MoJo by Clif Bar

Clif himself might argue that we are mistaken to have placed this new product in this sports nutrition review when the company is very adamant that it is a SNACK bar, something that would get picked up instead of, say, trail mix. We think the spokespeople are saying that because they don’t want purists and nutritionists yelling at them since they are — oh, gasp — about 30 percent fat. We frankly love these salty-sweet “snack bars” for everything from mountain biking to backpacking to fast hiking to long runs. Why? They are a wonderful change from the sweet overload in all those other packable sports energy products. Only so long can one take sucking down the likes of chocolate frosting, you know?

And these MoJos are a lot healthier than the Payday candy bars we’ve taken to packing along on long workouts and adventures. (No, really. It’s an ultra runner thing because of the salty-sweetness that has some needed fat, too.) We tried all five flavors and took immediately to the simpler Mixed Nuts and Honey Roasted Peanut flavors. Then once we’d gotten daring enough to try Honey BBQ Almond and Curry Cashew (no kidding, curry), we found our taste buds got really excited and kept begging for us to go on more long runs. That Spicy Salsa Peanut with its jalapeno must be an acquired taste, though. The bars are mixes of nuts, pretzels and other “tasty morsels,” as the material says, that kinda go crunch with a burst of flavor in a really big way. As Clif Bar says, they are a “new adventure for your mouth,” and we think they will be big.

SNEWS Applause Meter (4.5 Clapping Hands):

Suggested retail: $19.95 for a box of 16
www.clifmojo.com
1-800-884-5254