Nature ZenProtein - Plant Based, Sugar & Gluten Free, No Soy & Peanuts (1LB/454G, Banana)

WOAH, I like this. You know how it is with protein powders, there is a built in cringe factor before taking that first sip. We buy powders not knowing how it is going to taste. Is it going to be the typical chalky, over sweetened, bland taste that needs help through adding in a bunch of other stuff, or is it going to be the mythical tasty magical elixir of awesomeness. Well, while it isn't the latter, it is a far reach from the former.It is, to me, the most natural tasting concoction I have had in a long time. I always need to doctor up my protein or meal replacement drinks. This is a protein powder, but it has all sorts of added food ingredients that it really bumps up the nutritional profile. Not exactly a meal replacement drink, but if you're fasting this can provide enough of an edge to power through the day.OK, so taste. This review is for the CHOCOLATE, but I am going to comment on the BANANA as well since I have both. And so both reviews will say pretty much the same. OK, banana first: I love banana flavor in general. When it came to this.. I had high hopes but low expectations. lol. When I first opened the container, I took a whiff. I could not detect banana. I was sad. Ok, so I proceeded to fill my mixing cup with 8 ounces of unsweetened almond milk and 1 scoop of this powder (which was at bottom of tub). I made it basically according to directions. First time I try something I try to follow directions and then make adjustments as I go. The directions say water can be used. I mixed for 30 seconds. Then took a sip. I TASTED BANANA! YEAH!! Ok, already impressed. Next, the sweetness level. The sweetness level is very mild. It has stevia in it--and you know how companies can be-- they load that stuff in. So I am going to say that if you are used to the more heavily sweetened products, this will either be a super refreshing change, or it will be disappointing and you will want to add sugar. I am flippin' stoked that this has a lightly sweet taste. And that I can taste banana. And that overall all I am tasting is.. a mild, easy to consume plant based protein drink that does not assault the taste buds. It's.. gentle.As for this CHOCOLATE. Same idea, but instead of a natural banana taste, it has a pure cocoa taste. Because this too isnt that sweet, and the cocoa is like baking cocoa or raw cocao, it is a pure chocolate flavor. Usually I am ADDING unsweetened baking powder or raw cacao powder to make my so called chocolate protein drinks taste more like chocolate. THIS tastes like chocolate. Of course, there is never too much chocolate, so feel free to add more chocolate. Here too I tried it just with 8 ounces unsweetened almond milk and 1 scoop of powder.I can drink them as is.. or if I were to "doctor them up", then I would likely add in some banana to the banana option as well as the chocolate option. Maybe add some instant coffee to the chocolate (with banana-- remember old star bucks vivanno? yeh, that's what I am going for). Then you know.. collagen powder, maybe some mushroom powder. Or I can just shake/mix/blend up a simple scoop with non dairy milk and be done. I'd say that this is for those that want a gentle, natural tasting drink w/o heavy sweetness or weirdness. I like it a lot for this reason. It quickly went to top of my list for drinks of this nature (i do have one brand I like that is super sweet that I use for masking harsher tastes such as greens and matcha).BTW, both of the products I am using are in 16 ounce tubs of loose powder. 18 servings per container.90 calories, 15 grams protein, 2 grams fiber (3 total sugar, 0 g added sugar, 6 gram carbs), 85 mg sodium, 0 cholesterol, 1 g fat (0 saturated, 0 trans). I'll include a pic of the label for more detailed nutritional info.

This is actually good! There’s a little graininess, but I’m used to that, and if you put it in baked goods you wouldn’t even notice. I drank one as intended and used the rest for baked banana oatmeal bars. I can’t get my spouse to drink a shake, but he ate the bars and loved them! It worked perfectly!

I have tried a lot of protein supplement shakes over the years. I almost always just use water to mix in a blender bottle. Overall, none of them are that great in taste. They range from “OK” to just terrible. The worst ones tend to taste chemically like it was concocted in some mad scientist’s dirty lab and you can’t really tell what it is supposed to be. This stuff is banana flavored, but the primary protein ingredient is peas. Well, this stuff tastes just like grainy peas with just a hint of banana flavor. If it didn’t say it was banana flavor, I would say it was an odd pea flavored drink with just a hint of banana. By itself I would give the taste a 2 on a scale of 1-5. Maybe less due to the grain or grittiness. It also doesn't seem to stay in solution. So you have too frequently shake it or the powder will settle to the bottom. The value of this protein powder is that it is organic, plant based, “raw”, and soy, dairy, and peanut free for those that are looking for such. And of course, that it contains what they say is a “Complete amino acid profile” which should be all 20 amino acids including the nine essentials. I admit that being complete is the only important thing to me and that I actually mix this with a whey-based chocolate flavored powder. Makes me feel like I am getting a complete protein and the veggies as a bonus. Mixed with the chocolate whey the taste is maybe a 2.1...

This is my first time trying the Nature Zen brand and I have to say I was pretty impressed with this banana flavored protein powder. It does have pea protein which I have had problems with the taste of it being overpowering in some powders but not here, you can tell it's there but the taste is more in the background.After I blended this it had a really good smell to it like there were real bananas in it. As far as the taste, I thought it was good, it had a real banana taste to it, not artificial, and even though they use stevia, it did not taste that sweet.I used my personal blender to mix it up and it blended completely, no grittiness to it either. They say add 1 scoop to one or two cups of water, I did 12 ounces which is in between and the taste was light, personally I would not add more water than that. I tried it with 8 ounces of water as well and the taste was definitely stronger and tastier.Overall I thing this is a good protein powder that tastes good and mixes well, I did not experience any digestive issues or any other side effects.

I've tried a LOT of protein shakes and this may be my favorite of all time. It's the only one with banana powder in it and it almost tastes like there are little chunks of banana floating around in there, which is amazing, so that may have an impact. But it's so good in every way.First off it's almost a real meal replacement since it has so many great essential vitamins and minerals. That must be from the veggie and seed mix because other pea protein mixes do not have all that goodness. They also use the best sweetener (stevia), which is probably the healthiest one though it usually gives an odd after taste. That is not the case in this banana mix, so I don't know if the flavors just complement better or what but there's no stevia after taste.I was able to use this as a treat for my kids with a little whipped cream on top. They loved it. I did too. It tasted almost like banana cake batter going down. So year, it's a little grainy, but I don't mind-kinda like a good banana pudding with the nila wafers dissolved in it except healthy!