Strong ginger flavor overwhelms Bakery on Main’s Apricot Almond Chai Truebar

Product: Bakery on Main Gluten-Free Apricot Almond Chai Truebar – $1.99+

Bakery on Main has really been doing well in my book with the gluten-free products they have put out on the market.  I am a huge fan of their oatmeal and their granola.  Well, today I reached into my gluten-free stash for yet another goodie by this amazing gluten-free company.  You see…it was an early race morning and I knew my cereal wasn’t going to hold me for two hours, plus the time I’d spend actually running the race.  So…I needed something to eat an hour out that would provide the energy I needed without upsetting my delicate runner’s stomach.

While I usually stick to Lärabar or thinkThin bars, today…I opted to try something new.  That’s not really the smartest thing to do the morning of a race, but…I tend to have to do that in order to try these gluten-free products out.  Reaching into my stash, much of which came from the Gluten-Free Expo in Birmingham, I emerged with the Truebars.  I have a few varieties of these, but I reached for the orange wrapped one on top.

The wrapper on this Truebar declared it all: ““I am an Apricot Almond Chai Bar with nothing to hide.”  And that’s what you see through the clear wrapping.  This bar studded with almonds and chia seeds.  The clear wrapping also indicates there really is nothing to hide.

So…off to the race I went.  Upon parking the car, I knew I needed to get my bar in so I could have time to digest and not have it sloshing around in my stomach for 4 miles.  I ripped open the plastic and what I got was not the hard, crunchy bar that I was expecting.  On the contrary, what I got was this soft, chewy bar, packed with almonds, apricots, chia seeds, rice crisp, and lots of seasonings.  The soft, sticky nature of the bar does lend it great texture, however…handling it without getting hands completely gooey…was not an option.  I had to keep it in the wrappe.  This makes the “on-the-go” aspect of these bars a little problematic in the long-run.  So…intrepid gluten-free foodies…use the wrapper.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

I don’t know how the word “chai” slipped past my radar…but…let’s put it this way:

I am not a fan of chai.  I don’t like chai tea, despite being a tea-fiend.  I just find the spices to be off-putting.  So…missing that word was a shock after I took my first bite.  The initial flavor that grabs you is the sweet apricot.  Now, I love fruits and I like apricots, so this was a nice change of pace.  But then the spices that are included kick in.  These spices, according to the wrapper, include: ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom.  All of which put out some strong flavors anyway…imagine all of them in one bar…counter balanced only by dried apricots and almonds.  It’s pretty spicy and strong.  And spicy…is not something you want before the race.

If you like chia…then you’ll love this bar.  If, like me, you don’t…well…you might want to skip this one and try one of the other flavored Truebars out there.  The good news is…that it did it’s job.  Despite the spice and the fact that I really didn’t like the taste, I used it as my pre-race fuel.  So, I did eat it.  My stomach wasn’t upset after eating it…even with a 4 mile run.  And, the 3 grams of fiber meant that I wasn’t hungry until someone actually mentioned food a little bit after the race.  This flavor of Truebar has 160 calories in it and 6 grams of fat.  I hated, most of all, that it had 12 grams of sugar.  The one thing I give thinkThin is how most are low-sugar or zero sugar.  LOVE THAT!  I try to keep too much sugar out of my diet as I am an athlete.  I want a product to be able to stand up for itself as far as flavor without having to digest an incredible amount of sugar in the process.  So…that is a small complaint.

That being said, I do look forward to trying other varieties of this bar…hopefully without any chia surprise.  I know now to read the label a little more closely.  I loved the texture of this bar and how soft and easy to chew it was.  I totally wasn’t expecting that, so it was a nice surprise.  If you love chai…you will love this bar.  But…it just wasn’t for me.  Not this flavor anyway.

Oh well…on to the next…