I'm self admittedly a protein powder snob. As a runner who usually runs in the morning, I pack in a lot of carbs in during my morning but only moderate protein, and I like my afternoon snack to offer a little more protein. The easiest and most filling way to do that is a protein shake. I had a love affair with the Quest powders for about 6 months, but I started to get burnt out on them. The longer I drank shakes, the more I could taste the weird aftertaste that basically all protein powders have. I tried some other brands, but I couldn't shake it, and thus I have bounced around trying to find something I can live with.I got to a point where I was not willing to buy any more expensive powders, because I was not seeing any difference in taste/quality for the price. Decided to give this one a go, since I had had their bars before and liked them.To get a feel for the sweetness level/flavor on it's own, I tried it plain, just blended with almond milk. Not horrible, but I was over it by half the bottle and just chugged it. If you use a shake blender, it's very smooth in consistency. I also tried it with a cup of strawberries and almond milk, and that was pretty tasty, but there was a bit of a funny aftertaste. Not nearly as bad as I have had.My *favorite* experiment was this recipe: 1/2 a scoop of the powder, 1 bottle of light Starbucks mocha frappuccino (if you love your carbs like I do), 1 tsp of chocolate pudding mix, and a few ice cubes. With the protein in the Starbucks drink, you wind up with around 20g protein and around 200 cals. It has a very similar taste and consistency to Starbucks frappuccinos (reminds me of the S'mores one).The scoop is pretty big in comparison to most other brands I've tried, and while I didn't have a problem with chalkiness due to that, it could be a little strong when mixed by the directions, so I diluted it a little more.Overall, its a pretty good protein powder as it is. If you're weird about your protein like me, it's a good base to blend in with other shake ingredients. You definitely can't beat the price, and the quality greatly exceeds it!