Which Protein Flavour Should You Try First?

Faba bean protein has a milder, more neutral base than most other plant proteins, which means all three flavours behave more predictably than you might expect from plant protein. Vanilla works across almost any combination. Chocolate drinks cleanly on its own. And unflavoured is genuinely usable in ways that other plant proteins often aren't. The right choice depends on how you actually eat.

Most protein flavour guides skip past the part that actually matters. They tell you vanilla is versatile and chocolate tastes better on its own, which is true as far as it goes, but it misses the point. What your protein is made from matters just as much as which flavour sits on top of it.

If you've tried plant protein powders before and found one flavour worked but another tasted off, it wasn't always the flavour's fault. Pea protein has a distinct green, beany note that fights certain combinations. Rice protein can be chalky. Hemp has a strong nutty taste that tends to take over. The flavour you chose was working against a base ingredient that wasn't behaving neutrally.

Faba bean protein is different, and that changes how you should think about which flavour to start with.

Why the base protein changes everything

Plant proteins don't all taste the same before the flavouring goes in. That's the thing most guides don't mention.

Pea protein is probably the most widely used plant protein in Australia right now, and it has a pronounced earthy, green note that makes it hard to work with in certain combinations. A lot of pea protein smoothie recipes call for strong additions, thick oat milk, frozen mango, peanut butter, not because those ingredients are necessary, but because they're doing the job of masking.

Rice protein tends to be gritty and slightly chalky. Hemp has a strong, nutty, earthy flavour that's pleasant in the right context but difficult to neutralise in others.

Faba bean protein, particularly in isolate form, tends to have a milder profile than these. It doesn't disappear entirely (no protein does), but it doesn't dominate. That means the flavour you choose is actually doing what it's supposed to do, rather than fighting the ingredient underneath it.

In practical terms, this matters a lot. Combinations that feel overpowering or off with pea protein often work cleanly with faba bean. And the unflavoured version is genuinely usable, which isn't always true of other plant proteins.

When does vanilla make sense?

Vanilla is the right choice if you tend to vary what you mix your protein with.

It's not that vanilla tastes better than chocolate; it's that it behaves like a background note rather than a lead flavour. A good vanilla protein adds quiet sweetness that holds together whatever you've mixed it with, without asserting itself over the top.

With faba bean as the base, this works particularly well because there's no competing note pushing through from underneath. You can blend vanilla faba bean protein with berries, banana, mango, spinach, oat milk, or yoghurt, and it'll work cleanly in all of them. With a pea or hemp base, some of those combinations don't come together in the same way because the base ingredient starts to show through.

Vanilla also holds up well in baking. It slots into protein balls, overnight oats, pancake batter, and banana bread without adding an obvious "this has protein powder in it" quality. If you want to cook with your protein regularly, vanilla gives you the most room to move. 

The one context where vanilla can feel flat is when you're drinking it straight, just protein and water or milk, nothing else. Without other ingredients around it, vanilla can feel thin. If that's mainly how you plan to use it, chocolate is probably the better call.

Is chocolate actually better on its own?

For most people, yes. Chocolate is more satisfying when you're not putting much else in.

A chocolate protein with milk or a milk alternative feels like a drink you'd choose to have, not a supplement you're getting through. That distinction matters more than it sounds when you're trying to build a consistent habit. If your typical protein moment is a quick shake after the gym or between meetings, chocolate gives you a complete-feeling drink without needing to build a full smoothie around it.

Chocolate with faba bean works particularly well because there's no competing base note underneath. Some plant-based chocolate proteins taste slightly off, usually because earthy or green notes from the protein base push through underneath the chocolate. With faba bean, chocolate tends to taste more straightforwardly like chocolate.

Where chocolate starts to limit you is variety. It doesn't combine as cleanly with tropical or citrusy fruit, and it narrows your baking options. If you want to make something that isn't inherently chocolate-flavoured, chocolate protein will pull it in a direction you didn't intend.

Some people solve this by eventually keeping both, chocolate for everyday shakes, vanilla for cooking and more varied smoothies. That's a reasonable approach once you've found your footing. For a first purchase, one is easier. Inna Protein's chocolate faba bean protein is here if you want to take a look.

What does unflavoured faba bean protein actually taste like?

Unflavoured protein powder has a reputation for being unpleasant, and with most plant proteins, that reputation is earned. Hemp unflavoured tastes strongly of hemp. Rice protein has a chalky, raw-grain quality. Unflavoured pea protein is one of the harder things to drink straight.

Unflavoured faba bean is a different experience. It's essentially flavourless; it has a mild, neutral protein taste, slightly earthy but not assertive. On its own with water, it's not something most people would enjoy. That's not what it's for.

What it does well is dissolve cleanly into other things without fighting them. You can add it to your smoothie with maple syrup or berries. You can add it to yoghurt. Add it to a pasta sauce and not detect it. Mix it into porridge, scrambled eggs, or a vegetable soup without it announcing itself. That's the actual value: protein that thrives wherever you put it.

Unflavoured also gives you control over sweetness. Inna Protein's flavoured versions use stevia and erythritol, which most people find pleasant, but if you prefer to stay sweet. Still, if you're sensitive to any added sweetness, unflavoured is the cleanest option.

The people who tend to love unflavoured are those who already have food habits they want to boost, adding protein into meals rather than dedicated shake moments. If you're already eating well and just want to close a protein gap without adding another flavoured thing to your day, unflavoured is worth considering from the start.

A practical way to choose

Here are the questions that actually narrow it down.

• Do you make varied smoothies with lots of different ingredients? Go vanilla. It won't compete with whatever else you've got in there.

• Do you mostly want a quick shake with milk or water and not much else? Go chocolate. It holds up better on its own.

• Do you have existing food habits you want to add protein to: yoghurt in the morning, cooking in the evening, lunches that could use a boost? Go unflavoured.

If you're genuinely not sure, vanilla is the starting point most people don't regret. It gives you the most flexibility while you figure out what works for you, and with faba bean as the base, it tends to behave well across a wider range of combinations than it would with other plant prrotein is made in Australia from faba bean isolate, in chocolate, vanilla, and unflavoured. Have a look at what's available.