The Great Pumpkin Spice Test

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The Great Pumpkin Spice Taste Test

It’s impossible to miss the onslaught of pumpkin spice products of every conceivable variety each fall. From the ever-popular PSL to pumpkin beer to pumpkin-scented candles (hell, there are even pumpkin spice treats for your dog), pumpkin spice and other autumnal seasonal flavors and scents found their way into every product category over the past few years. And now, several brands make pumpkin spice and adjacently flavored nutrition products for riding, racing, or snacking.

We rounded up eight nutrition products—five bars, two gels, and one drink—for our Test Team and editors to sample. Most items are pumpkin spice flavor, though we also included our favorite maple and apple cider products in the test. Our taste testers were a group of long-distance cyclists, racers, casual riders, and a few runners. We also tested the products on rides to check for wrappers that were especially difficult to open or bars hard to eat while riding.

Bars

Energy bars are a constant across almost all cycling disciplines. Whether riding deep loam on a forest trail, along a dusty gravel road in the middle of nowhere, or commuting home from a long day in the office, you probably have some brand of energy bar in your frame bag, jersey pocket, or backpack. There are dozens of nutrition bars on the market, and these are five pumpkin spice ones we tested.

🎃 Aloha Pumpkin Spice Protein Bar 🎃

Pumpkin Spice is one of several limited-edition protein bars from Aloha (the other fall seasonal flavor is Maple Sea Salt). None of our taste testers had overly positive notes about this pumpkin spice bar, with criticisms including its lack of flavor and weird texture and mouth feel. I felt it didn’t have much taste and the texture reminded me of mid-1990s PowerBars. Senior photographer Trevor Raab noted the bar was “Bland as heck” and “Ends with fake sweetness’.

🎃 Bobo’s Pumpkin Spice Oat Bar 🎃

Bobo’s Pumpkin Spice Oat Bar scored overall high marks from our testers for its natural taste and consistency. This bar had the most mass of the five bars in our test. It feels heavy and tastes more like food than an energy product. For shorter rides or snacking, Bobo’s also offers a 150-calorie/37-gram “Bites” version in pumpkin spice flavor.

Runner’s World test editor Amanda Furrer loved the chewy texture and remarked that the bar tasted “hearty and wholesome.” Photo editor John Hamilton said the Bobo’s bar was “The most ‘real’ tasting” but thought it could use some additional crunch or texture.

🎃 Clif Bar Spiced Pumpkin Pie Energy Bar 🎃

Clif Bars are so ubiquitous almost everyone has tried at least one by now. Clif Bars’ consistency and taste are often polarizing: If you like them, you’ll probably enjoy this seasonal variety. And if you don’t, the pumpkin pie flavor probably won’t win you over. Our taste testers were similarly divided.

News editor Theo Kahler commented that the Spiced Pumpkin Pie flavor he sampled was “a little drier than a normal Clif Bar” and had noticeable nutmeg and ginger notes. Similarly, test director Jeff Dengate noted that the bar “tastes like gingerbread.”

However, deputy new editor Dan Beck best summed up the thoughts of those who didn’t like the Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar. “If this was pumpkin pie at the Thanksgiving table and your aunt asks you how it is, you give your best full-mouth smile and lie.”

🎃 Lärabar Pumpkin Pie 🎃

I’m admittedly a big fan of Lärabars, mainly because the brand offers so many flavors (more than two dozen) that it’s hard to get bored of them. But I also like them because they are just the right size to eat on short and mid-length rides. Lärabar’s consistency and taste are closer to “real food” than an energy product. So, I was eager to try the pumpkin pie flavor—I was not disappointed.

Most of our taste testers agreed with my sentiments. Hamilton said it has good spices and flavor and “seems easy to eat on a ride.” News editor Natascha Grief commented she “would actually buy this even though I generally don’t like pumpkin spice.” However, like many Lärabars, the Pumpkin Pie bar has a very date-heavy/forward flavor profile.

🎃 Quest Pumpkin Pie Protein Bar 🎃

Like the other protein bar in our test, Quest’s Pumpkin Pie bar didn’t win over the taste buds of our testers (though Kahler “liked the crunch in the middle a lot.”). Gabe Ortiz, the host of Gabe’s Bike Shop and a long-distance cyclist, was blunt with his assessment; “Brick of protein, unpalatable.”

The most common terms used by our taste test panel to describe this bar were “chalky,” “dry,” and “chewy.” Furrer commented, “Is it chalk? Is it gum? Is it a tasteless chalky Starburst? I don’t know!”

Gels

Unlike bars, not all cyclists use nutritional gels for their rides. Bike racers often favor gels because they quickly deliver a much-needed hit of carbohydrates. Gels open quickly and go down easy with a gulp of water. But gels aren’t only for racers—many cyclists use them before efforts (or to bail them out when bonking). Some gels (though neither of the two we sampled) are caffeinated for that extra burst before a race or when necessary on a ride.

🎃 Gu Pumpkin Spice Energy Gel 🎃

Found at many bike shops, Amazon, and sometimes even convenience stores, Gu Energy Gels are probably the most commonly available gel on the market. Gu is available in three styles—Original, Rocktane (for endurance and high intensity), and Liquid (a smoother formula)—and tons of flavors (with and without caffeine).

The Pumpkin Spice seasonal flavor we tested is non-caffeinated and in the “original” Gu variety. Like many Original-style Gu flavors, this one has that distinct Gu taste and texture from the moment it hits your tongue. “The first flavor note I got was ‘Yep, this is Gu,’ not ‘Yep, this is pumpkin,’” commented Adam Schram, an assistant commerce editor. As some testers also noted, I thought the Gu gel left a funny aftertaste.

🍁 Untapped Maple Pure Vermont Maple Syrup 🍁

While not a strictly fall seasonal product, we would be remiss in leaving UnTapped off this list. Like pumpkin spice, maple syrup is a taste and scent commonly associated with autumn. And for the combo of maple syrup and cycling, Richmond, Vermont-based UnTapped is the best in the game.

Co-founded by former World Tour racer and professional gravel cyclist Ted King, UnTapped Pure Vermont Maple Syrup is exactly what the name states: 100% grade A amber USDA organic maple syrup from the state of Vermont. If you love real maple syrup (and who doesn’t?), you’ll like UnTapped. It comes in 0.96 fl oz. single-serve packages that are easy to open when you’re on the bike and go down quickly. There is no weird or unexpected taste, just good old maple syrup.

Energy Drink

🍎 Tailwind Nutrition Apple Cider Endurance Fuel 🍎

Apple cider is another taste closely associated with autumn’s brisk air and falling leaves. While not the first brand to offer an apple cider fall flavor (RIP Skratch Labs Hot Apple Cider 🫡), Tailwind has a winner with its limited edition Apple Cider Endurance Fuel. A collab in partnership with Bigger Than the Trail (an organization that uses “trail running as a platform to advocate for mental health”), Tailwind donates 10 percent of proceeds from this flavor’s sales to BTTT.

Our taste test group unanimously liked the Apple Cider Endurance Fuel. It has a notable apple spice taste without being too overpowering. (It’s almost like drinking slightly watered-down apple cider.) I found it very drinkable on the bike, with a slight tartness and just enough salt to be noticeable but not overpowering. “Feels like I’m sipping potpourri, but I can’t stop drinking it. Love the saltiness,” said Furrer.

If you like apple cider, buy this drink mix.

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