Upfront Nutty Granola
I received a package of Upfront Nutty Granola as part of my April Bike Loot box which I reviewed here. To my surprise I had never tasted or even heard of this brand before, but after looking at Upfront Foods website it doesn’t appear to be in any stores in my area yet.
The first thing that struck me was the packaging; it’s the perfect size for a snack (or even putting in a cycling jersey) and all the ingredients and nutritional information are right on the front (hence the company name Upfront). Because of upfront labeling it’s very easy to see that it contains all natural ingredients with no hard to pronounce artificial ingredients or preservatives.
If for nothing else, the packaging size had me sold. Most other granola is sold in larger bags and when you love it as much as I do that quick snack turns into 3/4 of a bag. Oops. Plus if you want to take some cycling with you that meant separating it into small baggies – far too much work for me. This neat little packaging solved both those problems. But I did wonder how different is this going to taste from all the other granola I’ve had in the past?
My testing regime consisted of eating the granola in my 2 most common ways, straight out of the bag and in my oatmeal. The first mouthful I took from the bag was honestly like heaven. It immediately reminded me of a fancy assorted nut mixture, certainly not like any granola I’ve tasted before. I actually marveled at its taste to my girlfriend but unfortunately for her she couldn’t enjoy in my excitement as she has a gluten intolerance and according to the website the oats within the granola are not gluten-free. That just meant more tasty granola for me.
Next up was sprinkling it over my pre-ride oatmeal. It certainly jazzed up my plain oatmeal with bananas. I usually add maple syrup to my oatmeal to give it some flavor to make it more enjoyable to eat but I added far less than I usually do so as to not drown out the nutty flavors of the granola. Mission accomplished!
Pre-ride oatmeal & coffee
All in all I’m very impressed with the Upfront Nutty Granola. Not only is it a convenient size but it also tastes damn good too! If nuts aren’t your thing they also make a “straight up granola” and a “straight up granola with cranberries”. If you are like me and can’t find it at your local market or health food store, fear not, you can order it from their website. I think one of their assorted boxes is in my future.
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