Flavors Tried: Watermelon Margarita & Orange Mango
Price: $48 for 20 servings ($2.40 per scoop)
Nutrition Facts (per scoop): 80 Calories & 20g Protein
Clear Protein seems to be one of the fastest-growing categories in the protein space, and yet it seems like something that no company can get right.
If you’re unfamiliar with clear protein, it’s just whey protein, but instead of mixing up into a thick protein shake, it dissolves into more of a sports drink.
This idea isn’t new; Isopure has been making protein drinks like this for decades, and Gatorade even sells their own high-protein sports drink.
The problem with most of these drinks and supplements is that they end up leaving your mouth feeling very slimy and filmy, and in order for it to taste at all palatable, it’s often extremely artificial tasting.
Now, to be fair, I think Isopure drinks are pretty good. But I have yet to find a clear protein powder that actually drinks like a sports drink, and I’m hoping Buff Chick can change that.
Buff Chick currently offers two flavors: orange mango, and strawberry margarita. Each scoop weighs in at 80 calories and 20 grams of protein, which is standard for whey protein.
The instructions recommend mixing one scoop with 14-20 ounces of water, but I always prefer mixing my protein with far less liquid to get a more robust flavor, so let’s see how these taste.
Edit: In my original review I failed to mention the difficulty I had mixing this protein powder. It turns out that it works pretty well mixed into room temperature water (which I did initially) but creates a whole mess of problems when mixing with cold water.
When mixed with cold water, the protein powder clumps up quite a bit and foams like crazy. To combat this, it’s easiest to mix into room temperature water, let the foam die down, then serve over ice.
Orange Mango Clear Protein Review
This whey protein mixed pretty easily into water using my milk frother (my go-to tool for mixing protein drinks) and didn’t leave any clumps behind, but it did create quite a lot of foam, which I had to wait a few minutes to let it settle.
Taking a sip of this, it’s far different from the usual whey protein experience. A typical protein shake is thick and milky, but this truly drinks like a sports drink.
If you gave this drink to someone and told them it was an amino acid supplement or preworkout, I don’t think they would know the difference at all.
Flavor-wise, Buff Chick nailed this. You absolutely taste orange and mango, although the mango definitely takes center stage.
There’s a satisfying bite to it from the tropical fruit flavor, and the sweetness feels perfectly balanced without tasting artificial.
Honestly, I can see sipping on this drink during the day and thoroughly enjoying it. As someone who struggles to drink plain water and always needs some kind of flavoring, I will absolutely turn to this as a way to get some extra water into my diet while adding in some bonus protein.
Strawberry Margarita Clear Protein Review
I’m embarrassed to admit that when I first sipped this one, I was disappointed. I couldn’t taste any strawberry, so calling it a strawberry margarita felt like a huge miss.
Turns out I didn’t taste any strawberry because the flavor is watermelon margarita, not strawberry.
Once I realized that, it became clear that they nailed this flavor. The fruit flavor is more subtle than the orange mango version, but that’s exactly what you would expect from a watermelon margarita.
This drink mix tastes very tropical, more so than I was expecting, which nails the margarita vibe. It’s not overly sweet, it doesn’t taste artificial, and it’s refreshing. You can’t ask for much more than that.
Overall Thoughts: Buff Chick Clear Protein
Buff Chick is making the impossible possible. I previously didn’t particularly enjoy protein coffee, but I absolutely love Buff Chick’s Buff Coffee. And now it seems like they have converted me into a Clear Protein believer, too.
I have always felt like companies have completely missed the mark on clear protein, but Buff Chick knocked these out of the park.
While you won’t drink these and think you’re sipping on Gatorade, these are incredibly refreshing, and you truly can’t taste any of the protein at all. If you’ve ever had an amino acid or preworkout supplement before, these are very similar. And yet, they are pure protein.
If you want a bit more flavor, Orange Mango packs the most punch. If you prefer subtle, Watermelon Margarita is the way to go.
Just keep in mind that when you mix these up they’re going to create quite a lot of foam, so it’s not quite the same as other protein powders that you can shake up in a bottle and be on your way. You have to account for a few extra minutes here to let the foam settle.
The true downside to these protein powders is that they are quite expensive. At $2.40 per serving, that’s much more than I’d prefer to pay for protein powder. Even still, these are worth the try.
