5.0 out of 5 stars What Flavor to Buy

C.C. · May 13, 2013

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } First off, I've purchased a bunch of different flavors of ON Gold Standard Whey. All of them have close to the same nutritional value, but they vary greatly in taste. Both my wife and I drink these protein shakes as part of our daily diet, and as a product, Optimum Nutrition is great. I've mixed with both milk and water, and all of the shakes mix well and don't seem to clump. I've tried other manufactures whey, and I keep finding myself going back to ON for the price, nutritional value, and above all the taste.So the flavor question. As I mentioned, each flavor has a different characteristic from the others. Some are bland, some taste sweet, some taste overly fake. We loved some, and we hated some. Below is a list based on what we like so far and why. Bear in mind that I hate diet drinks for their bad aftertaste. The drinks don't have to be sweet for me to like them, but I can't stand the garbage aftertaste of fake sweeteners.The best flavors:Rocky Road - By far the single best tasting flavor. The downside is that it does taste a little sweet. The nutritional value is right on with the other flavors, but it is a bit sweet. I could drink this all day. If you only buy one flavor, this is it. There is no real aftertaste, and the flavor is great.Extreme Milk Chocolate - Another good flavor with almost no aftertaste. This one tastes like chocolate, and doesn't have a fake taste to it. If you are looking at the chocolate flavors, this one is perfect.Natural Vanilla - This is a slightly different product, and it comes in a tub with yellow labeling instead of the red. It's on Bolo for the same price, and it has the same nutritional values. They claim it has less artificial sweeteners in it, hence the natural label. In any case, this is the best vanilla out there. There is no aftertaste, and it tastes like vanilla milk. It is not as sweet as the others, but it the single best vanilla flavor I've found.The middle of the road flavors:Cookies and Cream - This one is both good and bad. If you like the creamy vanilla taste, you will like the flavor. It doesn't have a bad aftertaste, but it is sort bland. It is sweet, but bland. Also, the cookie chunks in it don't dissolve. This is the only flavor so far that has bits of stuff that you are swallowing when you drink it. It's odd. That said, I have reordered it in the past.Chocolate Malt - It's just OK. The flavor is a little odd because of the malt. Given the choice, just order the Extreme Milk Chocolate.Caramel Toffee Fudge - Again, just OK. They tried too hit to many flavors with this one, and it just turned out odd. Not a bad flavor, but don't start out here. I got bored so I tried it. I doubt I'll order it again.And the bad:Double Rich Chocolate - This flavor sucks. It tastes like fake chocolate. Not good fake chocolate, but generic fake chocolate. It has that bad aftertaste of fake sweetener, and is all around not good.Vanilla Ice Cream - Another swing and a miss. This flavor tastes like bad fake powdered milk. It has that bad aftertaste, and is probably the single worst flavor they have. If you are looking for vanilla, avoid this at all costs and get the Natural Vanilla.Tropical Punch - Another fake tasting flavor. When I got this, I could barely get through the first few shakes. Eventually it grew on me a little bit, and I was able to drink it without hating it. It tastes like strawberry milk with a bunch of fake sweetener. It's just wrong, and is not something you want to drink after a workout.I know that taste varies from person to person, so take this with a grain of salt. I hate the taste of fake sweetener, so this list draws from that. I've taken to buying the 2lb tubs to try out a flavor, and then going with the 5lb tubs if I like it. It costs a bit more that way, but it means there is only 2lbs to choke down if you get a flavor that you hate.Enjoy!

5.0 out of 5 stars Very pleased - first time protein powder user

D.M. · June 7, 2025

I am not my healthy, athletic young adult son trying to bulk up that’s been using protein powders for several years. I am however, needing to increase my protein intake and saw this as an easy option to add in our meal planning.Though I’m not consistent, I have been really pleased with this particular flavor. Depending on what you put the powder with, it can get clumpy and thick and not mix well. But if you add to plain milk or even water and blend it does great. On a suggestion, I did water with some ice cubes - and the powder definitely stuck to the ice and yielded a weird powder laden froth. But ice cold water and powder is fine (and honestly the flavor profile makes it easy enough to drink).My daughter has used it a couple of times as a topping on ice cream or yogurt. Making a berry smoothie adding this early with less stuff (so it’s well mixed) is awesome! I’ve not used it in a blender ball tumbler - using a small ninja bullet style blender works great for me.

5.0 out of 5 stars Tastes good!

C. · June 1, 2025

I found out I am prediabetic and that I need to add more protein to my diet. I searched for something that would taste good, and also had good ingredients. I found this Whey protein and I love the taste. I mix it with Greek yogurt and nuts for desert. It satisfies the sugar craving and didn't effect my blood sugars! It mixes very easy and not a bad price price. I'm not an expert on the ingredients, but this is a start to get me going in the right direction. It does contain "Natural and Artificial Flavors", which I'm not to excited about because I don't know what those are. I used 1/2 a scoop at a time because I am a smaller person and like I mentioned it does help my sugar cravings. Overall it is a good product for me right now. I would recommend for those who need some extra protein with a little sweetness.

5.0 out of 5 stars No more gritty protein and tastes great!

L. · June 7, 2025

I’m getting back into the gym after a few years off, and while tracking my diet it was obvious I wasn’t getting enough protein. This came highly recommended for taste and being easy to mix, so I tried it out. Thankfully the rumors were true! Even just mixed in water (I prefer milk), it’s not grainy and mixes easily in my helimix bottle. The extreme milk chocolate smells and tastes great, which I can’t say for some if the others I used to use. Comes with a scoop (some brands don’t include those anymore) so measuring is quick and easy, and it’s a pretty good value for how much you get. I’ll definitely be buying this again and also trying other flavors to keep it fun. Definitely recommended!

4.0 out of 5 stars Good quality protein powder with nice flavor

S. · June 2, 2025

Optimum's Whey Protein is a very good choice for a chocolate protein powder.I tend to use this powder in two forms. I blend it with milk and a banana for a protein shake, and I mix it into yogurt for a protein bowl.It's super easy to measure and scoop using the included scooping device.When using a blender, it is relatively easy to mix the protein powder into a shake. When mixing by hand, you will find it is challenging to break apart some of the clumps and keep the powder from sticking to the bowl or coming out of the bowl and making a mess. With that said, I don't think this is a problem exclusive to this brand, it is simply a fact of life with many protein powders.The taste is good, it is a good source of protein, the price is right, and it does the job.

5.0 out of 5 stars Gold Standard for a reason

J. · June 12, 2025

I’ve tried dozens of protein powders over the years, and Optimum Nutrition Double Rich Chocolate is hands down the best. The flavor is smooth, deep, and genuinely rich without being overly sweet or artificial. It mixes effortlessly in water or milk with just a shaker. No clumps, no weird texture. It's my go to for post workout shakes and helping in muscle building. It also digests easily with zero bloating. If you’re serious about your fitness and want something that tastes great, works well, and has low carbs and high protein, this is the gold standard for a reason.

I'm pleased with the product.

A.C. · January 18, 2024

(function() { P.when('cr-A', 'ready').execute(function(A) { if(typeof A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel === 'function') { A.toggleExpanderAriaLabel('review_text_read_more', 'Read more of this review', 'Read less of this review'); } }); })(); .review-text-read-more-expander:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #2162a1; outline-offset: 2px; border-radius: 5px; } It's nice tasting and mixes smoothly with minimal effort.

منتج اصلي

u. · March 16, 2023

المنتج اصلي ولكن رائحته قويه ونفاذه

Bon goût

m. · June 9, 2025

la poudre est de Bonne qualité et efficace pour tout les exercices de sports surtout la musculation mais le prix reste excessif

WHEY

K.K. · March 12, 2025

Niezłe białko

Optimum Nutrition 100% Whey Gold Standard - One of the Best Whey Protein Blends

A.P... · March 7, 2016

--------------------------------------UPDATE 11 March 2016---------------------------------------I keep an eye on my reviews but lately, I have seen this happening often . I get a few votes up for a review and then quite strangely a down vote the same day, that really has left me wondering if some people are deliberately down voting reviews.I don't understand how Bolo moderators are letting this off.---------------------------------------------I am compelled to write this review after seeing quite a few negative reviews calling it a fake or counterfeit which I find it quite misleading once again. I bought the 1lb pack to check the concerns raised that the packaging is mislabeled with a 23gram protein scoop. To all the concerned people, there is in fact 1lb Gold Standard refill pack with 24g protein per scoop. (Photos attached)Optimum Nutrition (ON) 100% Whey Gold Standard - 2 lbs (Double Rich Chocolate) is one of the best Whey proteins in the market today. Three things I liked about this product, the manufacturing is entirely done in the USA following strict US regulations, the grams of protein in each scoop and the taste.If you’re new to Protein Supplements, this is a quick overview of few major protein types that are sold in the market today.Most protein supplements that are in the market offer blends of different types of whey proteins. To make it easy, let me break it down for you. There are three types of fast digestive proteins, the cheapest is the Whey Concentrate typically a mass gainer with lots of carbs , then comes the more expensive Whey Isolate and then the most expensive Whey Hydro Isolate .Concentrate typically takes about 2-3 hours to digest, Isolates can be digested in your system within 2 hours, Hydro Isolates is purest form whey and can be taken even if you’re lactose intolerant - Hydro isolates can be digested within an hour and work best as Post Workout drinks. Basically, the price of your protein directly depends on the % of Whey Isolate or Whey Hydro Isolate present. There is also a slow digestive protein called Casein which is cheaper or almost the same as Whey Concentrate, treat this as a bedtime supplement as it takes about 6 hours to digest.What is OPTIMUM NUTRITION- 100% Whey Gold Standard ?ON 100% Whey Gold Standard is a multi-whey blend comprising isolates & concentrates as its main ingredients. It contains 24 grams of protein per serving, with a bit of fat, cholesterol, and lactose. Bear in mind, if you’re lactose intolerant, this is not for you unfortunately.Taste, Texture and MixabilityIt is not very sweet and mixes well with water and milk. I didn’t feel bloated and Double Chocolate flavour I’ve tried was good, and I will give8.5/10 for the taste9.5/10 for mixabilityTotal score 9/10When will I start seeing results?This is the bitter truth, Protein supplements would help you <20% to reach your fitness goals. Your everyday workout helps you about another 30% and the rest is your daily diet as to how you maintain yourself eating healthy. You’re not going to get fitter staying home and just having 3 protein smoothies a day.From somewhere I had once read, you don’t buy protein protein supplements till you are regular at the gym working out and eating healthy for at least 90 days. Once those two habits are accomplished, buy protein supplements, and you will see results.Are protein supplements necessary?This question is debatable but it all comes down to how much protein is in your everyday diet. If you’ve enough protein in your diet, no need obviously. From a personal perspective, I would avoid processed food like protein supplements any day, if I can consume enough protein through my diet (egg, milk, meat etc)Health Benefits/ IssuesIt is always advisable to take protein in their natural form (Milk, Egg, Meat, etc), but with a vegetarian diet that could be challenging. Rule of thumb with supplements is DO NOT go overboard - DO NOT take more than 2 scoops in 24 hours, but personally, if you’re not aiming for the Olympics, I suggest to start with 1 scoop a day so that you go easy on your body. In addition, you MUST drink a lot of water when taking protein supplements. From a lecture of Dr Tara Swart of MIT Sloan, your body requires 500ml of water for every 30lb (13.6 Kg) of your weight in a day to function normally.Smoothie recipe = 1 scoop (Chocolate) + 1 Avacado + Banana + 200ml Almond Milk + Ice Cubes in a Blender .PLEASE NOTE: Insufficient water intake can give you Stomach pain/ Abdominal Pain with protein supplements. NOT to be considered professional/medical advice. This review is based on personal experience. Protein supplements are to be considered with caution.