Review: MET-Rx NOS Pumped Orange Creamsicle Energy Bar

I've reviewed several MET-Rx products on this blog throughout its history.  I was heavy on them early and then went through a long dry spell before they started introducing this NOS Pumped line of bars into my local stores.  I already touched on one flavor, which I found to be not good, so it's with that bad stretch that I head into today's review of this MET-Rx NOS Pumped Orange Creamsicle Energy Bar that I picked up at Meijer for $1.33.  This rather large bar clocks in at 1.94 ounces and has 220 calories with thirteen grams of protein.

When I think of an orange creamsicle, I certainly don't think of a nutrition-type bar.  I think of a popsicle or a hot summer day, so trying to take my understanding and meshing that up with the concept of that flavor in a nutrition bar was quite a hurdle for me.  I'll get to the flavor later, but it's first most important to describe what this one brought from an outside observational standpoint.  Immediately after opening the wrapper, I was met with a citrus-y smell of orange, so it was clear that MET-Rx had the orange part of the equation at least somewhat covered.  The creamsicle part was then covered by the white "cream" yogurt coating that enrobed the entire bar.  Within that coating was the standard soy crisp bar that appeared to be laced with what seemed to be some orange powder like mix in order to bring the orange flavor.  It was like a rice crispy treat mixed with tang.  Very different experience for me to look at that.

Biting into this was quite a chore at first as this bar was rock hard.  Once I was able to penetrate through the bar, I was immediately met with the citrus orange flavor and it was very strong.  So strong in fact that I would almost describe it as sinus clearing.  Now, having citrus flavor with that kind of power is usually okay if you've got a component to offset that and by design, the creamsicle coating of this bar was probably supposed to do that.  Unfortunately, it did not.  Sure it melted over the bar and did provide a different texture to the crunch soy crisp, but in terms of flavor, it did nothing to calm down that citrus flavor and also did nothing in terms of flavor.  It was just plain.  Because that yogurt coating did nothing, this really became too much citrus to handle and the second half of this bar found its way into my trash can.

Buy It or Fly By It?  Not only was this too much citrus to handle, but it also had that manufactured kind of taste (meaning metallic) to it, so when that is combined with something that didn't have great flavor to begin with, it should be fairly obvious that this is going to get a FLY BY IT rating.  Trying to make a nutrition bar resemble an orange creamsicle is just a weird concept anyway, but MET-Rx failed on this one.

FLY BY IT!!