Ranking and reviewing flavors from JiMMYBAR! Functional protein bars Variety Pack to find the best one! I got this pack from their TikTok shop, which includes Mint Cookies ‘N Cream, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Strawberry Cookies ‘N Cream, Golden Vanilla Cookies ‘N Cream, Sea Salt Caramel Cookies ‘N Cream, and Cookies ‘N Cream.
Overall Review & Verdict
First and foremost, many of their bars contain caffeine, while others don’t, so be careful what you end up eating! Notably, in this variety pack, the ones without caffeine were Chocolate Peanut Butter and Strawberry Cookies ‘N Cream.
My second thought is that it appears the company is obsessed with “… Cookies ‘N Cream” flavors, especially considering all of their flavors present here have that etched in their names. Hopefully, they’re all as creamy and cookie-like as they claim to be!
And lastly, the bars’ packaging is confusing with their different designs, wording, and what the product actually looks like on the packaging, as if they were revamping their looks mid-lineup.
Anyway…
For the most part, these bars fall on the more semi-sweet side and give oaty, granola-eske vibes from their mouthfeel and general flavor. Each bar features white rice crispie bits on the inside and a light drizzle on top, with some variations including additional mix-ins and toppings, depending on the flavor. This inevitably changes the sweetness and bite to a degree.
Thankfully, I didn’t get any artificial or protein-like tastes from these bars, though some did have a “coffee”-like bitter taste alongside their main flavors. It wasn’t crazy, just something to take note of.
Overall, these more or less fall into the “premium oat protein bars” category. The flavors are authentically represented, and the general flavor profile and bite feel like a mix of a thick filling made from semi-chewy oats and light, crunchy mixins. They’re not super organic and on the same token, not very sweet or candy-like either.
If you want to sample a combination of a decent oat and protein bar, give these a try; otherwise, in my opinion, I’d go for a more traditional, better-tasting protein bar–many other protein bar brands have sweeter, more pronounced flavors overall.
Flavor Ranking
1. Strawberry Cookies ‘N Cream
An oaty, very mildly sweet, creamy strawberry. It’s like you made a strawberry milkshake with too many oats and not enough sugar–This would be it. The flavor profile is there, but it needs to be sweeter to really bring it out.
There is a pale pink drizzle on top; it’s decently moist and lightly thick, with a chewy texture like a premium oat bar. Mouthfeel-wise, it feels like the most dense and chewy on the list. Flavors, despite my complaining, are also more pronounced than in several others here as well. Together, this makes this flavor a top-tier flavor on this ranking!
Basically, it just needs a bit more sweetness, and you would have the perfect strawberries and cream oat milkshake!
2. Chocolate Peanut Butter
An oaty, mostly authentic peanut taste that’s missing the salt. Ever have an organic peanut butter without salt and sugar? Like that, with an essence of oat and organic vibes from the texture and the embedded peanut pieces. It falls apart a bit when biting in as it’s on the dryer side, but it still has a light, forgiving chew.
Basically, a semi-dry oat peanut organic tasting bar that’s mildly sweet. Not particularly noteworthy in terms of chocolate, as it advertises, as well as despite the drizzle of milk chocolate on top.
3. Cookies ‘N Cream
This looks loaded!
The top is covered with a thick layer of dark chocolate cookie dust and white and dark drizzle. It also appears to be filled with white and brown-looking crispie pieces.
Biting in, the flavor is a darker, moderately sweet chocolate with a background of slightly bitter coffee. Yup, basically, a lot like a dark chocolate mocha but with cookie and oat notes. In terms of sweetness, it’s not high, just about right. It’s also overall on the grittier and drier side compared to the others on this list, and doesn’t have a huge chewiness factor.
4. Mint Cookies ‘N Cream
Just like the Cookies and Cream flavor in terms of looks–loaded with the same dusting and drizzles–but much more moist and soft overall, and notably, large, sweet, minty green pieces in the innards that give it a candy vibe both in terms of flavor and mouthfeel.
To note, this isn’t toothpaste tasting, so don’t worry. There is also an equal amount of dark chocolate and mint flavor-wise, coupled with a moderate amount of sweetness; Basically a moderately sweet dark chocolate mint bar.
5. Sea Salt Caramel Cookies ‘N Cream
From the appearance, there is a light caramel drizzle on top of an oat-looking bar infused with a good amount of crispie bits. It’s oaty with a mild caramel flavor overall. Honestly, if you blindfolded me, I would have guessed exactly that–not a protein bar, just a reasonably thick oat bar with a light chew and crunch–a solid, thick bite and light caramel flavoring. Also, I did notice a slight bitterness, which I’m not sure is due to caffeine or an artificial sweetener used.
6. Golden Vanilla Cookies ‘N Cream
Covered with a golden cookie dusting and white drizzle, and on the inside are a few amount of embedded white rice bits. This is the most uniform out of all the bars and has a mildly bitter, artificial, vanilla “coffee” taste. Yup, coffee–I’m not sure if it’s the caffeine or something else I’m mistaking for it, but I do get a whiff of it. Further, most importantly, I don’t get much cookie flavor or sweetness from this bar; it’s pretty bland.
Back to its texture–it’s about average in this lineup, not too dry or moist, with a light crunch and mild stiff-softness when biting in.
Overall, a mostly uniform texture with a boring, unsweet, bitter vanilla taste.