REVIEW – LivBars are made of real seeds, grains, fruits and flavorings, few of which exceed 3 syllables. ‘Himalayan’ is no actual violation. It’s the absence of chemicals and preservatives that I appreciate. Our bodies know what to do with real food. I took a taste of the Crowd Pleaser 12 pack assortment of LivBars. There were no ‘bad’ or ‘off’ flavors among them! I’ll tell you what I discovered.
What is it
LivBars are natural, whole food ingredient snack bars created by a practicing nutritionist.
What’s in the box
The ‘Crowd Pleaser Pack’ has all 5 flavors of LivBar. There are 2 Lemongrass Cherry Matcha, 2 Coffee Maple Cacao, 2 Ginger Lemon Turmeric, 3 Rasberry Maca and 3 Blueberry Vanilla bars.
Specs
What better than the contents panel of each package to show you what’s in them?
Lemongrass Cherry Macha
Coffee Maple Cacao
Ginger Lemongrass Turmeric
Raspberry Maca
Blueberry Vanilla
Features
LivBars are made of natural, organic seeds, grains, fruits, spices and flavorings. There are no chemical palate shenanigans going on here, just food. All the bars look about the same except some are lighter and some darker in color. All are approximately 3” squares and are about 5/16” thick.
Observations
I’ll comment on each flavor individually. The following applied to every one; These bars are gently flavored, not knock your socks off ‘WOW! That tastes like a real blueberry!’ kind of flavoring. They are also only gently sweetened, which I appreciate as someone who notices how much sugar and salt sneaks into everything we buy.
Given the natural seed ingredients, I’m not sure how the calories tote up to 220 but they’re among the healthiest calories I consumed during my sampling of the LivBars.
My main test question to family samplers was ‘Would you get this flavor again?’.
Some will wonder, so I’ll say this; None of the flavors were ‘burpy’. They didn’t keep reminding me I had that bar for the next few hours. Some flavor fakery does that, and I doubt people are seeking that feature. LivBars do their taste but don’t hang around when you’re done.
Here’s what I discovered with each flavor I tried.
Ginger Lemongrass Turmeric
I liked this one. It had a tanginess I attribute to the ginger. I gave 7 family members a bit of my bar and I was the only one who would get it again. Most sensed a curry-esque flavor but that had to be a trick on the palate being played by the ginger and turmeric. I like ginger and turmeric in soups, etc. and so do the 4 adults of the gang of 7 who tried this bar. But the kids gave this one a ‘nah’ and the adults were asking, ‘what else you got there?… I’ll gladly eat the other one myself. Thanks fam!
Coffee Maple Cacao
Coffee and maple showed up for me as the first flavors. The cacao seems to be ‘in there’ with the coffee taste. I’d get this one again and it’s my favorite. It’s also the darkest LivBar. I wish I had more of this one.
Blueberry Vanilla
The blueberry hint was there but I’m not sure about the vanilla. Vanilla is easy to imagine or maybe overlook? I’d get this one again in an assortment box but maybe not in an individual box.
Lemongrass Cherry Macha
I surprised myself with this one. I’m not usually into tart desserts or snacks but I liked this bar enough to get it again. I picked up on the lemongrass tartness and the cherry hints, but I wouldn’t know Macha if it walked into an empty room.
Raspberry Maca
I liked this one but my wife didn’t so much. This was surprising because she loves raspberries and the raspberry flavor was accurate and natural in my opinion. As with all the other flavors, it was mildly but noticeably flavored and the flavor persisted through the whole bar.
What I like
- Ingredients you can pronounce
- Food ingredients vs. chemicals and processed mysteries
- Good fiber content but not a crazy amount
- Subtle real flavors vs. artificial flavors
What I’d change
- Maybe intensify the flavors in the Coffee Maple Cacao bar – possibly just because I like all those flavors.
Final thoughts
The biggest test with any review we do here is ‘would I buy that?’. At $2.75 per bar with real food, non-chemical ingredients, you may decide the price is in line with the value LivBars deliver. Some of my family don’t go for any brands of bars with ‘texture’. I guess they are more ‘cookie people’?
LivBars are made of seeds and grains for goodness sake. Double entendre intended.
Price: $33 (Crowd Pleaser box of 12)
Where to buy: Amazon, LivBar, or this store locator at the LivBar website.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by LivBar.
