Reviewed: Infinit Custom Recovery Protein

• Price: Starting at $23/5-serving bag; $43/12-serving bag; $63/25-serving bag
• Nutrition Breakdown: Custom (obviously), but ranging from 150 Cal/20g protein/17g carbs (light level) and up
• Infinitnutrition.us

A new online custom protein ordering system from Infinit is ideal for those looking to create a recovery drink that fits their exact dietary needs or for those who truly like to nutritionally tinker.

Basics: Tons of options for different caloric needs, conditions, ages, types of workouts, and workout time of day.

Pros: Super clean ingredients, limitless options, mixes well, good way to isolate what actually works for you

Cons: Expensive and complex (but a free nutrition consult helps)

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Infinit has made a name for itself as a no-frills brand with quality natural ingredients and customizable products tailored to the individual. With the recent announcement of their custom protein platform, fans of their custom hydration blends could finally become Infinit completists. The big trick behind this project was making the blend something mixable (and palatable) while still offering a ton of options for customization. Keeping up with the dietary “Joneses” is already pretty tough, but with ever-changing ingredient trends, custom recovery is actually a nimble solution.

Infinit Custom Recovery Protein: The Ordering Process

First off, Infinit’s new online ordering process—which is measurably different and better than their custom hydration ordering process—is super easy to use. If you’ve ever ordered a pizza on the Domino’s or Papa John’s website, you’ll feel at home adding various “toppings” to your blend. The only downside here is the wide range of options if you’re not incredibly knowledgeable on diet and nutrition. As someone with an admittedly unrestricted diet, my first stab at creating a mix was pretty rough—I got lost in the weeds of calorie needs and protein types before even getting to the complicated stuff. After moving on to the various add-ons, even despite the accompanying information boxes, I was pretty much adrift. 

The big savior here is Infinit’s real-life nutrition consultation that comes free when you purchase their product. You’re not routed to a customer service center in some foreign land, you actually speak to a real person (sometimes an athlete) who can help guide you through the process. With their help, I was able to get through the process and actually learn quite a bit about nutrition.

Infinit Custom Recovery Protein: The Ingredients

Before getting into the available ingredients in the custom blend program, it’s worth noting that Infinit goes super far to ensure the purity of its product. All ingredients are gluten-free—produced in facilities that are free from cross-contamination. All ingredients are all-natural, meaning no artificial flavors, additives, sweeteners, or coloring. 

In terms of add-ins, as of this writing, Infinit has the following ingredients that go on top of their 20g protein mix, and each one has a different upcharge:

• Double protein (to 40g)
• Creatine
• L-Glutamine
• CoQ10
• MCT Oil 
• Tart Cherry
• L-Tryptophan
• Ground Flax
• White Curcumin

You can also choose low calorie (150 Cal, 20g protein, 18g carbs), moderate calorie (225 Cal, 20g protein, 37g carbs), and higher calorie (300 Cal, 20g protein, 56g carbs), your protein type (grass-fed whey, vegan blend, “Repair Blend,” or egg white protein), your flavor (chocolate, strawberries and cream, vanilla, and fruit punch), and the strength of your flavor all for no extra charge.

Infinit Custom Recovery Protein: What You Get

Without digging into each of the ingredients, how they affect your recovery, and what each does (the nutrition consult will do a better job of that), there are a few key takeaways from the options:

• Different ingredients work better for different kinds of workouts—long endurance rides/runs/swims—versus more intense, shorter intervals versus strength training. You can make a different mix for each type or create something that works well for all.
• Different ingredients work better for different times of the day: Some will help you sleep better if you typically work out in the PM, while others can help serve as a meal replacement if you work out early or midday.
• There are also different ingredients for different dietary restrictions (vegan, for example) and ones that are said to aid underlying health conditions.

If any of these points seem important to you, then custom protein could be a good option. If none of them do, then “stock” recovery drinks will probably do just fine.

Infinit Custom Recovery Protein: The Final Product

So after the nutrition consult, picking the ingredients that I wanted, and a fairly quick shipping and handling process, I had my own custom-blended resealable bag with my name written right on the front and the specific nutritional facts/ingredients printed on the back in that familiar “Nutritional Facts” format. The mix itself blended well, if slightly foamy, but was consistent after a minute of settling. Even though I went for a flavor on the stronger side of the online sliding scale, it was still a very light taste. The tart cherry I had added to my vanilla flavor gave it a hint of fruit (they had warned me of this, but it was actually pretty good). In terms of taste, expect the maximum value for flavor to be more like “full flavor” than “lots of flavor” and anything less than max to be a diluted version to varying degrees.

Infinit Custom Recovery Protein: Is It Worth It?

For my two blends, I chose one that was for intense, nighttime workouts and one that was for anytime endurance workouts. I used both extensively, and they both made a huge difference in terms of my ability to rebound for the next workout—PARTICULARLY when taken immediately after working out. This is nothing new to those who have their nutrition dialed, but it highlights the point that no matter how good the recovery drink, it really only works if you stay on top of your nutrition while working out and immediately afterwards. There’s no magic bullet to fix nutritional laziness! 

I did love having a blend that helped me sleep (it did!) and one that was more directed towards longer workouts, while knowing that both had the same consistency and brand. For sure if I had dietary restrictions or underlying medical conditions, I would have liked the ability to customize even more. 

The big downside to this product is cost. At a bare minimum you’ll be spending roughly $2.50 per serving with no add-ons and the 25-serving bag. With the add-ons, the sky is basically the limit, and you could easily hit the $5-and-up range, particularly if you buy a smaller size. The big downside to having different custom protein mixes that you can use for different workouts/times of day is that you may have to buy smaller packages, where the price can get really high. At some point, it’s worth weighing the cost versus the cost of real food.

Infinit Custom Recovery Protein: Conclusions, I’ve Got Some

Custom recovery protein is a double-edged sword: For it to be useful versus stock recovery, you’re probably going to need more than one mix with various add-ons, but it’s also this situation that can get expensive. As I noted above, at some point, you could be spending as much on a supplement as you could on a full meal. If you’re using this custom recovery blend as a meal replacement because you physically can’t get real food after your workout, then it’s not a bad idea, but if you’re passing up an actual meal only to spend more money per serving on a custom blend, you might want to rethink.

Everything about custom protein and Infinit’s platform is very very cool, and if it wasn’t for the premium price, it would be the future of nutrition, no doubt. It’s also a very cool way to truly A/B experiment with different types of nutrition without going into different brands or blends that may have other additives that you can’t account for. For nutritional completists who truly want to dial their EXACT ingredients, Infinit’s custom recovery protein lets them become DIY scientists for their own bodies, and that’s a pretty unique proposition. Just be sure you budget accordingly.