Another day, another Elevation product! For those not in the know, Elevation is Aldi’s line of protein/”health” bars and other snacks. Personally, I don’t know why I keep buying stuff from this line, because they’re expensive and most of them aren’t very good, but there have been a couple diamonds in the rough…I guess enough to justify buying yet another variety. So let’s see how this one goes!
First impression: Chances are, this is going to be good. It’s an attractive-looking bar (in a completely non-sexual way) with a delicious-looking layer of chocolate totally surrounding the entire exterior. I’m a sucker for any kind of bar (and most products in general) that have a layer of caramel directly underneath a layer of chocolate, and judging from the product image on the front of the wrapper, this looks like it executes that idea rather well.
Second impression: cancel that first impression, because this is pretty terrible. Even the top caramel/chocolate combination that I was so excited about, really fails to leave any sort of impact to the tastebuds; what remains underneath leaves even less of one. The cookie section is pretty grainy, with an uninviting texture that dances on the tongue and seems to crumble apart into little pieces in your mouth…not the texture of any real cookie I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. Another (non-)surprise: even though it’s covered in chocolate, has a chocolate cookie layer on the bottom, and has a top layer of caramel, it’s still not very sweet. I guess this makes sense considering it’s supposed to be “healthy”, but is it really necessary to make it so unappetizing? There’s even a rather unappealing aftertaste that lingers for a little while after each bite, making just the idea of taking one rather unpleasant the farther into the bar one manages to trek.
| Individual packaging for each bar. |
Again, I guess you have to take it on its own terms – it’s a “health” bar rather than a junk food bar – but I still feel like technology has come such a long way that even health bars should taste better than this. There’s also very little sugar in it, with a mere 1g per serving (although there are 14g of sugar alcohols, which must insinuate an alternate sweetener of sorts), so that might make this a good option for those keeping an eye on sugar content, while also explaining the complete lack of sweetness. And since everyone seems to be eating protein like it’s going out of style, this also packs in 10g of that stuff.
However, for those of us that eat these bars simply to review them on a blog, and have very little vested interest in whatever health claims they make, this one isn’t very appealing. Aldi does offer up some excellent health products for the price, but I wouldn’t put this one anywhere near that list.
Overall: 4/10. One thing about Aldi’s “Elevation” line of health bars: they seem to either be good, or so bad the mere thought of taking another bite makes my stomach hurt. This one belongs to the latter, with an appealing idea done in by the requirements of making this “healthy”; namely, the caramel tastes good, but the rest does not. The “cookie” texture is more like crumbling rocks breaking apart in your mouth rather than a legit cookie. The 1g of sugar per bar (with 14g of sugar alcohols, in the interest of full disclosure) and 10g of protein will check the boxes of some healthy folk, but didn’t really do much for me, on a personal level. I’m not the healthiest of eaters, but this is one bar I would never get again.
