Griffin Parker
Barebells is known for making quality protein bars with no added sugar. While I was tempted to start my coverage of this brand by ranking the dozens of protein bar flavors the company produces, I decided to start a little smaller. In addition to their protein bars and sodas, Barebells also offers a line of protein-packed “Milk Drinks” made with shelf-stable, ultra-filtered skim milk. Between a stop at their Arnold Sports Festival booth and a package delivered straight to my house, Barebells sent over all four flavors of this not-quite-protein-shake beverage line. Let’s find out whether the future of swole fuel is room-temperature milk.
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- Barebells Vanilla Milk Drink Review
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As the “default” flavor more often than not, vanilla rarely stands out in a crowd. Without a stronger flavor to mask any less-than-ideal aftertaste, the artificial sweetener blend is definitely more prevalent on the tongue. That said, the end result actually tastes like very expensive low-sugar vanilla pudding. If you’re looking for something basic that won’t distract you from the rest of your meal or life, there isn’t much better tasting basic than this.
Credit: Griffin Parker / Barebells
- Barebells Berry Milk Drink Review
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Having already experienced how pudding-esque Barebells Milk Drinks can be, I was fully prepared for this to taste like a strange fruity pudding. In reality, this is closer to the yogurt drinks common and popular in Japan. As someone who absolutely loves those, this is killer for me. I won’t pretend this has a super-authentic strawberry flavor, but it’s absolutely a familiar, nostalgic version of strawberry that we’ve already expressed love for here on Sporked.
Credit: Griffin Parker / Barebells
- Barebells Cookie Milk Drink Review
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This tastes like you dissolved an OREO in a glass of milk for a week… in a good way. I’ve run that description by a few other taste-testers recently, and they’ve all cosigned the strange reality: Barebells Cookie Milk Drink is a very solid, super-low-sugar OREO Milk protein drink. As the first extension to the Milk Drink line after the original three flavors, I couldn’t find anything confirming whether this is permanent or only available for a limited time. Barebells, hear me out: Cookie Milk Drink deserves to stick around.
Credit: Griffin Parker / Barebells
- Barebells Choco Milk Drink Review
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Finally, we land on the most pudding-esque flavor of Barebells’ Milk Drinks: Choco. (Not to be confused with Chocolate.) The combination of flavor and texture is dead-on to a drinkable version of sugar-free chocolate pudding. I’ve had better chocolate protein drinks, but I don’t know that anyone is ever going to do a better chocolate pudding-flavored protein shake–on purpose or otherwise.
Credit: Griffin Parker / Barebells
Barebells Protein Drink!
Barebells Protein Drink!
Barebells Protein Drink!
Barebells Protein Drink!
Jordan Myrick
Gwynedd Stuart
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