I teamed up with Garuka Bars back in the Fall after a co-worker turned me on to them. They are a small all natural energy bar company based out of Vermont. When I hooked on with them they were called Gorilla Bars, A Taste of Something Sweet was the post I originally wrote. Mike Rosenburg, the owner happens to be out in Salt Lake City for he winter so I headed over to do some product testing.

If you haven’t tried the bars yet, get one. Mike sends out free samples and they are the best bar I have ever tasted, no joke. I seriously have a hard time putting them down. They aren’t loaded with a ton of chemicals and crap, just real food and raw Vermont honey. I was stoked when Mike said to come over and try some new flavor ideas.

Forest and I headed over with empty stomachs ready to get our eat on. Mike teamed up with culinary students in the area and challenged them to find the next Garuka Bar flavors. Some were hits and others well didn’t hit the mark. I think we tried about ten or twelve different flavors. I have two favorites that I encouraged Mike to move forward with, a Key Lime flavor (It’s like the whole desert in a bar) and a Chai with Lemon Zest. Some others that were interesting included a smoke infused bar. Others involved cheddar cheese, another coffee, and another maple syrup.

These students were into Molecular Gastronomy and it showed in their flavors. Another one to note and I tried this because my friend Carrie Adams love for all things bacon, yes a bacon flavored bar. Sorry Carrie this one missed the mark, I don’t think it will be on shelves.

Mike told me Garuka Bars will still mostly be the original flavor and each of the new flavors will be limited edition short runs. I asked him how his customers find out about when a flavor is released. He plans on announcing new flavor releases on his Facebook Page. Check out Garuka Bars on Facebook and if you haven’t gotten your sample do it, they are amazing.