CalNaturale Svelte Protein Shake Review and Giveaway!

You all know that I've been hooked on Athlete's Honey Milk...excuse me, Core Power (and yes, I'm still rolling my eyes at the name change) for quite a while now, and was dismayed when they decided to discontinue their Coffee Light flavor, so I jumped at the chance to try out CalNaturale Svelte's protein drinks, especially when I saw that one of their flavors was cappuccino...could this be the replacement I've been looking for?

 

Well, yes and no.  It's not the same, but it is good.  Just a little sweeter than I'd like, but then, I don't *do* a lot of super-sweet drinks.  I think maybe it's the stevia that makes it a little too sweet for me; I was tempted to "cut" the drink with some skim milk, if that makes sense.  Also, the main ingredient is organic soy milk, so if you have to watch soy intake due to certain health issues, then this wouldn't be the protein drink for you...I don't have an issue with soy, so it was fine for me.

What I liked about the Svelte protein drinks:

• they are rich and creamy;
• for a protein drink, they do not have that "protein-y" taste that a lot of other brands do;
• the large size and reclosable cap, which makes it easy to drink half and store the remainder in the fridge;
• the packaging - it's bright and cheery, and who wouldn't like a nice affirmation like they've printed on the front of the bottle?

What I'm not so fond of:

• the large size - if I wanted to bring this with me to drink after a workout and didn't have access to a fridge, I'd have to toss what I didn't finish;
• the reason I might not drink the entire 15.9 oz container is because of the calorie count - 260.  That's quite a bit, and way more than the 150 calories I used to get from the other protein drink - of course, that container was only 11.5 oz.
• not as much protein bang for the calories as I'd like - these come in at 16g per container, while the other was 20g per bottle.
• a little too sweet for my taste.

I was surprised that out of all the flavors - chocolate, french vanilla, cappuccino and spiced chai, the one I liked the best was the spiced chai...and I don't drink chai tea or lattes, either.  But it was really good, and my assistant taster (Jeff) also liked that one the best - who knew?

Would I buy these if I found them in my local store?  Yes, but only to split with Jeff, say, after a long run.  I'm too stingy with my calories, otherwise.  Thanks to the kind folks at CalNaturale Svelte, one lucky reader will get the opportunity to try a sample pack of their protein drinks - all you have to do is leave me a comment telling me which flavor you'd like to try - although the winner will receive all four flavors.  This giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian residents (although the product is not yet available in Canada, you can order it from their website).  I'll let random.org draw a winner and announce it in Friday's Mishmash - good luck!

FCC alert!  I was given a sample pack of four flavors of Svelte protein drink to sample; review is all my own opinion.  CalNaturale Svelte will provide giveaway winner with a sample pack.