Trial & Error: Hemp burgers, bars and drinks - are they any good?

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If you thought kombucha was flooding supermarkets, there's a new kid cramming for space on the shelves: Hemp.

Since regulations were amended on November 12 last year - allowing hemp seed to be sold as food in New Zealand - products made using the ingredient have sprouted up everywhere and in many forms.

Hemp is meant to be good for just about everything: it contains protein, healthful fatty acids and fibre while also being a great source of vitamin E and minerals such as calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.

Whether it's as seeds, ground up with other ingredients for baking, or blended into a shaving cream, the superfood is being incorporated into just about everything.

On and in case you've been wondering, hemp products don't get you high - it's harvested from a non-psychoactive variant of the cannabis plant.

To get our heads around the craze, we tried three products: a hemp muesli bar, a hemp smoothie and a hemp burger.

Here's what we thought:

Hempy Bar

Marketed as a snack bar for kids, it's definitely a bit different to the classic LCM bar you might have had in your lunchbox back in the day.

Muesli bars are notorious for purporting to be good for you when in actual fact, many are loaded with sugar.

However it looks like the Hempy Bar, made by a trio known as The Brothers Green, is cut from a healthier cloth: aside from hemp, it's sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and 100 per cent plant-based.

They've definitely got an earthy texture and taste-wise, it was obvious they didn't have any added sugars. We didn't taste those nutty hemp flavours either.

Despite being a bit dry, at just $6.99 for a pack of four, we'd definitely reach for them at the supermarket because of how much healthier they are than typical muesli bars.

Hempy Bar. Photo / Supplied

Hemp Protein Superfood Smoothie

Often smoothies are criticised as breakfast options due to their high sugar content - but Chia Sisters' new hemp offerings look to be a healthier alternative.

Of the two flavours: blueberry, boysenberry, strawberry, blackberry and chia, and a cacao, banana, strawberry and chia option, we found the first strong on the berry and hemp notes - no surprises there. It was, however, more bitter than anticipated.

At $5.90 they're a healthy, filling choice we'd more than happily choose over other off-the-shelf smoothies.

Hempy Bar. Photo / Supplied

Hemp burger

BurgerFuel decided to go big with their foray into hemp. The limited-edition Electric Puha burger has three different kinds of hemp in it: Hemp and broccoli bites, hemp seed oil aoili as well as an organic hemp sourdough bun.

But despite being chock full with hemp "three ways", we didn't pick up on that nutty flavour you can expect from hemp.

The hemp and broccoli bites taste just like falafel, and the hemp seed aoili tastes just like BurgerFuel's usual mouth-watering sauce.

BurgerFuel Electric Puha burger. Photo / Supplied

If you're hankering for a cheesy greasy number, this probably won't fill the void - but if a plant-based burger is what you're after, it's a delicious option.

A warning though - she's priced pretty steep at $17.90.