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BzzAgent Review: Special K Nourish Hot Cereal and Nutrition Bars

Another review for the amazing BzzAgent website for Special K Nourish. As always, although I was provided this product for free, this is my own opinion.


I was actually really excited to be able to try these. Ever since I started losing weight, I've been eating a lot of hot cereal and nutritional bars. I really like Special K's other products, and was hoping that I would be adding something new to my breakfast/lunch routine.

First, let's go over the facts about Special K Nourish. The hot cereal is made with a multi-grain blend of quinoa, oats, barley and wheat. It's packed with protein, fiber, and vitamins A, C and E. It's only 190 calories and comes in Cranberry Almond, Maple Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Raisin Pecan. Each cup comes with a section filled with nuts or fruit to mix in after cooking. The bars are between 160-180 calories and come in Lemon Twist, Cranberry Almond and Dark Chocolate Nut.


So on to the good and bad. The good? I love the idea of the toppings for the hot cereal, and them being counted into the calories. However, that's going to be the only good I say about them.

And on to the bad. First, the toppings on the ones I did receive were stale. The fruit was okay, but the nuts were absolutely horrible. I'm worried how it would be purchasing it from the grocery store, after having sat on the shelf for who knows how long.

The packaging is a bit deceiving. When looking at the bowl itself, you figure that you are going to get a decent sized portion, but it is less than half full when cooked. I'm fine with the portion size, but why use such a huge container? I also found that the amount they wanted for their fill line was not quite enough liquid. The first bowl I had was very sticky and not appetizing. I just fiddled with the amount until I got the consistency I wanted.

The taste was... well it wasn't, actually. I've eaten a lot of types of hot cereal and was expecting something flavorful. This really wasn't. The texture was great and that part was enjoyable, but I felt it was extremely bland. I was really rooting for the Maple Brown Sugar Crunch, as I am a big fan of the maple syrup and brown sugar flavor, but I was really let down. And a bit surprised since most brands I have tried can even pack a bit too much of a punch. In this case, I think I will stick with my Cream of Wheat. It's Maple Brown Sugar has a nice, balanced flavor and is less calories to boot.


I can say that after trying the cereal, I was not looking forward to trying the bars. However I gave them the benefit of the doubt in the event that they tasted different. Unfortunately, they did not. Just as the hot cereal, most of them were lacking in the flavor that I can find in other bars like Nature Valley or even Fiber One. Except for one bar, and that is the Lemon Twist. Now this one was its own special case, it did actually have flavor. But... not a good one. The packaging states naturally flavored, but it tastes far from that. It tasted incredibly artificial. Even a bit worse than some artificially flavored candy I've had. After a few bites, I could not finish it and had to throw it out. Luckily the others didn't have such a terrible flavor. Just the lack of flavor entirely, which after having that Lemon Twist was probably a blessing.

The colors represent how I feel about the flavors.
All in all, Special K's Nourish isn't too bad. It's far from the worst, even the Lemon Twist bar. But there are far more tastier alternatives, like Cream of Wheat, Kashi or Nature Valley.
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