Which Plant Protein Actually Tastes Best? A Blind Taste Test Says

A third-party, blind taste test found people preferred NØRSE CØDE over Orgain and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder combined. A three-way field against two of the biggest names in the category, including a leading whey protein.

What was the taste test?

An outside lab ran the comparison blind: NØRSE CØDE against Orgain and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey Protein Powder. Nobody tasting knew which cup was which brand, and the lab administered and scored the result itself, independent of NØRSE CØDE.

Who actually won the taste test?

NØRSE CØDE, preferred 5 to 2 over Orgain and Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard combined. Every taster saw all three cups together in the same sitting and picked one favorite from the group of three.

Is it fair to test a plant protein against a whey protein?

Whey has a reputation for beating plant protein on taste. That reputation is exactly why it's included here: a panel tested against the category people assume wins is a stronger test than one run only against other plant proteins.

What's actually in it

Nine natural ingredients, both flavors: pea, rice and barley protein, prebiotic acacia fiber, allulose and monk fruit for sweetness. No gums, no fillers, 0g of total and added sugar, and no sugar alcohol doing the work behind the scenes either.

Three protein sources sit inside that nine-ingredient count. That blend is part of why the texture holds up against a single-source powder. For what that ingredient list actually buys a reader with digestion in mind, see why vegan protein powders can be easier to digest.

Why bother testing taste at all?

Because most people who quit a protein powder quit over how it tastes. We spent over a thousand formulation iterations over more than two years getting the taste right, made in our own facility in Petaluma, California -- the blind test checked whether that work actually showed up in the cup.

See how that formulation work plays out against specific brands in NØRSE CØDE vs Ka'Chava and for a specific need in what actually works for lactose intolerance.

What do people say once they've actually tried it?

One reviewer, five stars: "It's the best tasting, smoothest mixing plant protein I've found, and I've tried pretty much everything. SO HAPPY there is no stevia!!! Thank you!" That's the reaction the blind panel result predicts.

Conclusion

If taste is the thing that's kept you on whey or kept you away from plant protein, this test was built to answer that one question.