If you haven’t yet considered switching from energy gels to energy chews, you are missing out on some cool products! I finally got a chance to try the Clif Shot Bloks earlier this year, and now I wish I had bought them years ago!
Not even sure what energy chews are? Imagine taking an energy gel and turning it into a gummy bear. They fall somewhere in between energy gels and bars. Less messy than a gel, quicker to eat than a bar. (Other options include GU Chomps and Powerbar Gel Blasts.)
Think that’s something you want to fuel your workouts and races? Then check out my review…
Table of Contents
Health and Nutrition
Let’s start with the ingredients…
Ingredients: Organic Brown Rice Syrup, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Brown Rice Syrup Solids, Pectin, Citric Acid, Natural Flavor, Colored With Black Carrot Juice Concentrate, Organic Sunflower Oil, Carnauba Wax.
This formula is similar to the original Clif Shot formula. It’s based on brown rice syrup, but contains a few other things to get that “blok” shape, rather than a liquid gel. If the ingredients give you energy and agree with your stomach, you’re fine using these.
Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size 3 pieces
Calories 100
Fat 0g
Sodium 70mg
Potassium 20mg
Total Carbs 24g
Sugars 12g
Protein 0g
As with most gels, this product is pure sugar, designed for a quick energy boost. And that’s what I want in a gel – a quick-digesting, fast energy source. (A few electrolytes are thrown in for good measure.)
Taste Test
While these bloks look cool, they still have to taste good!
I’ll give you my thoughts on the texture first. These are like little blocks of jello. Pretty neat! They’re obviously not as soft as jello (or they wouldn’t hold their shape,) but they are very light and soft.
My thoughts on the flavors…
Strawberry
The strawberry flavor is similar to a strawberry energy gel. It’s very sweet and has a fairly natural strawberry taste. I like it a lot! At least for now it’s the #1 flavor for me!
Black Cherry
This has a subtle black cherry flavor. It’s less sweet than strawberry. Kind of like a black cherry cough drop, actually.
Unfortunately, there’s a hint of bitter flavor. I’m betting that’s from the caffeine. If you chew the blok real fast, you get a stronger dose of black cherry flavor to hide the bitterness, but that still doesn’t mask it completely.
*Black cherry has 50mg caffeine per serving.
Chocolate Cherry
At first these taste like cherry, but then the chocolate explodes (like a lava cake) and transforms these into a gummy version of cordial cherries (those chocolate covered cherry candy treats.) The chocolate flavor is really good; more along the lines of dark chocolate than milk chocolate. Combined with the sweet cherry flavor, it’s the perfect blend of robust chocolate and sweet cherry to give you a treat without overwhelming your taste buds.
*Chocolate cherry has 50mg caffeine per serving.
Cran-Razz
I’m not a huge fan of cranberry juice or anything, but this flavor was surprisingly good! At first it tastes kind of like a “mixed berry” or “wild berry” flavor, but then you also taste a fairly dominant cranberry flavor sometimes. Kind of like cranberry juice with a splash of raspberry (I bet Ocean Spray or someone makes a juice like that.)
Basically, try this flavor if you like berry flavors at all!
Margarita
Though it sounds odd, this flavor works rather well as a chew! It certainly tastes like a margarita, but it’s also mild enough that you can eat a bunch of them without getting sick of the flavor or sweetness level. Highly recommended!
Mountain Berry
Move over strawberry – mountain berry is my new favorite flavor!! I’m guessing that it includes raspberry, blackberry, and huckleberry flavors all mixed together. There’s not one discernible flavor (other than deliciousness.) If you like berry flavors, this is one you must try!
Tropical Punch
?
Citrus
n/a
Orange
n/a
Clif Shot Bloks In Use
Starting at the beginning, we’ll look at the packaging.
The Bloks come in a long tube, unlike other brands, which mostly come in a pouch. I think this makes it much easier to squeeze out one at a time and pop it into your mouth. This way you’re not reaching a dirty hand into a small pouch or dumping a bunch of pieces into your hand at once.
The “tear here” tab works, although it’s not as easy to open as Powerbar Gel Blasts. Good news is, you can pull the tab back a ways without tearing it off completely, yet still being able to easily push a blok through it and into your mouth. It’s kind of like a litter leash.
What I wouldn’t do is dump them in jersey pocket. They aren’t dry on the outside like Powerbar Gel Blasts. They’re a bit sticky, like GU Chomps. And they might rip apart. So just leave them in the easy-to-use tube.
During a bike ride, these are very easy to eat. Since they’re nice and soft (the consistency is thin, more like jello, rather than a gummy bear or swedish fish,) you can chew them up really fast.
They work well for XC skiing and ice skating too. The bloks do get “thicker” as they get cold, but they’re still easy to eat.
One nice thing, these are great if you want to suck on them for a while. You can keep them in your mouth like hard candy. With the Powerbar Gel Blasts, they have different textures and the gel center, making me want to bite and chew them up quickly. Clif Shot Bloks are less interesting, but more satisfying since they’ll last longer.
For casual exercise, I just let them melt in my mouth. During intense exercise though, you’d still chew them up quickly, since your mouth is probably wide open!
Did the Bloks give me energy? I think so. I got a nice sugar rush, so the Bloks seem to have more of an effect than Clif Shot gels ever did for me.
I can even ration the energy as I see fit. Each tube has two 100-calorie servings (3 bloks each,) which means 6 total bloks and 200 calories per package. So instead of taking a full 100 calorie gel, I can have a 33.3 calorie blok as necessary.
My final verdict is…
I really like these! They have a good flavor (try the margarita and mountain berry flavors), nice energy boost, and convenient packaging. I still like the Powerbar Gel Blasts, but the Clif Shot Bloks will probably be my “go to” energy bites from now on.
Official website: www.ClifBar.com
Buy online: www.Amazon.com
Company: Clif Bar
Product: Clif Shot Bloks
Reviewed by: Coach Levi
My Rating: out of 5
Date last updated: 2014-06-11
Obtained Product: Free sample from company.
CoachLevi.com Advertiser: No.
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Levi Bloom is an experienced endurance athlete who has been training and competing for over 17 years. A former Cat 1 road and mountain bike racer (professional class on the regional circuit), he is now a cycling coach (USA Cycling Level 3 Certified) and sports nutrition coach (Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certified).
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