25lbs CanadaProtein.com Vanilla Premium Whey Blend Review

The way I see it, the ingestion of protein can be done the hard way (preparing, cooking, chewing and eating some dead animal...and then wash all the dishes after), or the easy way (scoop, mix, drink).

These days, I do a bit of both.

Why I Take Protein Now

Using whey protein powder is a convenient way to add protein to my diet, especially first thing in the morning when I’m groggy and generally not very hungry.

Also, I don’t like making “shakes” and usually use whey protein for flavoring/creamer in my coffee, and add extra protein and flavoring to the carb-mud also known as oatmeal.

Why Bulk Protein

It’s something I take everyday, so I might as well get the best bang for the buck I can find.

I assume that with brand name protein powders such as Optimum Nutrition, Gaspari Nutrition, MusclePharm and others you’ll find advertised in bodybuilding magazines is that part of the price of their products goes towards advertising costs and packaging.

I already have enough containers and I’m sure many of the models advertising these products are digitally enhanced.

So that’s why I went with a huge 25lbs BAG of whey protein from CanadianProtein.com.

That’s not to say I won’t be trying any proteins from brand names again. If the price is right, I’ll try it out in the future.

Shipping

Shipping was free and FAST. I ordered it on Monday, May 28, 2012, shipped out the same day and it arrived at my door 2 days later, on May 30th.

Unboxing

This thing arrived in a box with a warning sticker attached to it.

Opening the box I saw this:

The 25lbs of whey protein is inside not 1, but 2 clear plastic bags. The opening of the bag is twisted and is sealed with 2 re-sealable plastic tie straps. The re-sealable plastic tie straps are a bonus because I can reuse it for something else, maybe organizing cables or sealing a bag of oats.

Anyways, I felt the outside of the bag and discovered there were 2 plastic scoops inside.

When I took out the bag of protein from the box, it held it’s shape and looked like a cube of whey protein. It reminded me of the cubed watermelons that are sold in Japan.

Anyways, I weighed it on my scale to verify that this is in fact 25lbs of whey protein powder. The protein along with the bags, plastic tie straps and scoops is 25.75lbs.

Good enough!

Storing

I have some empty containers that used to hold 5lbs of whey protein from different manufacturers. Good thing I didn’t throw them out, because now I can store the whey protein in those jugs.

I used a mug to scoop the whey protein powder from the bag into each container. I filled 3x5lbs containers worth of protein, and the rest (about 10lbs worth) is still sitting in the bag, inside the box.

Nutritional Profile

Serving size is 30g

Protein per serving is 25.5g

This works out to be 85% protein per serving.

According to their website:

“Premium Whey Blend is made up of a blend of 50% cold pressed whey protein isolate, and 50% high quality whey protein concentrate”.

I like how they state the percentage of the different types of whey protein they use. Many companies have some proprietary blend of various proteins on the label, but do not show the percentage of each type. I usually assume that it’s mostly the cheaper protein taking up the bulk of their proprietary blend.

Personally I like whey protein isolate simply because it doesn’t contain any lactose. I don’t want any surprise explosions while I’m in the hole trying to hit a new 1RM.

Unlike Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Whey Gold Standard, it doesn’t contain the digestive enzyme “lactase”. But even with 50% whey protein concentrate, it doesn't give me any excess bloat, gas or stomach issues.

Sweetener Used

CanadianProtein.com’s Premium Whey Blend is sweetened with the artificial sweetener “sucralose”.

Taste

This is the best tasting protein I’ve ever tried. Note, I’ve only started using whey protein recently, and have only tried:

1. Whey-factory.com whey protein isolate vanilla flavor
2. Whey-factory.com whey protein isolate chocolate flavor
3. Whey-factory.com whey protein isolate natural flavor
4. Optimum nutrition 100% Gold Standard coffee mocha

Also, I find CanadaProtein.com’s vanilla whey protein taste very sweet.

I have a bit of a sweet tooth (and no cavities!) so this added sweetness is great for me.

I normally add whey protein to my coffee. I find with this protein, I don’t need to add any additional sweetener. With the previous whey protein powders I’ve tried, I always had to add a little extra sweetener to satisfy my taste buds.

Mix-ability

Mixes fine in coffee, leaving no clumps at all. The same goes for adding it in oatmeal.

I’ve also mixed it with only water, and the protein powder mixes just fine. It tastes pretty good too even with plain water, a bit like a watery vanilla milkshake.

 

Value

This is where bulk protein really shines.

$8.37/lb

$41.83/ 5lbs

I suspect that it’s cheap because I’m buying in bulk (duh). Also, unlike many of the whey protein supplements you see in magazines, there are no advertising costs that I know of.

It’s reasonable to believe that the higher priced brand name proteins are more expensive partially because of the advertising costs.

Cons

It’s in a bag.

But, at 25lbs, it’s understandable. It would probably be more expensive if it were in 5 separate plastic containers. But at this point, I already have containers, and I don’t want to spend extra money on packaging.

It’s also a bit of a hassle to dump the protein from the bag into the old containers. But the cost of this (assuming that you don’t spill protein on the floor) is only time.

And heck, I buy bags of rice, so bags of protein powder is not foreign to me.

Overall

CanadaProtein.com’s Premium Whey Blend (vanilla flavored) is a simple, cheap, no frills whey protein powder composed of 50% whey protein isolate and 50% whey protein concentrate.

It smells delicious, very sweet (compared to the other proteins I’ve tried) and it tastes great with coffee, oatmeal or even plain water.

I’ll probably try cookies-and-cream or chocolate and peanut butter next time. But 25lbs will last me a few months, so it’ll be a while before I order my next batch of whey protein again.