I love nuts and dark chocolate, so for me this was a no brainer. These aren't big enough for a meal replacement for me personally, but for some dieting or trying to do whats right and eat a breakfast in a hurry these are a great option. If you still eating those chewy granola bars, don't you think it time for an adult bar? The taste on this is great as you get the crunch from the nuts, the sweet and smooth from the chocolate, and sweets favorite companion salty. The only negative thing I could say is these do cost a good bit, but in my opinion it is worth it.
Pros:
-Natural ingredients
-Minimal sugar
-Great taste
-Healthy fat, protein and fiber
Con:
-Cost
-Not filling enough for a meal replacement.
Overall five stars as it is a great product and I will continue to use it as a morning snack.
The offer said, Free Sample of Kind Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt bar, 1.4 Ounce, so I clicked on it, wondering if it was truly a freebie. It wasn't but I ordered a couple of them anyway. More on this "free sample" offer later, but how good are they?
Subjective Taste Test:
Perhaps this is a little unfair as I've tested the KIND Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt bar before. Bought a couple of them at a local store some time ago and found that they were a good snack alternative to my regular Clif Bar Energy Bars when out cycling. And followers of his show will already know that Dr. Oz, recommended KIND and keeps some in his briefcase at all times. As far as taste goes, these are good, nice and chewy with a decent nut flavor, and the dark chocolate is not sickeningly sweet as one will find with some products. I have a thing for sea salt, and the combination of that with the nuts and dark chocolate works... and they don't leave a bad artificial aftertaste.
Nutrition Stats:
Checked the KIND site and found the following ingredients were listed for this product:
Mixed nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashews, walnuts), chicory root fiber, honey, palm kernel oil, sugar, crisp rice, cocoa powder, non GMO glucose, sea salt, soy lecithin, milk powder, vanilla extract. Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin A (0% DV), Vitamin C (0% DV), Calcium (6% DV), Iron (8% DV).Vitamin E (25% DV), Vitamin B1 (4% DV), Vitamin B2 (8% DV), Vitamin B3 (8% DV), Vitamin B6 (2% DV), Folate (4% DV), Phosphorus (10% DV), Magnesium (15% DV), Zinc (6%).
> Serving Size: 1 Bar (40g)
> Calories: 200
> Fat Calories: 140
> Total Fat: 15g
> Saturated Fat: 3.5g
> Trans Fat: 0g
> Cholesterol: 0mg
> Sodium: 125mg
> Potassium: 210mg
> Total Carb: 16g
> Dietary Fiber: 7g
> Sugars: 5g
> Protein: 6g
The Offer as Posted Here:
At the time of this review, the title for this product is: "Free Sample of Kind Dark Chocolate Nuts and Sea Salt bar, 1.4 Ounce." It had shown up this way when I had done a quick search for sea salt, and it looked interesting with that title. But they weren't free, so I figured that I had just missed some special deal. They were being sold by Amazon LLC for $1.49 each at the time, with free two-day shipping for Amazon Prime members, and since I've tried them before, picked up a couple of them.
Now I see that the original Amazon deal is gone, and has been replaced by a third party offer. At the time of this review, they are being sold for "$1.59 + $5.95 Est. shipping" and available at an external website. That comes to $7.54 per bar. So much for the "free sample" being offered here.
This deal reminded me of something else. Do you remember Vince Shlomi, also known as the "ShamWow Guy" and the one in the Slap Chop infomercials that we used to see? Television's fastest talker used his double entendre signature line "You're gonna love my nuts!" so often that people bought the product... often to their dismay. I like the KIND bars as noted above, but with the deal being currently offered here, it's reminiscent of that one from the "ShamWow Guy" a bit too much.
There is another deal here on Amazon for KIND Nuts & Spices, Dark Chocolate Nuts & Sea Salt, 12-Count Bars which is far better; just do the math, as it comes out quite reasonably if you want a dozen. They have been endorsed by Al Roker, Dr. Oz and other nutrition folks, but luckily we don't hear them saying "You're gonna love my nuts" on their television segments.
9/23/2012
Buy KIND Nuts & Spices Bars (Pack of 12) Now
Customer review from the Amazon Vine Program இ Fuzzy Wuzzy's Summary:
ѾѾѾѾѾ Highly recommended with warm fuzzies!
► Nutritional Value: ѾѾѾѾѾ Excellent 5-fuzzies rating
► Packaging, Appearance, Flavor: ѾѾѾѾѾ Excellent 5-fuzzies rating
► Competitive Pricing & Value: ѾѾѾ Average not-good not-bad 3-fuzzies rating
փ Positives:
փ Delicious nutty flavor with a very crunchy texture.
փ Only 4 grams of naturally-derived sugar (AND NO CORN SYRUP)!
փ All-natural minimalist set of ingredients.
փ Due to the all-natural nutritional content that is not artificially fortified with extra vitamins, these serve solely as snack bars and are not meant to be used as meal-bar diet aids.
ჯ Negatives:
ჯ Slightly expensive considering the small 40-gram (1.4 ounce) size of each bar.
Although these Kind snack bars come in many different flavors, this review is specifically for the "Madagascar Vanilla Almond" flavor...
The Amazon product listing for this snack bar currently does not list its nutritional information, so I included it below (copied from the kindsnacks Web site):
Ingredients: Mixed nuts (almonds, peanuts, cashews, walnuts), honey, non GMO glucose, chicory root fiber, crisp rice, Madagascar vanilla, soy lecithin.
Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin A (0% DV), Vitamin C (0% DV), Calcium (6% DV), Iron (6% DV).Vitamin E (25% DV), Vitamin K (2% DV), Vitamin B1 (4% DV), Vitamin B2 (10% DV), Vitamin B3 (10% DV), Vitamin B6 (4% DV), Folate (6% DV), Phosphorus (15% DV), Magnesium (20% DV), Zinc (8% DV)
Serving Size: 1 Bar (40g)
Calories: 210
Fat Calories: 140
Total Fat: 16g
Saturated Fat: 2
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 15mg
Potassium: 210mg
Total Carbohydrates: 14g
Dietary Fiber: 5g
Sugars: 4g
Protein: 7g
► Nutritional Value: ѾѾѾѾѾ Excellent 5-fuzzies rating
As befits the Kind company's slogan of "Ingredients you can see & pronounce", the ingredient listing for these snack bars includes just the necessities, without the various chemistry lab listing of corn syrup-derived sugar, vitamin additives, preservatives, and strange-sounding artificial compounds that some snack bars include. The "non GMO glucose" means that the glucose is derived from non-genetically-modified sources. Unlike the sucrose table sugar, glucose is a very simple sugar that is easily digested by the body. "Madagascar vanilla" is sometimes promoted as being a premium vanilla that comes from Madagascar, even though most of us would not really notice any difference between vanilla sources and where the plants were grown. But many so-called "vanilla-flavored" foods are artificially flavored with vanillin derived from lignin instead of vanilla fruits, so at least we get real vanilla here, instead of artificial vanilla flavoring. The "soy lecithin" ingredient acts as an emulsifier to hold the ingredients together and keep them from separating. Soy lecithin is a byproduct of soybean oil production. So all ingredients used in these bars are vegan and natural in origin. If you are allergic to either soy or nuts, you should not consume these bars. But these bars are gluten-free for gluten-sensitive people, dairy-free, cholesterol-free, very low sodium, and have a low glycemic index with no trans fats.
I am particularly happy with the fact that corn syrup, and all its variants such as high-fructose corny syrup, is not used in these snack bars, and that these bars are not all loaded up with sugar. Too many snack bars list corn syrup as one of their primary ingredients! Researchers have linked the use of high-fructose corn syrup to rising rates of type 2 diabetes, and the United States has the most per-capita consumption of high-fructose corn syrup a whopping 55 pounds of HFCS per person per year. These bars also have less sodium than most snack bars out there.
Because these snack bars are not artificially fortified with additional vitamins, they do not serve as meal replacement bars, so they are not comparable to a meal-bar like SlimFast 200 Calorie, Sweet & Salty Chocolate Almond, Meal Bar 5pk, 7.93-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 8) (which, like many meal bars and snack bars, is full of corn syrup).
► Packaging, Appearance, Flavor: ѾѾѾѾѾ Excellent 5-fuzzies rating
These bars have a hard, very crunchy, whole-nut texture that I found totally enjoyable to eat as a snack in between meals and on hiking trails. The texture is somewhat like crunching on peanut brittle, but certainly not as sweet as peanut brittle. If you prefer your snack bars to be soft and chewy, this "Madagascar Vanilla Almond" version may not be the right bar for you... but be aware that "soft and chewy" often translates to "loaded with sugar" in many other brands of snack bars. If you have sensitive teeth or gums, biting into this crunchy bar may cause some discomfort. Kind Nuts&Spices makes a wide variety of snack bar flavors. Some of their flavors are more soft and chewy, while other flavors are more crunchy. This "Madagascar Vanilla Almond" is one of their more hard-and-crunchy flavors. At the time of this review's writing, Amazon only carries a partial selection of Kind Nuts' 18+ snack bar flavors. To get the other flavors, you may have to check your grocery store or get them from the kindsnacks Web site. I have eaten all of their flavors now and I like them all! I like to pack many different flavors in my CamelBak while hiking in the backcountry.
Read Best Reviews of KIND Nuts & Spices Bars (Pack of 12) Here
Kind bars are exceptional, but this is the very best of the Kind bar offerings. The sea salt and dark chocolate mix makes it a delicious mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack. And best of all it's gluten free, all natural and low sodium. A good choice all around.
Want KIND Nuts & Spices Bars (Pack of 12) Discount?
The promotional text they display here states the bars are dairy-free, but that's not true. If you go to the KIND website and lookup the ingredients, they clearly list "milk powder", and note that these bars contain dairy. If you have a dairy allergy, please be aware!!!
I decided to give up coffee because of all the brouhaha over cortisol ... but boy did I miss it. Tea was a poor substitute (so I thought), because the longer you brew it the more bitter it becomes. Then I discovered Taylors of Harrogate Scottish Breakfast Tea. Wow you can brew it to full-bodied deliciousness and it never gets bitter. It's especially tasty with milk in the morning. Not just a substitute for coffee (which it certainly is), but a wonderful, refreshing way to start the day, all in its own right!
