So first the people at Nature’s Best came out with JavaPro – coffee and whey protein combined – now they come out with Cocotein? Yes, that’s right, coconut water and whey protein in one.
What Exactly Is Cocotein?
Again, just like with the coffee-protein combo, don’t pretend you haven’t thought about dumping some protein powder in your coconut water after a hard workout. I mean, we all know that coconut water is a great way to rehydrate after training. And we all know that it’s good to take in some protein shortly after a workout, too. While in a perfect world, many would advocate consuming whole foods whenever possible, the truth is our schedules and lifestyles don’t always make it possible.
So Nature’s Best took it a step further and did us the convenient favor of putting our coconut water and protein in one place. Hence, Cocotein. The product is now widely available online and at supplement stores and comes in sixteen-ounce glass bottles.
The Ingredients
Each bottle equals one serving and consists of 100 calories, with 20g of protein, 5g of carbohydrates, and 0g of fat. The protein is 100% pure whey isolate. Other ingredients include water, coconut water concentrate, natural flavors, phosphoric acid, and sucralose.
Depending on your feelings regarding sweeteners, the sucralose may be a turn-off for you. I generally have no problem with sucralose and am glad that Nature’s Best is using sucralose as opposed to something like aspartame or sugar alcohols.
The Flavor
If you like coconut, then you’ll like Cocotein. If you’re not so sure about serious coconut flavor, then Cocotein might not be for you. This stuff is intensely coconut. Personally, I would dilute it a bit if I were to drink it again. I enjoyed it, and it tastes much better cold than it does if you let it get lukewarm, but for me the flavor was a bit much.
That being said, it does not taste unnatural or unnaturally sweet in any way. So I think somehow the flavor of the whey protein and the coconut simply potentiate each other. It’s not a bad thing. You’ve just got to like coconut. If you look around the Internet at sites where users post reviews, more than half of the people who’ve tried it liked the taste.
Conclusion
If you’re a coconut fan, if you’re drinking coconut water to rehydrate, and/or you consume protein supplements on a regular basis, then this is a product you should at least try once. After a hot summer training session it might do double-duty as a treat and a good post-workout nutrition.
Cocotein is available for $39.99 per dozen bottles at GNC.com.
