Lake Champlain’s Five Star Bar: Granola
Lake Champlain recently added a fifth entry in their Five Star Bar line. This is the first new 5 Star in years, and presumably something they’ve been working intensively on (in Steve Almond’s Candyfreak there is discussion of a fifth bar). I had assumed that when the new Five Star came out it would be a brilliant fusion of confectionery innovation and widespread consumer appeal. Instead, it’s granola.
If you’ve had their Fruit & Nut bar, you have a pretty good idea of what the Granola’s like. There’s almonds, dried cherries, and oatmeal in a penuche-like chocolate, so the texture and composition are very similar. There’s a hint of crunch that suggests the oats have been candied. The bar is very sweet overall, but the tart cherries provide some nice contrast.
If there had never been a Fruit and Nut bar, Granola would be an exciting new offering. Instead, it’s like Fruit and Nut v.2.0. Had Lake Champlain felt like ditching the Fruit and Nut, Granola would have been a great replacement. The fifth slot could then have gone to something more interesting. Cocoa nibs? Puffed rice? Pop rocks? Goji Berries? There were so many possibilities, guys.
Tags: bar, confection, mainstream
October 14th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Thanks for taking the time to try our new Five Star. The oats have indeed been candied- with pure Vermont maple syrup- one big difference between the Fruit & Nut and the Granola. The concept with the Granola bar was to create a dark bar (since Fruit & Nut was the only dark offering) that could be considered a “healthy indulgence.” We tried over 20 different granola recipes before deciding on one that lived up to the Five Star standard. You will be happy to know that a 6th Five Star Bar is in the works, and I’m confident that you will find this next one enough of a departure from the current five. Stay tuned!