OTE Caramel Anytime Bar Review
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]OTE are an award winning, UK based sports nutrition company. They pride themselves on using 100% natural flavouring in all of their products. OTE's product range caters for multiple sports from cycling to football and swimming. As big fans of the humble Flapjack - we had a try the OTE Caramel Anytime Bar before an early morning ride.
The Science
The OTE Caramel Anytime Bar is in a gluten free oat flapjack. The ingredients include Gluten Free Oats, Golden Syrup, Brown Sugar, Salted Butter, Clear Honey and Toffee Flavouring. As well as being gluten free, the Anytime Bars are also nut and wheat free - making them suitable for most people. There are 4 flavour options including Banana, Cherry, Cocoa Nibs (roasted Cocoa beans) and Caramel which we tested. Each 62g bar delivers between 35g and 40g of Carbohydrates. The bar also contains a good balance of fat and protein. Although some flavours have a higher fat content than others.
In Use
It has been a long time proven that oat-based foods like flapjacks are great for endurance sports. This is thanks to them being a slow release/burning carbohydrate. However, flapjacks can sometimes be heavy to eat and difficult to digest. Whilst the OTE Caramel Anytime Bar still has the chewy consistency of the common flapjack, I found it easy to digest. The caramel bar has a stickiness that holds it together. This is great for mid-ride consumption. There is nothing worse than losing half of your energy bar upon opening. I ate a bar as a pre-ride snack about 45 minute before heading out. Although OTE recommend that "taking an Anytime Bar 1-2 hours before exercise it will give you that carbohydrate boost you need to help you through your workout". Even in my haste to get out and ride, I found that it didn't sit heavily on my stomach and kept me going well into a 40 mile ride. The caramel bar was very tasty and full of flavour - but very sweet as you'd expect. Maybe too sweet for some.
OTE Caramel Anytime Bar review conclusion
The OTE Caramel Anytime Bar is a tasty flapjack bar. Its natural ingredients and high carbohydrate level make it ideal as a pre-ride bar. Whereas the consistency also make it a great take-along energy bar. Understandably everyone is different - but compared to some energy bars we found the OTE Caramel Anytime Bar was light and easily digested. Although the caramel flavour is quite sweet. Some may find it a bit sickly. There is an argument about making your own flapjacks, but for those who don't have the time or just prefer to buy their sports nutrition, these are a good option. The bars are available individually from £1.30 or as a box of 24 for around £30 rrp.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_message message_box_style="solid-icon" message_box_color="blue" icon_fontawesome="fa fa-shopping-cart"]
OTE Anytime Bars available from:Wiggle - £27.00 (24x62g)Evans Cycles - £26.99 (24x62g)[/vc_message][/vc_column][/vc_row]