Quick Take Review
One of the staples in the GearGuide snack pack has been the Clif Mojo bar. In particular, we liked the mountain mix variety and it occupied a place of honor on our weekly shipping lists. We’d often make special trips to a preferred store to pick up several boxes. Our love of the Mojo had us pretty excited when a sampler pack of new gluten free bars arrived in the mail.
We received a number of different flavors in our sampler including those from both the sweet and salty, and fruit and nut families. On the sweet and salty end, there were dark chocolate almond and sea salt along with the dark chocolate cherry almond. On the fruit and nut, there were wild blueberry almond, cranberry almond and coconut almond peanut flavors.
The first thing we noticed about the new Mojos – in addition to the gluten free demarcation on the label – was how much smaller they looked when compared to the original. According to the packaging, these new Mojos are 40 grams vs. the 45 grams of the original versions. It may be an optical illusion, but they seem about 30-40 percent smaller in physical size.
We also found the new Mojos less flavorful than their older counterparts. The dark chocolate, although a nice addition to the product line, didn’t knock us over with that much-sought-after bittersweet taste. The sea salt didn’t give the product much of a kick. The fruit and nut versions also were somewhat bland. The cranberry almond was particularly so, while the blueberry was a touch more punchy.
The other trait that bothered us was the hardness of the bars. They’re noticeably more difficult to bite into and chew. Not a good thing.
So where do we bottom out on the new Mojos? If you’re looking for something gluten free, I say give ‘em a try. If that’s not an issue for you, I’d stick with the originals.