches a lot, but I like my flavoring to be more subtle. The yogurt coating is really great.
2/10

Chocolate Almond Raisin

This flavor is a crowd favorite. I love it. Joy loves it. Most people I introduce Zone bars to love it. For this reason, when I want someone to try out a zone bar I will give them this flavor, a Fudge Graham, or maybe a Chocolate Mint. This flavor just tastes good and is a photo-finish second to Fudge Graham. The only reason that it is in second place is that I sometimes feel strange after eating raisins and this has real raisins and almonds in it, which Joy absolutely loves. Another reason it isn't tied with Fudge Graham is that it is hard to find in stores and even harder to find in bulk.
9/10

Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I haven't tried this flavor yet.
?/10

Cinnamon Roll

I bought two of these so I could try one and let Joy try another. I got them when I was hungry and at a CVS, because they were new to me. I didn't like the first one at first, but ate it anyway because I was pretty hungry. Joy said she had already tried the flavor and didn't like it so I ended up eating the second one. It tasted much better the second time around. It tastes good with milk when you aren't all that hungry and not in a big rush.
5/10

Posted by David at July 1, 2005 04:38 PM