Update 3/10/20. This is a follow up to my post on Shakeology. When I wrote my first Shakeology review, my biggest disappointment was that I didn’t have any Shakeology to try. I could never find a BeachBody Coach to give me a few samples. Well that all changed when I was given several packs. The person gave them to me because she didn’t like the taste. I was surprised because Shakeology is so heavily marketed that I figured this stuff would have to taste great. So I was anxious to taste them. The flavors I received were Greenberry and Chocolate. I made the shakes with exactly 8 oz of cold water, just as Beachbody recommends. I blended the shakes up in my VitaMix. This is what I found…
I first tried Greenberry. I have to say Greenberry flavor Shakeology doesn't taste anything like a berry. Rather it tasted, well, kind of ‘green”. 
That’s about as good as I can describe the taste because I don’t think I've ever tasted anything like it before-and that's not a compliment. I think I tasted a hint of mint flavor (maybe) but there was definitely an aftertaste that I didn't care for. The bottom line is that Greenberry didn’t taste good to me.
It looked very dark green color– which wasn’t appetizing at all. I'm OK with that. It doesn't take much to make me happy. It was the taste that turned me off. It just tasted bad. I took the picture you see here. That's what it looked like.
A few hours later I tried Chocolate flavor. This did taste like chocolate but it wasn't good tasting chocolate. It had a kind of bitter taste to it 
and there was a bad aftertaste as well. Chocolate was better than Greenberry (anything would have been better than Greenberry!) but I've tasted much better products.
I know taste is an individual thing but for me, neither Chocolate or Greenberry Shakeology would be something I would pay for.
I predict that Beachbody will eventually reformulate Shakeology so it tastes better. I have no proof of this. I'm just guessing. I say this because I can’t believe no one hasn't complained to them about the taste.
Update: Shakeology has been reformulated. See my review of Vegan Chocolate Shakeology for more on this.
But don't just take my word for this. We are all different. I'm sure some people like the taste of Shakeology. I suggest that before you plunk any money down that you see if you can get some free samples to try first.
Well I have to say I love shakeology!!! I like the chocolate with a tablespoon of PB2 in it!!! Just a cup of water and a cup of ice in the vitamix and you have the best meal of the day!! I did not like greenberry but know others who do!!!
I think everyone has to try and find what they like!! One will like this another that!! That is what makes us all unique!!
The first time I tried the shakeology it was chocolate flavored and I agree, there was a definite bitter cocoa flavored aftertaste to it. I tried a few different recipes, but what I found worked the best was water, ice, a big scoop of PB and a frozen banana. THIS IS SERIOUSLY MY FAVORITE MEAL OF THE DAY!!!
Then I tried the greenberry. It is good again with some frozen fruit, banana, OJ etc, but by itself is nearly un-edible. Great product overall, lacks sugars etc so it doesn’t taste like other over sweetened products out there. Has whole food, natural, organic products. Best shake on the market.
Yes I’m a beachbody coach, but I’m not really working the business, just doing P90X and if someone wants to buy Shakeology I will tell them enthusiastically about it.
I recently purchased Shakeology for the first time (after being given two free samples), and I have to say – I actually love it. I don’t mix it with just water though. I put the shakeology in with 1 cup of almond milk (which only adds an extra 40 calories), and 2 or 3 ice cubes. This makes a perfectly tasty shake, which I actually look forward to drinking.
That being said – I can certainly see why people would remark about how bitter it is. It does indeed have a bitter taste – but as a fan of really dark chocolate, I don’t mind it too much. Overall though, I am quite satisfied with the purchase, and will definitely buy more again. (Not sure I’ll ever go for the green berry though).
John, Id agree the chocolate was better than the green berry. Good website you have. Ive always been a fan of Legos myself 😉
You should mix with almond milk and a little ice, tastes so good both flavors. Only mix with water for the cleanse.
Kim since milk is mostly water anyway, how is it that mixing with only water enhances the “cleanse” ? Is there any proof that mixing shakeology with water makes people go ” #2 ” any more often?
I tried Shakeology for free using a sample sent to me by a beachbody coach. I had put it off for a while wanting to mix it the best way for my “taste test”. I tried it and the first thing I noticed was that I probably should have used a blender instead of a spoon because it was gritty.
I also think it has more of a dark chocolate taste which I can get used to. I mixed on the coach’s suggestion a 1/2 cup water and a 1/2 cup of milk. It wasn’t terrible. So I decided to purchase the product. I need something fast and easy to make and eat and this I suppose is it.
Lisa, I never tried shakeology with 1/2 milk and 1/2 water. Yes I think you are right with the dark chocolate taste. I tasted that also. Again the big thing is you find something that works for you. If this works for you, I’m glad.
John
did a little research on Yacon and noticed that has some similarity to fructose. if you look it up on Wikipedia it will show up. On the Shakeology website they say it has stevia. I dont remember seeing Yacon when I looked at its ingredients
I use Shakeology daily and have for almost two years and like it with water straight up. I actually have to stop myself from drinking it to much because it is handy. It has just enough carbs and proteins that it helps me in pinches and as a morning meal. This is important to me since my nutrition is very rigorous and this doesn’t throw it off. Whats I thought was funny is that I’ve tried dymatize chocolate and thought it tasted awful. I quickly ran back to ON. I guess it comes down to taste buds.
I thought Shakeology got its sweetener from yacon root not stevia? Whats the difference?
Betsy, thanks for writing and for the price comparison!
Unbiased!??? I find him to be extremely condescending. Which is very unattractive. I personally dont mind the product but cant afford it. I feel we are all entitled to our opinions but the manner in which you project yours is a bit shameful! Your little digs in between your opinion are one of the reasons i stopped reading your blog becuz simply it just started to agitate me rather than educate! Which is what should be your prime objective!
Again, I’m not trying to be, as I just replied in your other comment. I think I’ve gone out of my way to stick to the facts but I’ll be the first to say I’m not perfect. If you can give me an example of how I was condensing that would be appreciated.
I just got two samples of Shakeology yesterday. I wanted to compare Shakeology against a similar product that I am currently using (PureGreen Protein). PureGreen Protein is vegan. Shakeology uses whey protein. PureGreen Protein comes in three flavors–vanilla, chocolate, and mixed berry. Shakeology comes in two flavors. PureGreen Protein has 15 servings per container at about 39 bucks per container; at one shake per day, that would be 78 bucks a month. Shakeology is something like $119 per month. The ingredients were quite similar.
I made a smoothie with the greenberry Shakeology sample using it the way I use any protein powder/meal replacement that I have ever tried. I used 10-12 oz. almond milk, Shakeology, 1-2 bananas and a big handful of fresh berries. In other words, a fruit smoothie with the Shakeology as an additional ingredient for a protein and vitamin boost.
It tasted quite good and blended up satiny smooth in my high-speed blender.
I’m going to try the chocolate flavor tomorrow.
My opinion about all of these powdered meal replacements is that, despite the hype, none of them are very palatable only mixed with water and nothing else, regardless of the claims of the manufacturer.
I have tried many, many of these products (Tara’sWhey, Ultimate Meal Replacement, SunWarrior, Spiru-Tein, etc.) from my local health food store and would never use any of them just with water, and I have a very high tolerance for “green” tasting stuff–I make green smoothies packed with kale and make green juice, etc. As a way to boost the protein content of a fruit smoothie, and maybe add a few more vitamins, they are fine, and that is how I use them.
Given the results of my little experiment, I will continue to use PureGreen Protein. Even though I thought Shakeology tasted marginally better, I can buy PureGreen Protein at my local health food store (support your local business!), it is a vegan product, and it costs less per month than Shakeology. For me, Shakeology was not a bad product by any means, but I can get a very similar product locally for much less money.
HTH.
Thanks for the unbiased review, Joe; it is very hard to find one about Shakeology.
Jewel, “chocolate and feet” LOL that made me smile 😉 You echoed my thoughts exactly. it should taste better considering the price.
I just tried the chocolate Shakeology for the first time this weekend, and boy can I say I did not like the stuff at all. Yes my health is important to me, but I’d rather eat fruit and vegetables than this crap.
Personally, I happen to like broccoli and asparagus (among other vegetables). I couldn’t even choke down a whole serving of this stuff. I wanted my husbands opinion (since he’s a GNC enthusiast) and even he couldn’t take more than a sip. And the smell . . . he said it smelled like chocolate and feet!
I understand that there are several recipes out there to make this drink more palatable, but if I’m going to pay over $100 for a nutrition supplement that only has 30 servings in it, it better taste freakin’ fantastic. I don’t think that is asking too much. Luckily, the Beachbody coach that sold it to me made me aware that there is a money back guarantee. Well you can guarantee that I’ll be asking for my money back!
I tried shakeology last week at a spa, where they sell this product. I tried both, and I actually love the Greenberry and consider buying it b/c of the taste (guess I am kind weird). But it was too expensive. Hope I could find something that taste like it.
Hi Andrea, thanks for taking the time to tell about your experiences with Shakeology. That was interesting about how chocolate helped you but greenberry didn’t. I’m not sure of the differences between them.
As for a shake that might be cheaper, I personally dont use probiotics or enzymes in the shakes I make but since you have IBS I wonder if they may be of use for you – esp the probiotics. I will have to do some research on probiotics and IBS and see what I can come up with.
With enzymes, its possible they may help you some but how much I am not sure. Since enzymes are proteins they are likely destroyed in the stomach soon after the hit the acid in the stomach. Again I’ll have to look into enzymes helping IBS.
The shake I use its just fruits (and sometimes some veggies) in a blender. sometimes I add protein powder (I like dymatize chocolate) but sometimes I dont if I take it with dinner. I just use the following
1 orange, frozen blueberries, frozen strawberries, red grabs. I often toss in a scoop of oatmeal also. Ive also used Yoplat Triple berry smoothie mix as well in place of the blueberries and strawberries. It costs less than $4 a shake esp if I get the fruit on sale or buy at BJs.
I have tried Shakeology on two separate occasions now. The first time I tried the chocolate and I went through a month supply. I have to admit I was not a fan of the taste. I didn’t find it horrible but wasn’t liking it very much. As with many others I added peanut butter and it became a little more tolerable to drink.
The first week I have to say I was skeptical I didn’t notice any limits of cravings and it didn’t keep me “full” feeling for much more than an hour. I decided to keep going since I had already bought it.
After about a week and a half I did notice some changes though. I noticed that it actually did begin to reduce my hunger cravings, actually a lot. I noticed I was eating less at each meal and feeling fuller faster. I also noticed that after my shake (which I always had at breakfast) I was fully from 6:30 am till about 9:30-10:00ish. Which was impressive to me.
i was not on shakeology to loose weight as I am in decent shape and work out regularly. I wanted to try it to become healthier as my lifestyle (eating habits) aren’t always the best.
I know this may sound weird but I have always stomach problems with digestion may be IBS, not too sure. When I say stomach problems I mean at least once a week after a meal, normally upwards of 3 or more meals a week. After about two weeks on this shake I noticed I didn’t have any problems at all, I was very regular after every meal. That was a huge bonus to me.
I finished out the whole 30 day supply, I wouldn’t say I lost weight from it but that wasn’t my goal of this product. I did feel slightly more energized by the end.
After my 30 day supply, I have to admit I could hardly take the chocolate taste anymore and had to chug them back. i decided to try the green berry a few months later as I noticed my “IBS” was back to normal and my energy was dropped again.
I dont mix anything with the greenberry but water and ice, while I cant say I like it. This time I am going to try taking it every other day so it does not become unbearable. We will see how it goes. I have only had 3 shakes so far and I already want to start holding my breath when I drink it.
I agree with Joe, I think this product should taste much better considering the price. I am also waiting for the new flavor of tropical to come out in December and I probably wont buy another bag until it comes out. I have high hopes for the flavor of this one. If it isn’t good tasting I will probably not continue with this product.
Joe how can you make a shake with all of the digestive enzymes, probiotics, vegetables etc for less than 4$? If you have a recipe for this I definitely want it.
I have really enjoyed beach bodys products so far, this is the first one that has let me down on taste… but I cant say it let me down on the effects, I did all around feel better after being on this product.
My beach body coach says she drinks it about 3 days a week to increase her nutrition shake. Has anyone else tried this? Do you see/feel some of the same benefits or does it need to be taken every day?
Thanks again Joe for this post, it is so refreshing to see someone commenting that is not a beach body coach… While many of them say they are unbiased about their products, it seems everyone of them “likes” shakeology. In my personal opinion not everyone / all beach body coaches will be able to deal with the taste of this shake, and it seems they are the only ones that write the reviews on the web.
Thanks Rose, I try to be as unbiased as I can so people can make informed decisions on the supplement they use.
Tropical comes out around Dec 0f 2011…I am looking forward to it. I am still a daily shakeology user, and since I am a coach I get 25% off and get it shipped to me monthly. I am sorry you did not find your shakeology experience a good one. As with all Beachbody products you can return for your money back within 30 days. As you have stated taste is an individual thing.
Rose
p.s thank you for posting comments from both sides….
Liz, glad you are enjoying it. It just goes to show that taste is an individual one. Would you still like it if you didn’t mix it with anything?
I actually really like shakeology, and have no problem with the taste by itself. I generally use crushed ice and almond milk when I make the shake, but I sometimes add peanut butter just because I love peanut butter, lol. I have never added fruit, and I’ve been using it almost daily for a year. I agree there are better tasting health shakes out there, but the effects are not as good.
I would say the greatest “sign” I have seen that shakeology works is my skin tone and elasticity have greatly improved since I’ve started drinking it. I also am much more regular, have less cravings to eat sugar, and more energy. I agree that the price is too high, but I haven’t found anything that works as well as shakeology does for my general health.
Rose, Im glad you like it. What does it taste like when you use less chocolate? Hopefully I can get some samples of the new Shakeology flavors to taste for myself. If I do I’ll write another shakeology taste test.
I drink Shakeology Chocolate everyday and love it…I do however use more chocolate and add ice…and it tastes like a shake…really good…as was said earlier…It is subjective to each person’s taste….but I love it…and can’t wait to try the newest flavor “Tropical” As for Vanilla so far they have been unable to make it “CLEAN” enough to offer it….they are also coming out with a totally vegetarian version in 2012…..which means no milk products…