This video is a little on the corny side, but funny and creative none-the-less.

Drink More Coffee- By Bill Dyszel

Monster…no, Rockstar…been there, ah Atomic Blast, there’s one I haven’t heard of. So I grabbed the green apple flavor and decided to give it a try.

I saved my selection until today while I was on a short camping trip. Could it replace my morning coffee and get me going? I was taking a big gamble because a big day of swimming, rope swinging, and cliff jumping was in store.

Taste

Atomic Blast Green Apple comes in a resealable aluminum bottle and when I first screwed the top off, the green apple smell hit my nostrils. The first gulp had a nice green apple flavor at first, but did seem a little watered down at the finish. I think they must have been going for a crisp taste instead of a heavy one.

Ingredients

Atomic Blast doesn’t stand out here. Just the usual ingredients and standard amounts. It clocks in at 100mg/16oz on the caffeine front.

Effect

Atomic Blast didn’t come on fast, but was more of a steady increase in alertness, awakeness, and energy. I was ready to walk the railroad tracks a mile and a half  in order to get to the sweet swimming hole.

Verdict

Atomic Blast is good if you’re looking for an energy drink that has a light taste and one that’s on the cheap end of the convenience store’s range. However, if you’re looking for a drink that will give you a kick and a punch, you may want to stick with the trusted.

Take mixed martial arts fighting, for example.  If you’ve never seen such a fight let me assure you, it’s an extreme sport.  Blood is often spattered all over the mat, tastefully decorating the Xyience logo that adorns the floor of pretty much every MMA fighting ring I’ve seen.

So what does Xyience, the official energy drink of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, know about making energy drinks?  Surprisingly, a heck of a lot.

Taste

Xyience gifted me 6 different flavors of their Xenergy drinks, although they offer more flavors than that.  I can confidently say I’ve tried them all, but I will only discuss the drinks sent to me.  Why you ask?  Because it’s been forever since I’ve had an Xyience drink.  Now stop interrupting me.

Out of the six flavors, three of them deliver a roundhouse kick of flavor that will put your taste buds into submission.  The other three, well, still need a lot more training to land a successful hit.  The three champs?  Cherry Lime, Cherry Rush, and Apple Jak’d.  Most notably, the cherry variants are absolutely wicked!  A tart yet wholesome cherry experience is right up front and fades only naturally as you swallow.

Cherry Lime and Cherry Rush are the tastiest Xyience drinks I have ever laid my tongue on, and deserve a top 20 spot in my all time list.  Apple Jak’d isn’t quite at the level of the two cherry flavors, but common, it’s APPLE!  When have you seen an apple flavored energy drink that tastes wonderful?  Honestly. This is a very unique drink.

The other three I wasn’t so fond of are Citrus Slam, Lemon Blast, and Cran Razz.  Cran Razz was one of the first flavors from Xyience  and hints at the approach that Xyience took in the beginning to set their drinks apart from the rest.  The first Xyience drinks were unique for astonishingly clear, crisp, light, and refreshing experiences.  Think Fresca and you’re basically there.  The new Citrus Slam and Lemon Blast flavors, however, seem to have lost respect for their elders.  Their tastes are as far away from refreshing crisp as you can possibly get.  Complete opposites, in fact: muddling and mushy.

Ingredients

These beverages have the making of a strong contender.  Be ready for over 300% of your B vitamin values, guarana, and about 200mg of caffeine.

Effect

So do these drinks deliver an aggressively obvious right hook, a sneaky yet powerful spinning back kick, or are they just an annoying kick to the shin?  I’d have to say, with much joy, that these drinks act more like the right hook.  Don’t expect to have your reality tossed into a wood chipper, but do expect to be shook up and pointed back in the right direction to continue your day.

Verdict

If you see these solid energy drinks on a shelf in your travels, do not be afraid to give them a go.  I have to say, though, with some remorse that you should not delay because it seems that Xyience is going the way of the dodo.  They’re simply disappearing out of stores.

My local GNC store owner says he cannot even order them anymore, and Xyience is not making appearances at trade shows.  Word has it they exist mainly in Las Vegas now, which is ground zero for the UFC.    Xyience, I wish you the best of luck in keeping up with the competition!  As strong as the rear naked choke may be getting, don’t tap out!

Reviewed by Dusty Smith

There is an unopened can of a European made, Michael Jackson Energy drink, for sale on Ebay for $50,000. At least that’s the starting bid anyway.

I guess our 3 dollar can of Monster doesn’t seem so bad now, in comparison. This drink was never sold in the USA, but was part of his late 90’s tour of Europe and Michael himself helped with the drink’s  formulation.

Props to the seller for having the forsight not to open and drink this rare find because opened cans are going for around 10 dollars on Ebay.

What do you think? Is it worth $50,000 and will this seller strike it rich?

Source: Caffeine Examiner

Over 160 energy fiend readers voted on what they thought a drink needed in order to rock the ever popular “energy” title.

Some of them left comments as well to further clarify their stance.   I’ve done my best to take this information and create a definition we can live by; a valuable tool to keep in mind the next time you walk up to a loaded beverage cooler.

energy drink [en-er-jee dringk] noun

1.  A beverage containing multiple ingredients which service, with expressed intent, one or more facets of perceived neurological and/or psychophysiological efficiency.

• Synonyms: energy shot, energy supplement

If that traditional dictionary definition is confusing you, here’s an easier to understand list of what a drink needs:

• More than one ingredient that is known to increase energy
• Explicit expression of an intent to increase energy
• “Energy” can be either a boost in your mental stamina, mental efficiency, alertness, or anything else that you’re going to perceive as brain boost.  Promises of purely physical energy boosts do not qualify.

So what do you think?  Is this something we can go with?  If not, how should it be amended?

Written by Dusty Smith

Unbeknownst to the common energy drink consumer, ABB has the largest variety of energy drinks on the market, no contest.  ABB sent me 16 different energy drinks to review in a box big enough to build an elaborate kitten mansion out of, which reluctantly, I did not realize until I’d trashed the box.

I was sent the most massive energy drink line I’ve ever seen, and it wasn’t even conclusive; they only sent me just over half of what they offer!  I do have to point out, though, that most (not all) of the drinks I did not receive from ABB are more directly formulated to be body building supplements.

The Goods

*Effect and verdict based on a 1-5 scale with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best.

Conclusions

Unfortunately, as you may expect, there is an incredible amount of overlap between the different energy drinks.  For example, the only noticeable difference between a fruit punch Speed Stack and fruit punch Adrenalyn Stack is that the Speed Stack tastes a little smoother.  Honestly, nothing else separates these drinks besides the label.  This state of affairs was rampant in the collection given to me, and it was a frustrating challenge to latch onto discerning factors.

Let’s be fair, though.  I’m making these statements based purely off of perceived standard energy, and energy is the one component that ABB has little intent of characterizing its drinks by.  These drinks are separated instead by offerings of thermogenesis (increased metabolism), ‘pump’ power (weightlifting pumps), and other esoteric promises that lose their merit outside of the weight room.

So I want you to keep in mind here, all of the drinks were reviewed strictly as energy drinks.  If a drink really does offer more powerful weightlifting pumps but doesn’t wake you up, then for all intensive purposes it will be a lame energy drink in this review.  To make things easier on you, we here at EF have created a summary table to help you wade through the dense thicket that is the ABB product line.  Drinks that require special additional attention are listed as well.  Also, just FYI: none of the drinks are carbonated.

Reviewed by Dusty Smith

A reader has requested that we help her out with a research project. You can read about the study below and if you have a few minutes follow the link to complete the on-line survey.

Feel free to post your comments on the topic below if you want.

Research Study on the Relationship Between Caffeine, Self-Injury, and Family-of-Origin Relationships

This study has been approved by the International Review Board at Alliant International University and is being conducted by Dr. Steven Jella and Cassandra Curtis

Anxiety and physical and emotional abuse have been shown to be prevalent among people who self-injure (including skin-picking and hair-pulling). People who self-injure are often found to have higher rates of anxiety than those who do not and research has shown that most people who self-injure have a diagnosable anxiety disorder. Research has also reported that people who self-injure have reported higher rates of physical and emotional abuse in childhood than those who do not.

Research on stressful early parent-child relationships has demonstrated increased sensitivity to anxiety in adulthood by way of altered dopaminergic and serotonergic systems, which are two neurological systems that caffeine acts upon. The study below aims to examine the relationships between caffeine, self-injury, and early family dynamics.

By participating in the study you may help contribute to society gaining a more holistic perspective of self-injury and in helping to develop more comprehensive treatment modalities for people dealing with self-injurious behavior.

Please click here to access the survey. All responses will be kept anonymous and confidential.  Thank you for participating.

At the Kona Brewery in Hawaii, they are brewing up Pipeline Porter with 100% Kona coffee grown on the Big Island.

I’ve tried to envision what this would taste like, but I’m having trouble making any comparison. I guess this calls for a special business trip to Hawaii in order to try this unique creation. It is only available September through March so I’ll have to wait a few months.

I can imagine though, sitting on a warm beach after a surf, drinking a Pipeline Porter then having the energy to go back in for another surf…..

Well, good chances are that what you were drinking was a genuine “Red Bull clone”.

Not just tasting like Red Bull, but even looking like Red Bull as well.  Several companies through-out the USA have allegedly been importing Red Bull Knock offs.

Now I’ve heard of Rolex, Gucci , Ray Bans, and Oakley knock offs, but energy drinks? At any rate, Red Bull isn’t happy and has filed a complaint with the USITC, who have launched an investigation. The companies targeted in the investigation are as follows;

• Chicago Import Inc., Chicago.
• Lamont Distributing Inc., aka Lamont Distributors Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.
• India Imports Inc., aka International Wholesale Club, Metairie, La.
• Washington Food & Supply of D.C. Inc., aka Washington Cash & Carry, Washington, D.C.
• Vending Plus Inc., Glen Burnie, Md.
• Baltimore Beverage Co., Glen Burnie, Md.

I tried to research the above companies, but found very little. The one that did have a website had no mention of Red Bull, but there was a note at the bottom of the page saying something about how they were updating their website.

I remember while in Thailand seeing Red Bull there which looked slightly different and it was dirt cheap (cheaper than the normal cheapness of Thailand), so I guess that was probably one of those clones.

How about you? Have you encountered any of the cheap Red Bull knock offs and what was your experience?

Source: cspnet.com

Here’s the subject: the energy drink market has proliferated so extensively that it’s become imperative to create boundaries for our definitions of an “energy drink”.

For example, consider these three types of products which all exist: flavored water with ginseng and gingko biloba, a vitamin-enriched smoothie with extra B-vitamins, and a soda with extra caffeine.

Can we call any of these energy drinks?  What if that flavored water packed in some taurine and guarana?  No?  What if the B-vitamins in that smoothie offered over 3,000% of your daily value?  What if the caffeine in the soda is over 100mg?

If we can get enough responses from readers, it just may be possible to establish a definition that we can all follow!  For me, the drink must either explicitly mention an ability to boost your energy, or directly use the word, “energy.”

So, readers, where do you draw the line?

Written by Dusty Smith