When it comes to protein powders, for us supplements are separated by three things, quality, flavor and value. Two of those can be figured out by looking at a product’s label, or in some cases just by going off how trustworthy a brand is. Today we have Muscletech’s Essential Series Iso-Whey, one of the three straightforward Platinum proteins, and our first taste of the big brand’s new line. Whether you are a fan of Muscletech or not, Iso-Whey ticks two of the boxes straightaway. It is an extremely competitive isolate protein powder carrying a 3.34lb price tag under $50, and packing 48 25g protein servings per tub. The second area you can judge before actually opening Iso-Whey is it’s quality, and again. Regardless of whether you love ’em or hate ’em, Muscletech’s Iso-Whey is a clean formula, listing no added aminos with two protein forms, isolate and hydrolyzed whey isolate. So with all that said, we will now cover the third area with our flavor review of the Essential Series supplement.
In total Muscletech have four tastes for Iso-Whey, gourmet milk chocolate, peanut butter chocolate twist, strawberry shortcake and vanilla ice cream. We are going to start off with strawberry, our least favorite flavor but by no means a poor effort. As with all the Iso-Whey options, and actually most isolate proteins, strawberry shortcake mixes incredibly well. It takes only a five to ten second shake before it’s all clear and ready to throw back. On that first sip you will notice a strong hint of strawberry, however it does disappear quite fast. It’s a very concentrated flavor, with a dash of sweetness that does give it the right to call itself strawberry, but not enough to leave you wanting more. The consistency is very reminiscent of a beef protein, where the taste is rather thin. Resulting in a diluted experience that no matter how little liquid you mix it with, you’ll still only get a short watery shot of flavor.
Next we have chocolate Iso-Whey, a taste that being chocolate fans we would usually rank number one. While it may seem like we are talking the flavor down putting it in at number three, Muscletech’s take on the taste is in no way a weak recipe. It may be ranked just above strawberry shortcake, but Iso-Whey gourmet milk chocolate is just as it’s title states, a gourmet, milk chocolate. The flavor is a great balance between heavy and light, not having too much of a chocolate presence. Although enough to identify that the variant lives up to it’s name, featuring a distinguishable dose of milk chocolate mixed with a gourmet sweetness.
Moving on to Iso-Whey number three, we have peanut butter chocolate twist. A taste that even though it lacks a bit in the area of chocolate, it’s peanut butter has enough of it’s title relevant twist to make up for the upset. Once the first drop goes down the flavor does have the appearance of chocolate, however almost immediately after you recognize the chocolate. The overpowering peanut presence takes over, to make the chocolate seem like it was never even there. Of all the different proteins out there, this would have to be one of the most flavor rich peanut butter efforts we’ve experienced. As mentioned the chocolate is a somewhat of a hit and miss, but for us that made it better. As compared to chocolate, peanut butter always has a more exciting and ranged taste to it.
Lastly, and this really comes as a surprise, we have vanilla. Keep in mind as we said earlier, we are chocolate fans and vanilla on most occasions is a lot of the same thing for us. As for Muscletech’s vanilla ice cream Iso-Whey, it is thick and what we can only best describe as flavorful. It doesn’t have a strong scent like strawberry shortcake, the sweetness of gourmet milk chocolate, or the twist of peanut butter. What it does have is one of the best combinations of lasting taste, vanilla strength, and milkshake like consistency. It is a slightly thicker mixture compared to the other Iso-Whey variants, which amplifies it’s smooth blend of what seems like vanilla and a hint of cream. While the flavor’s vanilla is as good as it gets, the whole experience is made that much better as there is no climax or fade. The taste stays right throughout the time it takes you to finish the drink, leaving you with zero aftertaste and the pleasant memory of vanilla ice cream Iso-Whey.
For a lot of people, taste probably doesn’t matter and for that you will appreciate the product’s smooth mixing formula. For everyone else though, you can’t go wrong with Muscletech’s Iso-Whey, or at least it’s peanut butter chocolate twist and vanilla ice cream. The other two aren’t bad, definitely drinkable and enjoyable, but if you want more than your money’s worth go with the peanut butter or vanilla. Muscletech have always been rather gifted when it comes to flavoring, although on this occasion they have stepped it up. Iso-Whey not only comes through with value in the competitive isolate market, and a spike free formula in an age where it’s the thing to do. But we can now confirm that it also comes through in all it’s options, with two of them going above and beyond.
