Expensive, but nice for protein powder variety
I follow a special diet for a chronic health condition, and I'm always interested in unsweetened, additive-free protein powders that meet my needs. I originally tried this brand of sunflower protein a few years ago, when it came in a (larger, less expensive) package. I've reordered it several times, including once recently in this new package. Now that there are more protein powders on the market that meet my needs, it's no longer among my top favorites, but I still like it and suspect I’lll order it again occasionally in the future for variety.<br /><br />Taste: to me this tastes mild and pleasant, a little like untoasted sunseeds. It goes well with lots of different flavors, and unlike certain other types of unflavored protein powder (e.g. pea), I don't really find the taste is a limiting factor in how much can be added to food. I would not recommend it if you don’t like the flavor of untoasted sunflower seeds, though.<br /><br />Versatility: I use this mostly in smoothies and homemade no-bake protein bars/bites. I also like it in small amounts stirred into drippy nut/seed butter, added my homemade grain-free protein granola recipe (which I then dehydrate rather than baking), and in grain-free porridge. I wouldn't use it for “protein fluff” or in unflavored nondairy milk, except maybe as a small portion of a blend of different protein powders. I haven't baked with it a lot, but it works great when I used it in chickpea flour crackers (for less than half the dry ingredients). I find it less versatile than most other types of single-ingredient plant-based protein powder due to its weird culinary properties (see below).<br /><br />Color: this is a pale neutral gray when dry, and turns darker gray when mixed with water... and then sometimes gives other light-colored foods an unappetizing grayish-greenish tinge, presumably due to it being a sunflower-based product (like sunbutter). A couple of times when I put it in winter squash porridge, it looked so disgusting I almost couldn't eat it despite the taste being fine—I suspect this had to do with the natural color of the particular squash plus the pH of the other ingredients. This powder also makes green smoothies kind of swamp-colored if I add more than a very small amount. In berry smoothies or chocolate recipes, though, the grayish color makes little difference.<br /><br />Texture: this is a super, super fine powder—finer than the other brand of 100% sunflower protein I've seen and tried, more like a very fine pea protein. It works great in smoothies. But in other foods, it can turn into a gummy lump when adding liquid to try to make a dough, batter, granola mixture, etc. For baking and granola, I find the weird textural properties to be the limiting factor in how much I can use. Definitely mix with other dry ingredients before adding to wet! Smallish amounts aren't usually a problem, and it's good blended with other protein powders. I wouldn't generally drink this in plain nondairy milk without adding other smoothie ingredients, as I don't like how it separates or sinks to the bottom of a thin beverage. I also don't think it would mix well in a beverage without using a blender, at least not to my preference.<br /><br />Usability of package: I find this style of bag unusable for protein powder—it's fussy to reseal, and because the powder is so fine, it flies all over. I cut the entire zipper off the bag and slowly, carefully transferred it into a good food storage jar. I'm not deducing any stars for this only because the annoyance is a one-time thing for me.<br /><br />Overall experience: I've found Lekithos to have really good customer service when I've called or emailed with product questions or special order requests, including helping me figure out how to get free shipping on a large order. I do find it annoying that the prices seem to have gone up and there aren’t the type of constant promotional deals that reduce the cost of other high-priced brands of protein powder. But I like the Lekithos products enough to order them occasionally when they're in my budget, although I don't think I'll order this sunflower one as often now that another brand has started making a lower-priced 100% sunflower protein.<br /><br />Note: I review foods and supplements based ONLY on my liking of their taste and culinary properties, and whether they work for me. Not being an expert in nutrition or food safety, I have NO IDEA whether the health, nutrition, and safety claims made on the package are accurate so that doesn't come into my rating!
Rating: 5 stars