Pinch Me sent me two great new free product samples to try this month. This review represents my honest opinion and I have not been paid for this product review.
This post will review the Joyböl: Smoothie Bowl. The Native Deodorant review will be coming your way in the next few days.
If you've not yet signed up with Pinch Me, here's a link. You get the chance to review new product samples each month. Here's a link to my blog post on my first Pinch Me box.
I also received three free magazine subscriptions. These aren't the auto-renew subscriptions. You know, the ones that ask for your information so that they can bill you at the end of your trial period. I stopped doing those a long time ago. I didn't like the pressure of needing to call and stop the auto-renewal process. I checked. These said, "Free subscriptions. You never receive a renewal notice."
Now on to the Joyböl smoothie bowl review!
Joyböl: Smoothie Bowl
First Impressions
This product immediately impressed me as looking like a nice, little treat to send with a child for their school lunch or for an adult at work when the mid-afternoon munchies kicks in. The fantastic part is, the only thing you need to add is water!
I will say that it looked and smelled yummy when we opened the cup. We received the Strawberry almond quinoa crunch flavor with granola clusters.
You could smell the strawberry flavor immediately. You could see the whey powder on top, giving you a hint that this would provide the thickener to make it a creamy delight when you added the water.
The collapsible spoon snaps together easily and was quite sturdy when used in one direction. If the child turns the spoon around and scoops from the other direction however, the spoon will tend to collapse.
Ingredients
Although the ingredient list doesn't pass my personal "5 ingredient or less rule", I didn't find too many questionable ingredients either. Sugar was the third ingredient, which is a little higher than I like to see and the bowl contained 15 grams of sugar. The fiber was higher than I thought it would be at 4 grams. Not too shabby for a prepared processed product! The 0 grams of cholesterol surprised me since it does contain both dairy solids and whey. So, I'm not sure how much of either comprise the total amount of product in the cup.
Ease of preparation:
The product immediately thickened up to the perfect consistency and looked exactly like a traditional yogurt bowl! Wow!
The only downside, which we immediately noticed, was that the finished yogurt/granola mix only filled half of the cup! They really could have been a little more generous.
Taste Impressions from my 14 and 10 year old sons:
I don't eat milk products, so it was up to my 10 and 14 year old assistants to do it for me. They reported that the yogurt was nice and smooth with good consistency, although they both reported that it seemed a little bland. I wonder if you give up some of the rich flavor of yogurt when your base is comprised of a dried milk product?
They both loved the granola and said that it was very flavorful and added a nice crunch!
The strawberry flavor was definitely not in the forefront of the flavor profile. In fact neither child noticed it much at all, which is surprising, given the fact that the strawberry aroma was definitely noticeable when we opened the container. Once again, maybe a dried product lacks upon reconstitution the robust nature of a fresh product.
My 10 year old reported, "For an on-the-go thing, it's pretty good." My 14 year old sous chef added, "I wouldn't say it's a favorite. It wasn't as flavorful as I would have liked." They both agreed that adding some fresh fruit would help it go further and give it a little more depth. Neither was certain that they would purchase the product from the store.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
- Very portable
- Contains everything you need except water
- Ease of preparation
- Overall, they enjoyed the product
- Filled them up and left them satisfied with their mid-morning snack
Cons:
- The amount of product in the cup was less than expected
- Rather artificial tasting
- A little bland
Overall rating of Joyböl Smoothie Bowls:
My 10 year old gave it a higher than average rating with a "8". He said, "It was pretty good. It could use a little work though. "
My 14 year old awarded this product a "6". He said, "I didn't hate it, but I did not love it either. "
Has your family tried this product and what were your impressions? I'd love to know! Leave your thoughts in the comments section.
Look for my review on Native Deodorant in the next few days!
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Your 14 year old hit it on the nose. Not worth the money
ReplyDeleteI agree. It was interesting. But, there are plenty of ways to create the same experience for a whole lot less money.
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