Flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, Unflavored
NOW Sports makes a huge variety of supplements, which includes this vegan pea protein powder.
I picked up a container of this protein powder (the unflavored version) so that I could give it a thorough review for myself.
As always, I try to stay away from personal opinions, and to rely on measurements of some kind instead when possible.
The review is divided into the 4 categories that comprise the overall score above. They are equally weighted with a maximum of 25 points each. You can see how NOW Sports Pea Protein stacks up against the top vegan protein powders (spoilers: it stacks up well).
Table of Contents
Now Sports Protein Content and Nutrition
The most important part of a protein powder is, of course, the protein content.
So to calculate a nutrition score, I look at the percentage of calories that come from protein.
Here’s the simple formula that I use:
By looking at the nutrition label for this protein powder, we can get the total calories and calories from protein to plug in:
When you put those in, you get a nutrition score of 22.
The ingredients list is extremely simple:
- Pure, organic Pea Protein Isolate [from yellow peas (Pisum sativum) (Non-GMO)].
It literally only has pea protein isolate, which means it’s about as pure as a vegan protein powder can get. The only reason a few other protein powders have a bit higher of a protein ratio is because they use a different extraction process, and possibly because of slight rounding issues on labels.
Cost of Now Sports Pea Protein Compared to Other Vegan Protein Powders
Just to be clear, a high pricing score means that a protein powder is cheap. A low score means that it is expensive.
I calculate this score by looking at the cost per 100 grams of the protein powder, typically on Amazon.
Here are the different sizes that you can buy this powder in.
- 680 g / 1.5 lb
- 907 g / 2 lb
- 3.2 kg / 7 lb
Since most protein powders offer a size close to 2 lbs, I look at the cost for that size in order to fairly compare them against each other.
The price per 100 grams of that size goes into this formula:
It’s an incredibly cheap vegan protein powder, so it gets a high price score of 23 here.
How Well Does Now Pea Protein Mix?
Compared to most other powders I’ve tried, this protein is unique when it comes to mixing.
Let me start with how I calculate a mixability score.
I follow 4 simple steps:
- Measure the scoop weight
- Add to 450 mL of almond milk
- Shake vigorously for 30 seconds in a standard shaker bottle
- Pour out the liquid through a strainer, then weigh the remnants
And then plug the results into this formula:
I found that this powder had 2 grams of remnants, which results in a mixability score of 19.
When you drink it, you can definitely still taste particles of protein powder that are floating around.
For these reviews, I use a fine colander. Even so, the protein powder particles are so small, that they can still fit through the holes.
They don’t clump together at all, which is a good thing, but it doesn’t fully dissolve in the liquid either (mostly it does though).
Taste Testing Now Sports Pea Protein
There’s a reason that most vegan protein powder manufacturers include other ingredients than protein isolate.
Most notably, for taste and mixability.
There were 2 major takeaways from this protein powder when it comes to taste. Keep in mind that this review is specifically for the unflavored powder:
- It has a chalky texture – This is something a lot of protein powders have, but this was the most significant that I’ve tasted it.
- The unflavored powder has virtually no flavor – Add it to almond milk, your drink will still taste like almond milk. Add it to juice, it’ll still taste like juice.
Personally, the chalky texture doesn’t bother me much, but if you’ve disliked any other protein powder because they were a bit chalky, I don’t think you’ll enjoy this taste too much.
For the scoring: This is a subjective score, it’s just my opinion. Take it with a grain of salt.
I always assign a taste score in intervals of 5 points, generally matching up to this chart:
| Taste Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 25 | Amazing, would drink for enjoyment alone. |
| 20 | Very good. |
| 15 | Drinkable, not really good or bad. |
| 10 | A struggle to get down |
| 5 | Terrible |
It’s a bit tough to score a powder when it ideally has no flavor. So to judge it, I’m scoring how much it negatively affects the taste of the original drink (almond milk for the testing).
It was a bit worse, but not terrible by any means, which had me deciding to score it between 15 and 20.
I’ve chosen to give NOW Sports unflavored protein powder a nutrition score of 15. I felt that it was closer to 15 than a 20.
Summary of Now Sports Pea Protein
Now Sports pea protein powder is one of the best overall vegan protein powder there is.
It’s:
- Very cheap.
- Has a great nutrition breakdown.
- Mixes pretty well.
I’d highly recommend it unless the taste proves to be a major issue.
Other Vegan Protein Powders to Consider
There are a few weaknesses of NOW Sports, mainly that there’s not much flavor variety, and the taste is nothing amazing.
Here are a few other products that I’ve tried that you may also be interested in:
- PlantFusion (86/100 overall rating) – This is my highest overall rated vegan protein powder, the only one beating NOW Sports. It’s not as cheap as NOW Sports, but it is the best tasting vegan protein powder I tried by far. If you’d like to see the breakdown for it, here’s my full PlantFusion review.
- True Nutrition Vegan Lean (81/100 overall rating) – Vegan Lean matches the perfect nutrition score of NOW Sports, and beats it in taste and mixability. If you buy in bulk, it can be cheaper as well, but it depends on where you live. You can learn more about True Nutrition in my True Nutrition Vegan Lean review.
- Vega Sport (76/100 overall rating) – While it has a bit worse of an overall rating (mainly because of price), the protein content is the same, and the taste is better too. Here’s my Vega Sport review if you’d like to check it out.
