Protein shakes

[phaedo]

Hi all,
Just new to the site, reading around some for the time being, but do have one question I have not seen an answer to yet: the protein shakes and the taste etc with them. First one I had, just mixed some chocolate flavored shake with the recommended dose of milk. (Non fat) Realized then and there it must need blending properly, wasn't a fan of drinking lumps. But tried blending, although just a little handheld one (but electric) and it still came out rather average. Not lumpy like mixing with a spoon, but tasted rather texturey, not nice at all. Have moved up from there and putting in some frozen mixed berries, along with a kiwi, which works a lot better, although very thick. But can still taste the powder in it. Is it purely a case of needing to use a better blender, or is this what the powders end up like still? Would the addition of ice cubes also help bit? The powder I am using is called natures way brand, having said that I am in Australia and they are a local company, so don't know you can get it elsewhere, could the manufactering process have anything to do with it? It is a good powder otherwise from the perspective of no cholesterol in it etc. Along with being pretty cheap compared to most others around, half the price of similar powders in some instances (for the same amount of protein and number of shakes it makes).
Actually, a second question about the shakes while I am thinking of it too - I work on the road, so it isn't practical to try and make a shake half way through the day. Do they store alright if I made a couple up in the morning and took them with me in a thermos or something?

 

[gtbmed]

I've heard that some powders blend better than others, but I've only ever tried 3 brands and all of them blended well in a food processor.

I usually mix a powder with milk and 4-5 ice cubes. That makes the shake thick and pretty smooth.

I think they'll store fine as long as you can keep them refrigerated.

 

[Gawd]

If you need it while your out, take a shaker cup and mix it up when you want it.
It's probably not a good idea to make it up a head of time.

Some brands don't mix as well as others, and taste varies from brand to brand.
See if your local supplement shop can give you some samples of some different brands.

My favorite brands for protein are Gaspari, Dymatize and Need To Build Muscle.

 

[phaedo]

Actually, might have answered my own question here - got the blender out (is attached to a food processor, so not as easy as the handheld blender, hence why I had not bothered to use it before), mixed berries, ice cubes, couple of fresh strawberries, some coconut essence, and damn. Cant sense the powder in there at all now, and is so creamy. Was very thick before, almost needed a knife and fork to eat it with. Think that was the problem all along, not blended well enough.
But that also has me wondering about shaker cups, how effective are they at blending?? Obviously I am liking the adding stuff to the shakes rather than just straight.

 

[vortrit]

Some brands don't mix as well as other. I like blending mine with fruit, ice cubes, and milk. It taste great that way but looks like you figured that out. I don't really buy whey anymore - I usually just use Muscle Milk which taste pretty good and mixes well without anything but water (although I prefer milk).

 

[Built]

I use Costco's Kaizen (The chocolate isolate actually tastes pretty good, and only $40 a tub) and it blends in the shaker cup with nothing but water. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard works this way, too. Maybe it doesn't blend as well with milk?

 

[vortrit]

I use Costco's Kaizen (The chocolate isolate actually tastes pretty good, and only $40 a tub) and it blends in the shaker cup with nothing but water. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard works this way, too. Maybe it doesn't blend as well with milk?

The ON Exteme Chocolate Milk taste awesome and mixes very easily.

 

[LAM]

I use Costco's Kaizen (The chocolate isolate actually tastes pretty good, and only $40 a tub) and it blends in the shaker cup with nothing but water. Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard works this way, too. Maybe it doesn't blend as well with milk?

the same company that manufactures the GNC brand makes Optimum, not sure about Kaizen. but there really aren't that many protein manufactures or suppliers of the raw materials. a lot of times you pay a higher price for a premium protein (say a WPI vs WPC) simply because of the increased cost of the final stages of manufacturing but the source of the raw materials are mostly the same.