Review: SOYJOY Berry Baked Whole Soy & Fruit Bar

I'll dispense with the ridiculous play on words introduction that I used in my last SOYJOY post and just get right to it.  I've had some success with SOYJOY products before, despite the fact that the general idea of them seems so disgusting.  A soy snack bar?  So weird.  Anyway, with those positive experiences in mind, I was ready to dive into this SOYJOY Berry Baked Whole Soy & Fruit Bar that I picked up on sale at Marsh for $1.00.  The bar itself is 1.05 ounces and has 130 calories and four grams of protein.

With such a broad flavor description as "Berry", the first question becomes, what berries are in here?  Well, after perusing the ingredient list, I was quickly informed that those dried berries that were visible in the baked mix of the bar some knowns and some unknowns, at least to me.  First, there was the known of raisins.  There there were two unknowns:  hawthorn berry and wolfberry (also known as goji berries).  I know for a fact that I've never heard of a hawthorn berry in my life, but I've at least heard of wolfberries and upon reviewing of some of the ingredients I've tried on this blog, I've apparently eaten them too, although I have no recollection of what they tasted like.  Regardless, to say this would be a voyage into the great unknown would be an understatement.  Just call me Captain Kirk (or not).  The only other observation I'll make before I dive into the flavor of this is that it had an extremely "baked" smell to it, which is somewhat different than a lot of these SOYJOY bars.

Venturing into the great unknown, I chomped into my first bite and was immediately met by a familiar friend with the sweetness of the raisins in the bar, which was helped along by the presence of brown sugar in the mix.  After that though, the game completely changed.  I was immediately met by the faint tart taste, which is what I assume the other berries brought to the table.  What started out as faint kept coming though and it almost started to become extremely potent.  If I had to come up with a very loose comparison, I would almost say that tartness was raspberry-esque, but not even that loose comparison would be doing these justice.  They were something like I don't think I've ever really experienced before and while I'm generally not the world's biggest fan of tart-flavored foods, I actually found myself like these more and more with each passing moment.

Buy It or Fly By It?  What started off as a weird flavor eventually became something that grew on me to the point where I'd classify it as general enjoyment of the flavor.  It was different, but I liked it a lot and for that reason, I'll give this a BUY IT rating.  Who knew that something with as bland of a flavor as "Berry" could bring me as much enjoyment as this bar did?  I certainly would have never guessed that, but I am glad that I gave this a try in the end.

BUY IT!!