IT'S BEEN SEVEN YEARS since I organized a taste test of energy bars. Now that my taste buds have nearly recovered, the time has come to give it another go.

Choices abound. Since our first test, sales of energy, snack and granola bars have nearly doubled, reaching almost $1.5 billion in the year ending last April.

The 25 bars we checked out in 1994 covered most brands and flavors available at that time. The batch of 35 we put to the taste recently could easily have numbered 45 or 55, all distinct lines, and if every flavor had been included, we might have topped 200.

As it was, just seeing a table crammed with paper bowls containing 35 unwrapped bars - cut into bite-size pieces stuck with toothpicks and identified only by number - was enough of a test for our tasters. None turned heel, a testimony to their dedication, though enthusiasm waned and got only worse as the actual tasting began.

Fitness news you can use Charting bars At www.leanbodies.net/bars.cfm, you'll find a list of 36 energy bars that allows visitors to sort the bars from top to bottom or vice-versa by carbohydrates, protein, sodium, fiber, percentage of calories from fat or other categories. What's new online • Some local companies are accepting client appointments using TimeTrade, a Web-based scheduling system. Fitness training company Exercise Company (www.exercisecompany.com) of Seattle lets members arrange personal or group weight training, assessment, nutritional counseling or physical-therapy sessions, specifying desired trainers. Bogart Golf Centers (www.bogartgolf.com) allows customers to register for golf lessons online. Worksite Massage (www.worksitemassage.com) in Seattle and Bellevue plans e-scheduling for several of its sites. • Hikers may have a new e-ssential with eTrails, trail descriptions in eBook format available at www.trails.com. The Seattle company Trails.com has more than 20,000 trail descriptions arranged under 10 outdoor activities, including almost 3,000 downloadable eTrails in 28 states and provinces. Taken from traditional print guidebooks, they include detailed trail and route descriptions, custom maps and driving directions. They're $2.99 each and can also be printed in 8 1/2-by-11 format using Adobe's eBook Reader. Ask Molly Questions on workouts, equipment or nutrition? Send them to Ask Molly, Pacific Northwest magazine, The Seattle Times, P.O. Box 70, Seattle, WA 98111, or e-mail mmartin@seattletimes.com.

"Ugh!"

"Ewwwww!"

"How do you spell 'blech'?"

Rating the bars on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) for taste, texture and appearance, we nibbled on, cups of water at the ready for palate-cleansing. Two tasters didn't make it through the entire 35, and one, a recently diagnosed diabetic, tried only the ones low or moderate in carbohydrates. I determined quite quickly the smallest bite necessary for a fair test, and consumed not a smidgen more.

Taste, not surprisingly, dominated our unscientific impressions, so I averaged those scores and matched the numbered bars back to their wrappers.

Three bars were clear winners, tied with an average taste rating of 3.6.

Two might be called Zone-friendly, referring to the approach that recommends 40 percent of dietary calories come from carbohydrates, 30 percent from protein and 30 percent from fat. These two also happen to be my current favorites, Ironman Triathlon Creamy Peanut (smooth, not-too-heavy peanut-butter flavor) and Trader Joe's 40-30-30 Peanut Butter Crunch (thin chocolate coating, nice peanuty flavor, a little chalky). The third, Clif's Carrot Cake (like a spice cookie, with a little crunch), has a more-common preponderance of carbohydrates (43 grams).

Next, with a 3.4 average, was the Clif Luna Lemonzest (lemony flavor and glaze, crisp texture, too sweet for some), followed by the Gatorade Energy Bar Mixed Berry at 3.3 (crispy rice texture, light berry flavor) and three at 3.2: Kashi Go Lean Cookies 'n Cream (sweet, malt/berry taste), Power Bar Wild Berry (looks like Spam but decent berry taste) and Balance Gold Caramel Nut Blast (sweet, Snickers-like). At 3.1 was Clif's Ice Series Orange Chocolate Chill (tastes of raisins and cherries, nice crunch, squiggled orange icing), and at 3.0 were Balance Plus Chocolate Mint (a little dry but nicely minty) and Think! Protein Peanut Butter Caramel (sweet, caramel taste).

Anchoring the bottom of our ratings, with average taste scores of 1.2, were two Met-Rx bars, Extreme Vanilla ("like eating vanilla-flavored dust") and Protein Plus Chocolate Chocolate Chip (looks great, tastes of chemicals).

Choosing a bar can involve more than just taste, of course. Some bars are very protein-heavy, such as that Met-Rx Protein Plus, which has a whopping 34 grams in a 3-ounce bar. Some emphasize low-carbohydrate counts: Biochem's Ultimate Lo Carb Bar had only 2 grams, but also earned just a 2.0 average score in our taste rating. The Protein Revolution Chocolate Hazelnut Toffee Crunch, with 2.5 grams of carbohydrate, rated at 1.4. Atkins Advantage's Almond Brownie Bar, at 2.6 grams of carbs, was the highest-rated low-carb bar, at 2.1.

Reading nutrition labels on many energy bars can be annoying, especially when they're hiding under the label's fold. Ingredient lists are worse, because the type is so small, but are worth scrutinizing. Some bars use artificial sweeteners such as sorbitol or glycerine. That Clif Ice Series bar has added caffeine. Many bars contain palm kernel oil, which helps keep chocolate coatings from immediately melting in the hand, but also is a heart-unhealthy saturated fat.

Ingredients - and bars - continue to proliferate. As I write this I'm trying a Whole Foods Market 365 Everyday Honey Peanut, a flavor not included in our taste test.

Soft, malty, a little medicinal aftertaste, but not too bad. Might be a good candidate for our next tasting.

If it's still around in 2008.

Molly Martin is assistant editor of Pacific Northwest magazine. Benjamin Benschneider is a staff photographer for the magazine.