So the second day into my challenge, it was time to shake things up. It was inconceivable that a decent breakfast would fit into something so small, but here is a picture of my proposed breakfast for day 2:
Once again, I stuck to the rules from the start of the challenge. At 09.20 I opened up (with a straw) and tasted my breakfast.
The first thing that hit me was incredible sweetness to the flavour. I don’t mind sweet things too much but this was…too much. And it was incredibly artificial, with a vanilla taste that doesn’t really exist in normal food.
After that, it started tasting of oats – and in fact, there was an oat texture to it. At this point it felt a bit like a watery porridge, but not in a bad way. To be honest, it took a fair amount of time to finish the breakfast (4 minutes or so), mostly because it wasn’t entirely appealing to drink. The fact that it was through a straw also slowed things down.
As for initial feelings, apart from the overwhelming sweetness and vanilla taste, I was fairly satisfied by this carton of breakfast. I was actually pleasantly surprised that it filled me up a fair bit.
Later on, I started to feel a bit hungry a bit earlier, but not terribly so. Once again I was able to resist the temptation to buy anything more for my lunch without much difficulty.
Nutrition
Ingredients: Skimmed Milk (reconstituted) (43%), Water, Wholegrain Oat Flour (3.2%), Sugar, Fructose, Inulin, Soy Protein, Maize Starch, Milk Protein Concentrate, Vegetable Oils (Sunflower, Rapeseed), Minerals (Tricalcium Phosphate, Sodium Polyphosphate), Acidity Regulator (E332), Stabilisers (E460, E466, E407), Flavouring, Dried Cream Extract, Salt, Vitamins (D, C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, B6, Folic Acid, B12)
Now, this ingredients list is slightly worrying. My suspicion is that it’s long because it needs to have a certain consistency and longevity given that it is in liquid form in a carton, but I am the kind of person for whom the longer the ingredients list, the more worried I get. It just doesn’t feel right.
Summary
On the whole I was impressed by how full I felt from this breakfast in a bottle. It was quick (though not that enjoyable) to eat (drink?), and it didn’t involve any faff or cleaning up. And it kept me full, even if I felt a little light-headed from the sugar rush.
However, at £1.39 per day, this isn’t great value for money. Perhaps buying it in bulk would be better, but unless it got down to about 70 or 80p, I don’t think I could do this long term – not unless flavour and satisfaction were improved.
Scores
- Convenience: 10/10
- Taste: 6/10
- Immediate satisfaction: 7/10
- Long term satisfaction: 7/10
- Value for money: 6/10
