totally addicted to caffeine and energy drinks. Packaging, buzz and nutrition reviews

Hydrive Berry Blast energy drink mix

2012-05-30T13:27:00.002-07:00

There are a great many reasons to extol the virtues of Hydrive Energy's Berry Blast energy drink mix. I have had quite a few energy drink powders in the past years, and This new package by Hydrive is one of the best there is. Everything from the fantastic flavor to the decent energy rush to doing what you need in and out of the gym, Hydrive has created something special.

Now I am a big fan of Hydrive's lineup, and have been since I first saw them on the shelves of a Washington D.C. convenience store a number of years ago. Since then I have watched the company grow and change, as they dumped their old logos and packaging for a newer and cleaner design. Hydrive also began to branch out as a brand, someone out with energy chews and other unique products.

I was pretty excited when they sent me a couple boxes of Hydrive to try out - and I did in just about every circumstance possible. The only problem with this is I have become horribly addicted to the stuff - and to more than just the caffeine. I loved Hydrive's ruggedness - its accessibility and the delicious berriness. The worst part of this drink is that I burned through all the boxes of samples they sent me so quickly, and now I need to find more.

Packaging:7
This comes in a standard energy drink package, although I accidentally put a couple packages through a real test. I took a few pouches of Hydrive with me to work, and promptly forgot about them in my pants. After a good wash and dry session I uncovered them in my pants pocket - and the mix was still completely dry! This could have been a very interesting tye-die experiment, but the Hydrive packet held up to a full washing cycle.

As for the design, it works well enough, getting across all the pertinent info in a clean fashion. It nicely gives you all the info you need, except the caffeine content (which is a real bummer). I know there is a lot of info on this little package, but a listing of the caffeine content sure would make this really nice. It feels like they are hiding something from you when they don't list it - like they are trying to pass off that it has caffeine in it at all.

Taste:9
One of the best things about this Hydrive berry mix is the flavor - just like the sugared Kool Aid boxes. Hydrive managed to make a flavor that not only smells and tastes delicious, but they managed to hide the energy ingredients expertly and deliver a yummy fake berry punch.

The first thing I noticed with the Hydrive mix is the lack of powder rising out of the bottom of the cup. Most energy mixes I have tried end up with some drink dust flying in the air upon opening. Not the case here - all the good powder stayed where it belonged. Along with this, the entire package melts down easily, leaving virtually no residue at the bottom of the glass, and no foaming at the top leaving yucky chunks of powder. The mix just went away very smoothly and leave a yummy glass of punch behind.

The best thing is the flavor though. No, this does not taste like real berries or even remotely healthy. It tastes just like it should, like Kool Aid or Crystal Light packages. There is not even a trace of herbl chemicals in here - just a delicious berry flavor. I started taking them to the gym, and pouring one container into a big 24 bottle of water gave me just the right amount of energy to get through a long workout without feeling fatigued.

Buzz:9
I ended up taking this to the gym on a regular basis out of sheer luck. I started taking one with me ever time I did cardio. Then, I found when I stopped taking them, my body CRAVED another one - like a junkie needing a fix. Even through this was just basically a plain ol' energy drink, something about it made me feel like I was able to heal faster - work harder, and overall was in better shape when I had one.

Turns out, it was not such a bad idea. Hydrive's formula is loaded with vitamins and minerals and such, and also contains potassium to you get those needed electrolytes in there too. There is the energy blend of caffeine, L-Taurine, L-Glycine, L-Tyrosine, Glucuronolactone, as well as a bunch of other stuff, like Vitamin C, a healthy dose of Vitamin B complex, Vitamin E, and over 200% your rda of vitamin C. All this with no sugar or calories. In terms of straight on energy, this stuff rocks! The 160mg of caffeine is not a bad pick-me-up, and mixed in a water bottle at the gym leads to a great time. Outside the gym, Hydrive works too - but not as impressively. While I have had stronger drinks, having this as a daily workout beverage certainly makes a whole lot of sense, though watch out - it is hard to cut back once you try them out.

Ubermonster Energy Drink

2012-05-24T21:23:00.001-07:00

Monster Energy is one of the yes selling energy drinks of all time. In an environment where the only beverage segment which is actually making any money is in their kind of product, you would think they would be sitting tall, not needing to do much to keep a solid brand going. After all, Red Bull has only recently tried coming out with different products, and even still just has Regular, Diet and an energy shot as products.

Not so for the Monster Juggernaut. They seem to be coming out with different drinks every month - and they are all unique, from their teeny glass M3 to their Hybrid line, there is always something new they seem to be working on.

Their latest offering is a very unique and expensive bottle of brewed energy, something with milk and barley in it, and is one of the most original products for an energy beverage ever, let alone one from one of the biggest producers of energy drinks. The uniquely packaged drink is widely available, even through they go for about twice as much as their normal energy drinks.

Sometimes great things do come in great packages. While I am not sure they are going to worth it for a daily energy boost, Monster has come up with a very cool elite product.

Packaging:9

The bottle got quite a few looks from the co-workers around me. Not because it looked like a beer - but because it looked like nothing they have seen before. It like a Mickeys bottle, only much more swank with crowns, gold lettering and gryphons adorning the old english gothic fonts. I really enjoyed the shape of the unique bottle. It felt good to be lugging around this heavy chunk of glass with the giant M on it - like I was carrying a weapon and even had the energy to use it.

I was not expecting Monster to have to come with a real bottle cap on their enormous bottle. I liked it well enough, but was totally at a loss as to how to open my drink at work. It is not like I regularly carry bottle openers around with me, and I still have not mastered how to pry one off with a tabletop. I guess I could have been extra classy and just used the side of a lighter, but I went for my keys instead, which led me to fiddling with this drink for a good 5 minutes to pry it off. If I read their writings on the back, I would have seen how rather than fix the bottle cap problem, instead they warned the drinker that it would be hard to pry off. Thanks...

Of course one of the benefits to having such a big lid is having such a wide-mouthed bottle. The smooth fizzy Monster taste poured easily into my gullet as fast as I could drink it - no waiting for air on this one. I probably could have shotgunned it if I were not in the middle of lunch at Big Corporate Machine.

The problem with this bottle is the same as all the monsters - a refusal to list the caffeine content, as well as all the other good stuff they packed in here. This brew has radically different ingredients in it than their other drinks - and this change should be celebrated. While there is caffeine and the usual energy drink stuff, there are some cool changes to the formula they should have mentioned. Rather than explaining what Uber means ( I think we all know that one) they should have mentioned the real difference in energy blend.

Taste:8

Right after I took off that damnable cap, I poured a little into a glass to check it out. My first thought is this was a real bummer, paying five bucks for something that looked, smelled and would most likely taste like a plain ol' Monster green can. And, for all the differences they used in their ingredients and brewing practices, this still tastes very much like a Monster. That being said - this does not taste like your average green can either. While they might have started out with a Monster taste, it has blossomed to a whole different animal. This tastes creamier, deeper and more complex in flavors than you would traditionally find. While it does not actually taste brewed like a beer, you can definitely taste that there is something going on in that formula which is much more interesting than you would originally believe.

Yes, if you chug it there is very little difference, but if you pour this and a green Monster into separate glasses and taste them, you can really see why this drink costs over twice what they put into a can. This has almost the same calorie content as a regular Monster does, only the taste is far superior.

Buzz:7

This is where things get hazy. Although it is obvious that Ubermonster contains quite a lot of interesting ingredients, you would never know it if you did not examine the ingredients list closely. For example, Ubermonster has Reservatrol, the good stuff found in red wine. There is also Quercetin in here - the stuff they are touting in lance Armstrong's FRS energy.

Besides that, there is the usual energy drink stuff, like B vitamin complex and Taurine and Ginseng and Glucurolactone - the energy blend we have all grown to love.Of course we have no idea exactly how much caffeine i in here, but it feels like there is more than the usual 160mg dosage. I really felt lifted from this - although not to the point that I was jittering or off edge. It felt like there was around 180-220mg of caffeine in here, and I appreciated the burst of energy.

Unfortunately, that comes with a price. The crash is also noticeable - especially in a big meeting where I was trying to be alert and awake while listening to slides of projected growth and budget plans. if it were not for a couple excruciating leg cramps from working out a few days before I would have not made it through with my eyes open.

Is it worth the big price tag? It depends. If you are looking for a very Germanic elite energy drink for a special occasion, this might be a fun thing to get. I can see bringing this to fancier places or a way to show off your tastes. However, if you are just needing something to pick yourself up and get moving, there are better and cheaper alternatives from the Monster lineup.

Hype Enlite Energy drink

2012-05-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

Energy drinks are always almost exclusively in the Male Dude world of advertising. By and large they try to appeal to the same market as beer drinkers - using hot chicks, badass dudes doing Xtreme sports tricks and lots of diamond plating or carbon fiber in the packaging. Occasionally though, these same manufacturers clue into the fact that they are neglecting a huge part of the market and release a girly version of their formula. This is not just a US thing, as it seems to hold just as true from drinks from Europe too (Hype is a company from the Netherlands).

Unfortunately, they are almost always the same as the dudes drink, only they make it pink and pander to a girly barbie-girl image. One company put a foil wrap on the top of their drinks like a yogurt container to keep dust from getting ont he top of the can. Others have used gimmicks like straws or just made their girl drinks diet (because all the ladies out there are dieting, right?). This leads to some pretty annoying versions of women's drinks, with only a few being worth of mention.

Hype's girly girl version is the same belittling can, almost poking fun of women rather than give them a drink they would actually enjoy drinking. The bright pink can with flowery writing does not speak of having energy as much as it speaks of drinking something precious and all-too-girly. This is a good example of why advertising companies get it wrong. Rather than make a drink for all the hotties, give everyone a drink that they could not only enjoy, but don't feel embarrassed carrying around either.

Packaging:5

as I mentioned before, this pink can is adorned with pink swirlies in the background, making it look like something you would find adorning your barbie house collection. It is definitely pretty and sweet and hot pink - down to the color of the drink itself. I brought a small can of this to work and I actually heard my co-workers snigger as I chugged it down, which did not bother me as much as it was indicative of the cutesy feminine design. While Hype calls the design full of Class, elegance and charisma, I just think it is obnoxious. The background swirlies did make for an interesting time - trying to make out the patterns of mermaids, satyrs, angry monkeys and various astrological signs.

The mechanics of the drink are decent, however. They even double faced their can while placing their nutritional contents in at least six different languages and places to be in accordance with all the packaging laws across the globe. I love trying to figure out what the ingredients are by reading them in what appears to be Swedish. The do list caffeine and all the other energy ingredients nicely - in two places, even. The tab was uniquely pink to match the drink, and there was no annoying girly paragraph about the benefits of Enlite, which I appreciate.

Taste:5

Hype Enlite does not taste bad, but taste very cloney too. If you like the diet version of Red Bull then you will enjoy this well enough. It has that slightly bitter citrusy berry flavor that most clones taste like - sorta has that bubblegum/watermelon/apple juice/ citric acid flavor that comes with clone diet energy drinks - with the strong flavor of non-caloric sweetened too.

As for the aftertaste, it is much the same as the flavor, although the carbonation is strong enough to kill most of the bitterness afterwards. While it is not bad, I certainly would not be buying this for the flavor.

Buzz:5

This has the expected buzz from a small 8 ounce can. There is 80mg of caffeine, along with the usual suspects of lab made caffeine, guarana, taurine and a whole host of B vitamins. There is only 10 calories in the can (so you can watch that weight girls), and is full of the classic combo of sucralose and Ace K.

When it comes to buzz, you really have to ask if you are the kind of person who gets a thrill from a single shot of espresso. Most people I know can handle that much caffeine without really feeling much difference, and the case is the same here. While this is the standard caffeine amount for most energy drinks - and is the maximum amount regulated by many European countries, I would sure like them to see this get more exciting for an American version.

I imagine that those taffeta gloved girly women with dogs in their purses and hundred dollar manicures need their energy too, but for the normal female caffeine fiend, this might be just too precious to handle.

Sapporo Coffee Guzzling Milk - One Piece edition

2012-05-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

"Let's take a quaff of milky mild coffee! This is big in size and right in taste!!!"

Sapporo Breweries have been around a very long time - over 125 years. In this time they have grown to one of the biggest worldwide beer makers - making mainly lagers to the point where they had a near monopoly in Japan.

This stuff is known as "Coffee Guzzling Milk", written like がぶ飲みミルクコーヒー in japanese. Now I am pretty sure that this is one of those phrases which are completely skewered in translation, which is pretty sad, because I think that it does a great job of describing this coffee. It is sweet, creamy, and so very easy to guzzle down. Also from what I hear, this stuff sells pretty cheaply too. not bad for a company that specialises in bad japanese beer.

This particular flavor is covered in cool art from the super popular manga/anime One Piece. For those not in the know, One Piece is most popular and famous manga series of all time in Japan, They have sold over 260 million volumes of One Piece manga so far; volume 61 set a new record for the highest initial print run of any book in Japan in history. The Anime is just as well regarded, and was very popular on Cartoon Network's Toonami. If you still want to see any of the crazy pirate antics of the show Hulu is still airing episodes.

Packaging:8
One of the best thing about this Coffee Guzzling Milk is that is comes in such a huge 500ml container - like a giant sport bottle but filled with yummy coffee! I love the overall design, including the big puffy がぶ飲みミルクコーヒー written on the side, giant cows and of course the silly One Piece characters chasing themselves all over the bottle.

The only problem I saw was the lack of listing the caffeine. Since caffeine is listed in the ingredients along with coffee, it would have been great to know exactly how much was in here.

Taste:5
On first opening, I was a little anxious about trying it out. This smells a little like coffee and a little like wood varnish - creating an aroma which really leaves something to be desired. The burned woody odor goes away as you drink more of it, and find the smell is more than likely attributed to the preservatives than to the coffee itself.

There is a reason this is called Coffee Guzzling Milk. It is far too easy to drink this entire 500ml jug of goodness down without even thinking about it. Yes, there is a flavor of preservatives and the fake almost plastic emulsifier added, but overall this was still a sweet and easy drink to chug down. The only problem was the aftertaste, which is much like the initial odor - like you just got to second base with an oak tree.

I have certainly had better Asian coffees in the past. If this was not ice cold, I am not sure I could have handled the whole thing, One Piece marketing or no.

Buzz:10
The best part of this was the energy I did not expect at all. I have had numerous coffee drinks before, but there is something about the guzzling of all this coffee what really pumped all that sugar and caffeine into me. In no time I had what must be around 200-250mg of caffeinated coffee goodness coursing through my veins!

For just a plain old asian coffee this had way more energy than I was prepared for. I found myself a little overcaffeinated, jittering around the living room until I finally had to go for a brink run around the block. Just for the energy I would have this drink over and over again.

U Force energy shots

2012-05-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

Valero has always been one of those brands that work hard to produce a generic version of everything you go to convenience stores for. They have generic coffee drinks, generic energy drinks, generic packaged foods and coffees and car stuff. After years of selling energy shots Valero has come out with their own version, released under their Uforce brand.

Packaging:4
Their shots look decent enough, if not terribly generic. They used the standard 5 Hour energy rip-off bottle with the 2 ounces of liquid, tiny opening and a plastic wrap that acts as a safety seal. This probably took their design team about 15 minutes of work with the photoshop outline tool and some lightning zaps in the background. Not that it is bad looking, it is just what you would expect from a company doing generic energy shots. All it really needs is the work Xtreme somewhere to cap off the pandering.

In terms of functionality, U Force needs some help as well. There is no listing of caffeine content, or how much of any of their energy mix they have. They list their amino acid blend in there, along with citicoline, but this is buried in their ingredients and should have more prominence.

Taste:2
U Force energy shots come in two flavors, a generic berry flavor that tastes like berry acid, and a grape flavor that tastes like grape acid. Both taste uncommonly bad, like if vinegars came in special slightly sweet fruity flavors. They are worse than most of the standard energy products out there - like they really did not want to bother themselves coming out with anything that tasted decent for fear of competing with the real energy shots they sell.

The important thing to remember with these shots is that they settle too. You got to shake these vigorously or it will taste even worse. When you finally have enough of the yuckiness and just shoot it past your taste buds, it makes the back of your moth tingle - and not in a good way. it does not really burn inasmuch as it singes the back of your mouth and leaves the aftertaste of too much crabapple in your mouth. Sour Sour Sour.

Buzz:7
Thing is, it works - even if the ride is short lived. My guess is there is 120+mg of caffeine in here - enough to get you pumped if even for a short time. I ended up slamming the bottle because it tasted so bad - so the rush came on quite quickly. There was definitely enough energy to really feel it - and of that I am appreciative. Still, for the two bucks it cost for the shot, I feel like there are dozens of choices out there which are a bit easier to swallow.

Trim stack PureNRG Xtreme energy shot

2012-05-16T07:02:00.000-07:00

Trim Stack looks like a very cool company that helps with weight loss as well as workout help. They do this with a very cool and nique looking pill, as well as the energy shot. I thought I would start off with trying the shot, which unfortunately looks a little bland. Of course, bland by energy drink standards is different than bland in any other market. in this case Bland means over the top extreme grungy silliness. Dropping the Ein extreme, using lightning bolds and the design equivalent of shouting.

PureNRG is an over-the-top packaging idea by Trim Stack, not having any connection to the Christian teen pop group Pure NRG or Information Society. After trying Trim Stack's PureNRG out, I can only hope the pills are cooler than these shots - which at and taste like every other 5 Hour energy clone on the market today.

Packaging:4
PureNRG is very XTREME, and that is not meant in a good way.

There are two basic ways to market energy products. You can either go the health route with happy running people or pictures of fruit, or go for explosions, lightning bolts and and lava. PureNRG Xtreme energy shot unfortunately went with the second option. It is not necessarily a bad idea - it is just a very standard tried-and true approach. Coming from a health nutrition company, I would have expected something more in the lines of something you would use at the gym or during a workout - not something you slam during your all-night-raging-xtreme metal concert.

Unfortunately , they also did not bother to list the caffeine content - which is annoying. As this company seems to be about health this makes it even more obnoxious. The rest of the labeling is OK enough, and I found their admittance to print they were using a third party to manufacture their energy shots an interesting choice. Usually companies don't admit to using an outside company to produce their product that they just paid them to produce and put their labels on.

Taste:5
I found the overall grape flavor to be decent, although not as good as many I have tried. It is like a watery non-alcoholic version of Tylenol for kids. Three is definitely a medicinal bite to it, and there is a bitterness that only gets stronger in the aftertaste.

However, this is certainly better than many other shots I have had - and certainly far tastier than 5 Hour or any of those clones. While I was able to get this down without much grimacing, I certainly have had ones much better too. The grapiness reminded me more of taking a watery kids cough medicine, in that there was nothing enjoyable about the flavor, but it is still more palatable than Worx or 6 Hour Power.

Buzz:5
This was about as standard as you could possibly get - which makes sense coming from a energy drink clone company. It has a very standard bump of energy coming from amino acids, B vitamins, and an undisclosed bunch of caffeine. From the boost I got, it looked like there was between 80 - 100mg of caffeine, enough to get a little lift but nothing spectacular.

The issue I had was that this Trim Stack is positioning itself as a weight-loss workout supplement, and that just won't happen with a generic energy drink with nothing to really make it stand out from the pack. While this is not a bad concoction, it is just the same as every other shot out there with explody packaging.

Speedy Energy Drink

2012-05-14T11:22:00.001-07:00

Speedy Energy drink is one of the more amazing energy drinks I have had - and certainy on e of the most eye catching. They have taken a very unique road - coming out with a beautifully designed 12 ounce aluminum bottle and filling it with some very delicious liquid inside. While Speedy might be suffering a bit from a little health confusion (it keeps calling itself healthy, but I am not quite sure how), it is so well done I am inclined to let the "healthy" part of their drink play a little more loosely.

Packaging:10
The first thing that grabs your eye on the shelf is one of the most pretty and unique energy drink bottles out there. There is only one other brand of energy drink I have tried that comes in an aluminum 12 ounce bottle, and this design has that one beat in spades. The script lettering is very easy to read, as well as all the other printing on the bottle.

The whole bottle sparkles and shines like no other. This is easily one of the coolest packages I have seen in a very long time.

On top of that, they do all the other mechanics right too. The bottle lists the caffeine content clearly, as well as all the other energy ingredients. The name of the product is displayed in more than one place - just in case a passerby looks and notices the unusual drink in your hands.

Taste:9
Fortunately, they went for the chance and came up with a unique taste to go with their bottle too. Rather than go for the energy drink clone flavor, they came up with something original, a taste like no other. If you are a hardcore soda or energy drinker you will most likely find this one of your new favorite drinks. If you are not expecting the flavor if very sweet fruit, you might find the flavor off putting, but I found the taste refreshing.

When I opened up the bottle cap, I definitely got the scent of grape and a light fruit punch. This was very different when I got to drink the purple liquid inside, which gave off a very distinct flavor profile of a strong blueberry tea. Blueberry is definitely the star here - and it powers through all the other complexities vying for my taste buds attention. While the flavor was strong and the drink itself seemed a bit heavy, the carbonation was very high, giving this an impression of being bubbly and light while the juice was laden with lots of sugars and juices.

The crazy thing is that I accidentally left one opened and undrunk for about twenty minutes in the sun, and the bottle heated up and the drink went flat. Bizarrely, Speedy actually got better when it was served hot! I don't think I have ever had an energy drink that tasted better warm, let alone one that tasted better flat. Just to be sure, I placed a large cup of this in the microwave next to a cup of Celestial Seasonings Blueberry tea with some sugar, and Speedy was a clear winner.

Buzz:7
The one issue I had with this drink was that it pushed the health angle, but I just could not find what was so healthy in here. I saw that they were trying to go for the antioxidant angle, but it really does not do you a whole lot of good drinking antioxidants in energy drinks - there just is not enough juice in them to do much good. While they do not list how much juice is in here, my guess is that Speedy does not have enough good juice in here to really do much good.

Along with that, they decreased the amount of sugar in here by adding stevia. While I applaud them in being able to use stevia and still make a drink that tastes so good, the 100 calories per bottle is about the same as you would find in a Coca Cola or Mountain Dew. They say this is 40% less calories than other energy drinks, but it seems like it is really about the same as all the others.

In terms of buzz, Speedy is about average. There is some guarana as well as some lab made caffeine, glucurolactone, taurine and some vitamin B to keep you moving. There is enough buzz in here to match a small energy drink or about a double-shot of espresso. One won't wire you, but two of them definitely will. If you are looking for something to just get you through an afternoon slump this would work fine, but this is not going to keep you moving through the night or a long drive. For me, that's just fine - as I would happily drink a couple of these in a row.

It would seem best to drop the whole health angle entirely and just concentrate on showing off what this drink does well - provide a decent boost, great sate and an amazing look - even if warm and flat. You can head to http://drinkspeedy.com/buy if you want to give them a try.

WhoopAss Grapple Energy drink

2012-05-02T23:17:00.000-07:00

In my years of reviewing energy drinks, I have managed to try and find every old energy drink I have ever had. Some, like Energia and Frappio have been harder ones to track down. But, there has only been one brand of drink that I have yet to find again, Jones' branded Whoop Ass energy drink. I used to have one of these or a Socko every day for about a month during a teaching gig I had.

Then one day, they were no more. The store stopped carrying them and I had not seen them since. They were very cool cans with a little dude on the front who was ready to kick your ass. I have searched about everywhere and called Jones over a half dozen time - but I could not find a Whoop Ass anywhere

Then in 2010, Jones relaunched the brand with a biker-heavy makeover, and launched themselves into specialty soda stores across the nation. Unfortunately for me they still are not returning my calls. Fortunately, my local Rocket Fizz carries all three flavors for me. Grapple is a new flavor for Whoop Ass (The original one just came in regular and diet, I believe), and the only other addition to the black original and white diet flavors.

For some reason, grapple seems to be celebrating the Irish (Or at least St. Patricks Day) with little fighting irishmen and green clovers overlaid on top of the iron crosses that now adorn their package. It seems to be a strange fit, the grapple being an american hybrid - and I don't believe I have ever heard the phrase "The Grapplin' Irish". Even though I have about as much Irish in me as I do Native American (absolutely zero), I still am excited to try it out.

Packaging:8

There are clovers all over the package now - and it comes in a green color - the color of grapples. I have actually had grapples before, as my local grocery store regularly carries bizarre Hunger Games-esque veggies and fruits like Grapples, Broccoflowers, Pluots, and Uglis. In this case, the flavor is not actually Grapple but just green apple - and the grapple is just a play on words as this is supposedly for the Fightin' Irish. Just to drive the point home, they have their version fo the Notre Dame mascot on here, only using their little Whoopass mascot drawing fisticuffs.

On the plus side they do a great job listing all their ingredients, double facing the can and making everything nice and pretty. Other amusements are aplenty, including the caffeine warning which states "Not recommended for children, pregnant or nursing women, those sensitive to caffeine, or leprechauns".

Taste:4
Surprisingly, I did not like it that much. I really wanted to, but something about it just struck an odd chord in me. I think the problem was that it was not sweet enough, and the sour of the green apple flavor just turned bitter and medicinal in my mouth. This ended up tasting much more acrid than I was expecting, and as I made my way through the can it tasted more and more cloying, and the energy ingredients were coming through.

I feel badly I have waited all this time to get to try Whoop Ass, and this is the first flavor from Jones that I tried. Grapple does not really taste like green apples, nor anything else, really, other than citric acid and chemicals. I kept drinking this in the hopes I would find something in here to enjoy, but the memories of what Whoop Ass used to taste like are way too strong for me to find a whole lot of joy finishing this can off.

Buzz:9
with caffeine from the lab, green tea and yerba mate, carnitine, l-arganine, Polyphenols, lysine and B-Complex there is no choice but to get a killer buzz from this. The caffeine is in here aplenty, clocking in at over 200mg for the whole can. while you might not fall in love with the flavor, you gotta love the rush of energy in here.

Of course, with all this sugar there is a mighty fine sugar rush going on here too. The 240 calories in the can and 52 grams of sugar gets you going, although you have to pay the price a couple hours later when the crash hits. If there was a diet grapple I would be on board, but that is just a little too heavy to have it as a regular Rocket Fizz purchase.

I think I'll just wait for that one day that I can pretend I have an ounce of Irish in me - after all it tastes a hell of a lot better than Bud dyed bright green.

Cowboy Up energy shot

2012-05-01T06:23:00.000-07:00

I am what most people would call city-folk. Yes, I do know which end of a cow to feed, but my experience with cowboy life was mainly done in day camps and small ranches around suburbia. I was about as far from the rural life as one could get until about college - when I moved to a small town and had regular run-ins with the Regular Folk. It was only after spending a while in a small ranching town in Colorado that moving livestock through main street did not give me a start, and finding gas stations selling bullets as well as handguns was commonplace.

Cowboy Up Energy was made for these people, the backbone of America. Unfortunately, while their energy drink is if nothing else original and unique, Cowboy Up energy shot is boring, plain and worth passing over. While there are a gazillion clones of 5 Hour Energy out there, the reason it really bothers me that they went for a unremarkable energy shot is because their Cowboy Up drink is one of the most original on the market today.

Packaging:4

It is pretty clear from the get-go that there was a problem with their energy shot. While their drink came in a brilliant metal bottle, Cowboy Up energy shot came in a very standard 2 ounce bottle - the kind you find on private label drinks and 5 Hour shots. There was a wrap around the shot - which was decent enough, although a little plain. It listed the basic ingredients you could find in any energy shot as well as a missing caffeine content.

I was really wanting more from Cowboy Up on this aspect, seeing how amazing their energy drink was. This packager would be passable for any other energy shot, but for a company which had such a standout energy drink package this was even more of a letdown.

Taste:4
I really expected something unique here too. While I did not particularly like Cowboy Up's flavor, no one can deny it was unlike any other energy drink flavor ever. Much like Lassi, the Indian yogurt drink or Boba Tea, it is either something you find irresistible or undrinkable. One thing for certain is that you would never taste anything with that flavor profile again.

Again, Cowboy Up energy shot is a disappointment. It tastes just like a 5 Hour energy knockoff too - down to the slightly sour slightly sweet yellowish orange liquid. For as unique as their drink was, this shot registers as just another me-too clone with their label slapped on.

Buzz:5
That pretty much sums it up - a clone in every way including the buzz factor. This has all the stuff your clone energy shot has with very little change in formula. Whether or not you feel anything from it depends on whether or not you feel anything from a 5 Hour energy shot. This will give you a couple hours energy, without really packing on the caffeine and other energy ingredients.

As I finished the sample it became clear that this probably was not their own unique product, but something they had made for them from a private label energy shot maker. The problem with that is that Cowboy Up deserves something better - something different. In a world of knock-offs and clones, the folk with the aluminum bottle and spur opener need something to remember for an energy shot - and this product certainly is not it.

Kick Ass Energy shot

2012-04-30T06:22:00.000-07:00

When it comes to heat in the kitchen, I am no slouch. Although I am not up to the heat standards that I have seen others reach, I love my curry Thai Hot, my horseradish raw, jalapeños in my Pho and my Green Chile about the hottest it gets. Anything below 10,000 on the scoville charts are usually fine with me.

I was pretty excited to see an energy shot done by a hot sauce company, Kick Ass , and hoped that they found a way to deliver the punch of a good spicy hot sauce only in energy shot form. This was a pretty tall order, even for a hot sauce company, but it seems like the marriage of heat and sweet shot might be heavenly.

Unfortunately, the company did not get back to my calls, messages or emails. For me to get a shot to sample was going to set me back at least five or six bucks, which seemed a lot to try. Fortunately, on an outing to Buffalo Bill's grave, my wife spotted a bottle of this along with som Kick Ass Butter Jalapeño Microwave popcorn. After that might, I knew if that shot was half as good as their popcorn, I was in for a real treat!

Packaging:8
So rather than go for the standard 2 ounce squat energy shot, they went for the taller variety, the one Monster, Venom, Rockstar and Red Bull used. Of course, the packaging is far superior to them, having one very pissed off donkey about to screw you over on it.My nightmares could be made up from the scary ass ready to do some major damage on whomever he is staring intently at.

Besides the pretty label, everything is very easy to read and make sense out of. The label is clean and clear, and they even go so far as to list the caffeine content on it as well!While they are not going to win any revolutionary product awards, this is a fantastic use of the long thin energy shot package.

Taste:10
This is almost worth the five dollars after all. On first smell, I was intrigued. It smelled spicy and very sweet - like jalapeño jelly. It was just a little more fruity than a straight jalapeño though - like they mixed cayenne with apples. I just could not wait to try it.

Therein lies the biggest problem - this is FAR too small a bottle for the deliciousness that was in here. This was one of the best energy shots I have tried - or at least in the top 5. It starts off spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. It reminded me of candied apples with a little heat to hold it together. The bottle was gone in no time - and I felt badly for not buying more than one of these when I had the chance. It is really that good - something you will not want to stop drinking.

I have a great way to make up for mot contacting me after my numerous attempts to get hold of you. Please come out with a bigger size packed full of this incredible flavor profile. I promise to drink my weight in your spicy deliciousness.

Buzz:6
As tasty as the shot was, they could have done a bit more to really kick the energy up a notch. There is a decent 100mg of caffeine in here, along with the usual vitamin B overload, ginseng, Coenzyme Q10, and some L-Glutamine.

The kick in here does not come from actual capsaicin (the stuff that makes peppers hot) but artificial ingredients. Capsaicin is responsible for thermogenic properties, and can be found in everything from weight loss products to workout drinks. You can use hot sauce to give all sorts of energy which is just not utilized here. While Kick Ass shot is a decent offering, I would have loved it more if it really tried to kick my ass in the energy department too.

You can find them mostly online at asskickin.com, or if you are ever visiting Buffalo Bill's grave in Golden Colorado you might be in luck.

Monster Protean Hybrid energy drink

2012-04-29T12:41:00.000-07:00

The combination of energy drink and protein drink seems like a perfect match - something to give energy, hydration and that bit of protein power you need to make a workout complete. The problem with mixing protein drinks with energy drinks is it is very seldom tastes good - and more than often ends up a chalky sour mess. Sometimes you can find a caffeinated protein gel or shot, but except for a few varieties, it is too easy to create a drink that is more functional than fun.

Monster Hybrid Protean falls into the trap - making a drink that is functionally complete, but is not terribly enjoyable to drink. Rather than follow in the footsteps of their smaller competitors, They tried to go it on their own and make for a sour drink in an obnoxious package. Which all the other protein energy drinks out there like the delicious Kronik, Boo Koo, Xapp and Protegy, there are certainly better choices.

Packaging: 6
I usually end up giving monster drinks around a 7 for packaging, because they never list caffeine and have an inane paragraph describing how whomever you are you are not Xtreme enough for this drink. Protean is even more obnoxious because of two things: firstly, it refuses to list their other workout supplements amounts, and secondly because protean is a stupid was to spell protein.

I really despise their obnoxious corporate 40 year olds trying to write hip messages that the kids-these-days find cool. It is not only offensive, but downright embarrassing. I would hate to be known as the marketing guy who had to think up copy like "After raging all night, our friends at the Vegas Rehab pool party are always looking fresh poolside the next day." So where is this vegas pool party? What the hell are they talking about? Are there Monster pool partys in vegas that need protein drinks? If I would be the copywriter for Monster this crap would push me over the edge.

On top of that, they have some great ingredients in here - but the lack of how much they actually add makes this drink useless. Yes, they do put a big 16g protein on the label, but they decide not to bother teling anyone how much quercetin carnitine, and of course caffeine there is in here. If you re serious about using this in your workout, you could seriously be under-dosing or overdosing yourself without having any idea.

Taste:3
Worse than the packaging is the awful flavor they decided to go with. Like all the other Rehabs, Protean is not-carbonated. However, the other flavors all tasted unique, while this just tastes like flat plain Monster energy drink. On first opening, it has the odor of some bad men's cologne or sickly sweet cleaning supply. This might be the extra pear and berry in here, but the profile is still a sour berry drink. On top of that flavor, they add the whey protein, which add a strong chalky milk flavor on top of the berry energy drink - creating something downright unpleasant. Imagine if Monter came out with their own yogurt flavor. This is about as close to that as you can get.

Buzz:8
There is a great amount of good things in here, like concentrated coconut water, Quercetin, L-Carnitine, ad the protein, plus the usual energy stuff too, like taurine, inositol, and B vitamins. On top of that, they add all the electrolytes to keep you hydrated.

That being said, for the gym this has some real problems. Firstly, even through they list caffeinated sources like yerba mate, guarana, caffeine, and black tea, there is not a whole lot of energy in here. I would say there is only around 160 - 180mg of caffeine, not enough to really power through a big workout.

The other big problem is the 100 calories in the can. This already tastes bad - so why bother with the 100 calories per can? Excess unused sugar equals fat - and not that useful in the gym. It would have been better if they just used sucralose throughout the drink so at least make it more useful for people that are actually wanting to drink this at the gym.

Hype Organic Energy Drink

2012-04-26T06:33:00.001-07:00

Although Hype energy drink has been around a very long time, I have always shied clear of it. I think it was the combination of the packaging and that you could only really find these on EBAY. It just looked like another me-too drink that would probably taste like Red Bull, profit in MLM schemes and be generally not worth it.

I could not be more wrong. Hype might have been some of those things in their eighteen year history, but it is certainly not any of those things now. People can find these in stores as well - especially if they live in other parts of the world. In the US, they are still small, but I can not see how something this fine has managed to stay under the radar for this long. Hype sent me a sample pack and I am blown away by the art and attention on the packaging. While the flavor is a clone, the happy ingredients and gorgeous package design make Hype Organic decent energy drink offering.

Packaging:9
The design on this can is far from boring - in fact it is one of the most visually striking cans I have seen. It is really beautiful -and works extremely well for a small 8 ounce can too. They list all their ingredients, get across the organic direction they are going for, and even manage to double face the can and list caffeine as well. While this is not a monumental breakthrough in package design, it is about as good as you can get for a standard small energy drink can.

Taste:6
This was the one area that I felt a bit let down. It did taste good, but not much better than a Monster flavor or any other clone. Mind you, this is still very good for a clone, but it has that same apple juice - bubblegum - citric acid flavor that is very standard fare for energy drinks. However, there are some small nuances with make this work a little better in my mouth that a Red Bull. Hype Organic has a bit more of an herbal flavor than other clones, although it is not bitter. It is a little sour - giving it a mild bite, but not enough that it messes with your tongue.

Buzz:6
While the buzz to be found in Hype Organic is about as standard as you can get, I really appreciate all the work that went into creating it with such unique and healthy ingredients. Everything in here is all certified organic, with the caffeine coming from guarana and tea extracts. There is quite a lot of Organic Aloe Vera juice and other happy natural ingredients too, which make me feel better about drinking it - even if it does not help boost my energy levels.]

You can find out more about Hype energy drinks here

Chocomallows Chocolate Energy Marshmallows

2012-04-25T13:07:00.001-07:00

When I as young, my dad used to buy these special toasted coconut covered marshmallows for passover. While I normally detest marshmallows, there was something very special about these yummy treats and looked forward to eating them every spring. For the most part, I find all marshmallows to be an offense to my mouth - something which should be tasty and end up a gooey blob in my mouth.

Part of why I really love the products Caffex make is that their marshmallows are taking something horrid and bringing it to a delicious gourmet level. The difference between a Stay-Puft mallow and a Caffex mallow is like the difference between a McDouble and In-N-Out Animal Style. Both fall under that category of burger - but they are definitely not the same food. Caffex takes the category of Mallow to a whole other level.

That was why I was so excited to try their latest offering, ChocoMallows, which add to their line of Coffee and Mocca Mallows I tried before. As the company grows, it is cool to see the changes they are making to their packaging and product - and every step has been a turn for the better. They moved to a smaller size and a bigger earth-friendly bag, pretty packaging and a new and unique chocolatey taste.

Packaging:10
While they do have their fancy shmancy clear plastic box with big 200mg brownie-sized chunks of ChocoMallows, they now also offer a bite size version of the same thing - in a cool resealable pouch too.I love the resealable 12 pack pouch - managing to keep things fresh and clean while still looking good. It looks like it is wrapped in some new no-paper-but-not-styrofoam sturdy pouch . They tout that this is not only GMO free, but Kosher too (regular marshmallows are in fact made of meat)

Not every time does a person need a big 200mg blast of energy - and a smaller coffee sized dose is really what is called for. That is why I love these new smaller half-size chunks of Chocomallow, and the stay-fresh pouch really works too. It is a very simple, elegant design, but it holds up well under pressure and keeps the mallows from getting crunched up during transport. The individual marshmallow packages are OK - but nothing that special. They are wrapped in cellophane, with a big slit in them for easy opening.

I do like the improvements made over the last time I saw there - there is a very clean and professional look about them, as well as a very big label of exactly how much caffeine there is in each snack - Nice Job!!

Buzz:10
I really like that Chocomallows are made out of vegetarian gelatin, as reagular marshmallows are full of gelatin, which is made from the bones, connective tissues, and hides of cows or pigs. Not that I have anything against eating things made from meat by-products, but for the Jewish, Islamic and Hindu caffeine fiends out there it is nice knowing that things are Kosher.

In terms of calories, it is a marshmallow - not a diet food. So it does not really matter that there are 50 calories in each little square - because the ingredients are completely normal things you could find at the store. There is no preservatives and things you can not pronounce in here - just sugar, water, egg whites, caramel, milk, caffeine, vanilla and cinnamon. I know - but I have a salt shaker full of caffeine powder - don't most of you?

As for the energy, they are just like the Coffeemallows. You can skip your morning jolt of java and just down two of these little squares instead - the buzz is really that consistant. If you are a three cup a day drinker, you can eat three of these for the same effect. Basically, it is a one-to-one ratio. You can measure out your dose perfectly now - and you really can not ask for more.

Taste: 10
This is the one area that trips people up - because not everyone is a marshmallow eater. I am not really much of one, and still am in love with these. However, if you are not the lind of person who would enjoy chomping on a Jet Puft, you might have a hard time with Chocomallows. This is like the Ben and Jerry's of marshmallows. No matter how good a Ben and Jerry's flavor is, it is still an ice cream. Chocomallows are the pinnacle of what a mallow could be, but still basically a soft squishy treat. This is about as close as you can get to a super-spongy brownie and not end up with goo.

The best thing about this is absolutely the texture. Some might find it a little off, but it is what I like the best. The bit starts of very soft, but as you compress your teeth down, it crunches like you took a mouthful of chocolate powder. There is absolutely no powder residue, but that crunch is definitely there. Adding to that are the little chocolate pieces sprinkled throughout, like little prises for your tongue as you chew. By the time you are don your mouth is completely infused with chocolate, with nary a caffeine bitterness. Even the aftertaste is one of lingering yummy chocolate.

If you are not really into marshmallows or chocolates or a strong caffeine buzz, this might not impress you like it has for me. However, if you are a chocolate and marshmallow caffeine fiend, there is possibly no better food on the face of the earth.

Stimumist energy nasal spray

2012-04-16T10:38:00.000-07:00

When I first heard about caffeinated nasal spray, I was a little take aback. I have tried caffeine in many forms - including shoving it up my nose with cffeinated snuff. However, I am new to the whole nasal spray product idea entirely, never even knowing such a thing existed until I got to review Turbo Snort.

A short time after, I was approached by a second caffeinated nasal spray product called Stimumist. FOr being the same kind of product, it is pretty interesting how the packaging and buzz differ so much from each other. It is nice to know that for those people that would rather get their buzz from something in a different orifice than the usual one, there are choices out there.

Packaging:8

The packaging does not look all that bad, but it certainly is not up to Turbo Mist standards. For one thing, the bottle itself is not nearly as cool. Not being familiar with the nasal spray category in general, I had no idea that this bottle is the standard for nasal sprays. I just knew that while turbo mist releases a fine mist with a controlled pump - coating the inside of my head with a cool spray of moisture, this stuff comes out like I am squirting water up my nose, which is exactly what I am doing.

The first couple times I tried Stimumist I gave a light pump on the bottle, and barely got anything up my nose at all. So of course I then went for the big pump, and had so much water sloshing around up there it came out the other nostril and kinda burned as it went down the back of my throat. WAAAAAY UNCOOL. After the 20th time or so I figured out the correct squish needed to get just the right amount of liquid up there without sloshing around and burning. Of course, as the bottle was running low I got it wrong a couple of times and ended up feeling like I just cleaned out my head with a neti-pot.

Turns out, the problem was my familiarity with nasal sprays. I headed to the store for a little more data and found that most nasal sprays are like this - which I just don't get. I have seen how they should be - where you get a prescribed dose and it makes you feel more like you are cleaning your brain than sogging up the skull, but Stimumist can not really be faulted for using the industry standard packaging.

Other than that - they did nicely. The design was cool - the dosage was clear, the caffeine was listed and it looks quite lovely. From the original look and feel I saw, this is miles and miles better - a real product I would expect to find in drug stores across America.

Buzz:6

What I found interesting is that for all the work that I put into Stimumist, I did not get the kind of buzz I think I deserved. If I was going to be brave enough to coat the inside of my skull with caffeine, I think i deserved a massive blast of energy. However, the result seemed a whole lot less powerful than that. Instead, it was a light pop of nearly immediate energy, and I really could not take a whole lot at a time either. After about 2 sprays in each nostril, I was good with that feeling for a while. It is not like it stung (except for when I washed my nasal cavities out with it accidentally), but there is only so much wetness my nose can take.

Now that being said, I am not really the user base for this product. I don't think many energy or coffee drinkers are going to give up their morning drink to squirt liquid up their nose instead. You can see just how much this product will get picked up by the general public as a common form of caffeine intake by seeing what happened when I tried using Stimumist on a crowded bus - I parted the sea of commuters like I was Moses.

This is more for people who already use a nasal spray, but want it with a kick. It turns out there are all kinds o nasal sprays out there, and people who live in extra dry climates and are not used to it, snuff users and nose bleeders regularly use nasal spray to get things more moisturized in there. I can totally get why those people would love it coming with a little energy too. I am sure for those moisture-deficient nostrils something like this would be a godsend. But we have entered allergy season, and I am blowing my nose constantly for the next four months anyways, and the last thing I need is even more wetness up there. For the most part, I think personally I will stick to caffeine in other orifices instead.

Death Wish ground coffee

2012-04-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

I came upon Death Wish coffee through another product, one I stumbled upon and have instantly fallen in love with. Not since the invention of Thomas Dolby's mind has there been such a good combination between the creative and the scientific. While in Dolby's case the result was musical, at the Funranium Labs, the result is highly caffeinated. While I am working at trying to get to try some Black Blood of the Earth for a review, I was sent some of the coffee he uses to produce some of the World's most dangerous coffee product. To create this, he used some of Death Wish Coffee in hi desire to produce the strongest and most intense and drinkable coffee in the world.

To explain Death Wish coffee properly, I need to relate a story that happened to me many years ago on a trip to Denmark. I went there alone at 18, and got to wander the street of Copenhagen all by myself. Seeing as I was given all this freedom and personal responsibility, I thought I should do what any 18-year-old American would do and try to buy some alcohol.

Fortunately, it was legal for 18-year-olds to buy and consume beer there, so I proceeded to ask the guy in the liquor store for a very dark beer. Not speaking any English - he mistook the word dark for strong, and rather than knocking back 3 or 4 healthy thick Ølfabrikken Porter's, I found myself drinking Elephant Beer, the 9% alcohol Danish equivalent to Mickey's Malt Liquor. Instead of exploring new and unique cultures sipping a spicy intense mature beer, my first legal drinking experience had me blundering around downtown Copenhagen on a quest to find salted pretzels and trying not to look like the dumbass teenage tourist I am sure I was.

Basic truth; dark and rich very rarely equals powerful and strong.

Exactly the same thing happens with coffee - only probably without the salty snacks. You know that amazing delicious full bodied Italian roasted Americano you love that much? Good luck getting a buzz from it. Most of that really strong coffee has had all that sweet sweet caffeine roasted out of it. It is a pretty well known fact that your Arabica Fair trade organic Whole Foods coffee has much less caffeine content than that barely drinkable swill you can find at your local truck stop, which for all it's nastiness is just packed chock full of energy. The cheap Robusta coffee they use to cut Folgers and other blends to make them cheaper is way more caffeinated - even through they taste bitter and chalky. If you want a really tasty cup of coffee that also has some power behind it - you are in for a hard time.

That is unless you turn to a product like Death Wish Coffee. Unlike Revv Coffee or others that boost their caffeine content by adding guarana or other external caffeinated substances to their coffee, Death Wish Coffee purports to have found a coffee bean with close to 200% the amount of caffeine as your typical coffee shop coffee. They roast it to a medium-dark for a strong and robust flavor and then sell it in ground bags. The result is a very good, lightly acidic very very perky coffee that you don't have to even give up your conscience to buy. Their coffee is still Fair Trade and Organic and all that, but actually gets you wired like a Big Gulp cup sized Farmers Brothers coffee would give you. I heard that they do sell the full bean variety too, but mine were all ready to dump in the coffeepot on arrival.

The bag itself is pretty amusing, a giant black container with a Death Wish sticker showing a skull and crossbones are on the front, the top and the back too. The one on the bag informs the drinker that "you probably can't handle it's flavor and intensity." Even with the misuse of the word "its", the back of the package is both a great warning and terribly amusing too. While this is not as sophisticated as a bag of Shock Coffee, it is loads more mature than Meth coffee - both ground coffees with extra power in them.

As for the flavor, I can say that the roaster definitely knows their trade. This is a phenomenal rich dark coffee - and though I usually prefer lighter roasts, this is a great dark and very silky flavor - not even getting glose to the burnt bitter flavor of many darker roast coffees. There is also the fact that this is Organic coffee, which really ends up tasting better - smoother. Also being Fair Trade is just easy on the conscience, but Organic coffee actually tastes better. Death Wish has a sweetness and much less bitterness than you normally find in a coffee this dark. It has the nuttines of a much lighter coffee, and does not have the oiliness of a dark coffee either.

I have an idea how they did this - but it is just an hypothesis. I don't think Robusta coffees necessarily have to be bad. What if someone found a way to grow a Robusta blend that actually tasted good?Truthfully, I have no earthly idea how they managed to accomplish this - but it works - really really works. I feel all sorts of sad that the bag is gone and I have to go back to my boring Sunflower Market coffee now, or spend the expense for more of the good stuff, although Death Wish daily can get a bit pricey.

Packaging:9 Taste:10 Buzz:10

Street King Orange Mango energy shot

2012-04-07T09:02:00.005-07:00

I like the idea of my expensive caffeine habit going to a good cause. If I am already spending three bucks on a caffeine fix, the least I could do is pick something that makes the world a better place - or at least a little less evil. Of course, sometimes I have to choose between the evils - like choosing to shop at a Wal-Mart if they donate a portion of the sale to a good cause.This is my Problem with Street King energy shot. I am all for giving to a good cause - but when you donate such a small portion of your proceeds to your cause and have that be central to your business, it makes me question the motivation behind it. Sometimes, giving a little of your proceeds to a charity is more good or the business than good for the charity.

Mind you, donating a portion of your proceeds to a charity is a staple of energy drinks and shots. Whether you are talking of Jimi Hendrix or Bob Marley non-profits, Breast and other cancers, along with supporting the troops, the environment and the Rainforst. Some even give to firefighters and servicemen. However, there was none of these that went the route of feeding starving children in Third World countries until Street King. He gives through a great organization, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) I love the WFP and encourage anyone with 5 minutes of time to check out Freerice.com to help out a little. However, 50 Cent is giving back such a little portion of sales and promoting his drink on that charity for sales - it just feels like someone is being taken advantage of.

With the grape flavor - at least I felt like it did not matter to the shot - because it tasted so amazing that I would buy it irregardless of the marketing. With this Orange Mango flavor, I was really not as impressed.

Packaging:7 Buzz:5
Like the grape flavor, the packaging is just amazing. The black, gold and orange are a brilliant combination, and the shot just pops out from the shelf. However, the refusal to list caffeine is a real bummer.

As for the energy, This is just about what you would expect from any energy shot with the same ingredients, more or less. The ginko biloba is a nice touch, something to help focus your mind as well as give you some energy, but there is not nearly enough. Basically, this is a caffeine and vitamin B shot - missing the other energy stuff like amino acids, simple processed sugars and other energy ingredients like ginseng and taurine.

This is more or less like the Grape Flavor I already reviewed, except of course in taste. Rather than just repeat myself, you can read my feelings on his packaging and Buzz by going here.

Taste:8
My problem with Street King's Orange Mango flavor is there is just no way it could live up to the deliciousness of their grape flavor. The grape was one of the best things I have ever put into my mouth. Unfortunately, the Orange Mango just can not live up to that standard. It is OK, but it tastes a bit more harsh and very herbal. When served very cold - it is still quite yummy, but if you drink it room temperature, the natural quality of the drink's flavor just can not stand up to the ingredients, leaving this shot more like a vitamin than anything else.

Mind you, this still tastes better than 80% of the shots on the market today. Street King's flavor is still more palatable than what you could find in 5 hour, Works, or all the more popular flavors. However, it still does not taste good enough for a person to consume on flavor alone. If I were not in love with the grape flavor, I am not sure this would have such a high standard to live up to, but the fact that the grape set the bar so high made this not as stellar as it could have been.

For buzz, this is not as powerful as many of the energy shots out there. On taste alone, I would skip the Orange Mango and go for the amazing grape flavor, but if you really want to help out the world and provide a meal for a child in need, rather than give to a one of the richest multi-millionare hip-hop artists on the planet, check out all the other ways you can make a difference here.

Update: Please be aware that Street King's marketing firm has more than likely launched a campaign to blanket all their shot reviews with paid endorsements in comments. Please take all comments left on their shot with a couple grains of... rice.

Rocket Fizz Rocket Fuel Energy Drink

2012-04-05T11:27:00.001-07:00

I have a very hard time with going into the Rocket Fizz soda shop downtown. The problem is that no matter how much I go into it with the idea of just grabbing a Chick-o-stick and a Root Beer, I end up with 30 dollars worth of retro colas, european candy bars and craft brewed ginger ales.

Rocket Fizz has their own line of sodas too, although more often then not they are bizarre flavored sodas that taste like corn or hot wings or peanut better and jelly. While they do have a couple Rocket Fizz normal flavors, when you are surrounded by more interesting flavors and colors than a Jelly Belly gift bag, it is more tempting to grab a gingerbread flavor than a plain ol' root beer.

Surprisingly, there is only one caffeinated energy drink, and they do not list the caffeine content or much about it at all, except it comes in an electrifying blue color, tastes delicious and gives a short roller coaster of ride of energy.

Packaging:4
This is a pretty run of the mill package for Rocket Fizz, which is actually surprising, and disappointing too. They are surrounded by bottled drinks - making their entire business from th packaging and selling of unique drinks. They have a number of drink brands too - but their basic "Rocket Fizz" line looks very cutesy and childish.

On top of that, they do not list any information as to how much caffeine there is in here - something very important to energy drinkers. You can easily tell that this was not a specific energy drink made by Rocket Fizz, as much as it is just another in a long line of flavors Rocket Fizz turns out. For a company which whole business model is about bottled sodas, I really would expect better.

Taste:8
At least they did not go for the bland generic energy drink flavor, instead opting for something more original. Rocket Fuel does taste good - like melted Skittles. I like the basic wild berry flavor, and did not mind at all that it is not a natural flavor. After all, this drink is a shocking windshield-wiper blue, something you just can not find in the natural world.

There is no trace of anything chemical in here - just yummy soda. It is a very heavy mixture, mainly due to the high sugar content and light carbonation. While it is pretty enjoyable, I don't know i it could possibly stand up to all the other delicious caffeinated choices the store has to offer.

Buzz:7
There is a buzz to be found if you slam the 12 ounce bottle, but it is short sweet and a little painful. While I have no idea how much caffeine there is in here (Rocket Fizz HQ never called back with the amount, and the local store had no clue), there is a significant amount to leave me buzzing aroudn the office for a good two hours. After that, there was the inevitable crash from all that heaviness, but I expected it and was ready with more caffeine to counteract.

Health-wise, you can forget about it. Like all good candy-like sodas, this is all about the flavor. There is 160 calories in a bottle of Rocket Fuel, along with preservatives and artificial colors. There is a little vitamin C in here too, along with your daily Vitamin B12 and Niacin vitamins. It certainly did not need any help from the removal of the other usual energy drink ingredients, like ginseng or taurine. The sugar and caffeine was enough to definitely get my buzz going.

Knockout Low Carb Energy Drink

2012-04-03T19:29:00.003-07:00

For value, not to mention real street cred, one of the top energy drinks around has to be Knockout Energy. Not only do they provide uncompromising flavor and a decent buzz, they are also fun to carry around in concerts and places people care about what you are drinking. I would pick no other drink for walking around a punk / ska show - as it seems to provide the correct amount of machismo when hanging around grungy messed-up punks. Nothing says "Bring it on even though I am twenty years older than you but I am sure I could still kick your ass if I was not celebrating my daughter's birthday party concert" like a drink called Knockout that has brass knuckles on the front of the can.

I know some people say punk is dead. Those same people say ska is dead. Those people also have no idea what is happening around them, at least according to my 10 year old daughter. She just celebrated her birthday party by taking her and some friends to her favorite band, an incredible post-punk ska band performing at a DIY underground concert venue. She screamed, she moshed - she got hugs from all the bands playing that night. As a special awesome surprise, The headliners dragged her on stage and played Happy Birthday, with tears of joy running down her face. As her father, it was my duty to keep up in the pit with kids 20 years younger than me who did not have a fever and allergies going too. As the song goes, "Here I am, getting older all the time, looking older all the time, feeling younger in my mind" Fortunately, me and two cans of Knockout Low Carb saw me through her birthday night - through the concert, and even into the late-night early morning birthday piñata destruction afterwards.

Packaging:8
This is roughly the same design as the Fruit Punch flavor, which means it has a kick-your-ass fist with with a slightly goth edge. The only real difference is that this one is blue and features a splenda logo on it. It has that $1.00 starburst printed on the top corner of the can, brass knuckles and they helpfully label the caffeine content, wisely killed the asinine paragraph about how this would knock you out with energy or something dumb. It is even Kosher as well. With enough well placed holes (hey - I am 20 years older than anyone at the concert- I know how to cheat head crush a can), it can even be head crushed to show just how seriously hardcore you are.

Taste:9
Knockout Low Carb could have gone the safe route and just made a clone of Red Bull or Monster. Instead this highly carbonated green concoction went for something better. Knockout went for their own unique flavor, though it is based in what you would expect from a light energy drink. This is still riffing off of the normal energy-drink-clone flavor, but this is much lighter and more refreshing to drink than most clones would. This is a little sour and a little sweet, with a very enjoyable smell and an even more enjoyable aftertaste. I was able to have the first one cold, but seeing as the Blast-o-Mat concert venue is dry (no alcohol allowed), the second one had to be drunk warm - although it was still pretty tasty. It is all too easy to finish one can off and start craving a second right after.

Buzz:7
Like the Fruit Punch flavor, this has 160mg of caffeine, the same amount as you will find in a Red Bull or Monster. The thing that makes this extra good is that is is low carb and high carbonation, so you can let out those big burps as you shotgun the can down to show those youngsters that just because you might be twice their age, you could still hang in the pit. My older buddy and I managed to keep my youngster and her friends safe in the front row, even after rounds moshing, skanking and having hoards of angry sweaty teens smashed into us with every hard refrain from the Wall of Horns. It helps that I pounded two of these during the five-band six-hour set - but the lack of calories and the excess of caffeine kept me rocking all night, and barely feeling all the bruises I would most likely find in the morning.

Punk might have started as a way to sell trousers, but watching 100 screaming sweaty and slightly bloodied mohawk and nipple pierced assholes screaming the happy birthday song to my daughter - priceless.

Goji Grape Unwind Ultimate Relaxation drink

2012-04-01T15:12:00.000-07:00

I have had quite a lot of stressful happening in my life recently. A change in jobs and scenery and life, coupled with trying to throw together a trip, an epic party at my kid's school and a bar mitzvah have left me feeling a bit frazzled at night. This of course leads to caffeine during the wrong times of the day, and crazy non-sleeeping hours in the middle of the night.

This also led to me thinking it was a good idea to drink an Unwind right in the middle of a hectic day - thinking it would help me get a bit more relaxed. I mainly opened this because I felt like something tasty while balancing out the new Deathwish Coffee I had jolting through my system. I was feeling a little too buzzy and wanted something to just put my mellow on. Instead, I found myself taking a drooling nap in the middle of my living room floor with my children literally jumping upon my prone body.

Packaging:7
Much like the grovy orange Unwind, this is a very minimalist design - just a big circle and gradient purple like some album cover by Tangerine Dream. The text is lost in the gradient, making the "ultimate relaxation" text nearly invisible. The rest of the copy is decent, although by holding the can the other direction, it spells out Puimun, The name of an amazing fantasy artist who does brilliant art at http://www.shadowscapes.com.

They did do a good job of listing ingredients - and I like it that they listed the amount of melatonin they used too, just so people can know when enough is enough. There also is no double facing of the can, so it is harder to face for convenience store workers to be sure the logo faces out. The can is very close to being very tight. If they just made that text pop a bit more and put their logo on the backside, this would be even more groovy.

Taste:10
While the valencia orange version of Unwind was good, the grape is even better. It is like a standard grape and berry drink - but it is deeper and complex than any normal soda you have encountered. It could be the extra tea ingredients or it could be the goji, but I found the taste of this nearly irresistible. Far past the point that I knew this was going to put me under I still could not stop drinking it. I had to be a little careful as it was slipping from my fingers as I was going under - but I did not want to waste a drop of this deliciousness.

I did not think they could top themselves with a grape flavor, a pretty standard flavor for relaxation drinks - but this grape is more earth and complex than the valencia flavor, which is really saying something. If it were not for the fact that it knocked me out faster than a me picking a fight with Manny Paquio I would drink this just for the hell of it all the time.

Buzz:10
I know this is called unwind, but it did a whole lot more than unwinding me and just sorta left me a pool of goo on the floor. By the end of the slim 12 ounce can, I ended up feeling like if I did not take a nap one was going to provided for me. For some reason, this hit me more than the other times I tried it - maybe because I am chronically sleep deprived. Either way, this completely knocked me on my ass for a good couple hours.

This was formulated with a whole lot of good and yummy things that are supposed to help you calm down - like Valerian root, rose hips, and passion flower. While these ingredients are nice and all, the real punch comes from 3mg of melatonin, a fantastic sleep aid that works wonders. 3mg of it is enough to cause a pretty serious crash in me, and is a little higher than the doses you see over the counter at a drugstore.

I can honestly say that the next time I am having a hard time shutting my brain off, turning to a can of Unwind will be a very welcome treat.

Amp Focus energy drink

2012-03-31T14:58:00.002-07:00

Pepsi's Amp line is in for a complete overhaul, and I think their new direction is right on the money. They are dropping their whole XTREME edge in favor of a more functional one - and I will bet they are gaining some fans in the process. For being a Pepsico drink, they did pretty well on their new look and feel.

The first flavor that I was able to get my hands on is their new Focus formula - which comes in a very pretty shiny can. The While this is not a huge stretch for Pepsi, I do appreciate the shift in focus and was pretty excited to give it a shot. I like the idea of an energy drink that not only gives you physical energy but mental focus as well.

Packaging:9
Everything from the logo to the theme has been re-imagined here. The little zoom-lines have been replaced with clear easy-to-read text letting you know what and when to take this particular supplement. I like the straightforward approach - with a very clear and concise can. The new design is very well suited to its purpose, and I appreciate it actually not reaching for the XTREME crowd.

Functionally, it works well too. There is a listing of caffeine as well as every other nutrient, double face the can, and even try to get their lid on straight. Everything is printed nicely and cleanly, and there is a lack of idiotic paragraphs explaining to the consumer how cool they are for buying this drink.

Taste:8
This is not the first Amp drink to have theanine in it - they tried it once before with their Elevate drink. Strangely, Elevate also had a berry flavor. This tastes almost exactly like the old elevate - giving off a distinct cranberry/grape taste. Like the old Elevate, I really liked this flavor, although it could get heavy and a bit syrupy when it gets warm. Truthfully, I just don't think bromated veggie oil has any place in sodas in general. I can always tell when it gets added, as the drink gets actually oily and flatter quickly too.
I am still happy that Amp went a different direction from the usual Monster/Red Bull clone and came out with a flavor that was a little off the mainstream. However, it could be made eve tastier if they lost the heavy thickness of the drink.

Buzz:6
Like many other energy drinks, this has the standard 160mg per serving. Even more strangely, it has almost verbatim the ingredients of the old Elevate. It has caffeine from both regular and Guarana, and 300mg Taurine, 34mg Ginseng, and the usual overdose B vitamins. The big difference is the addition of Choline to the mix. Truthfully, I could barely feel the caffeine in here, as the energy is quickly consumed and done with. Choline is a new one for me in energy drinks, and one which seems to be one of those cure-alls they use for everything from aging to cario-vascular health. I am not sure how much that will help an energy drink - but it is good to see in there in any case.

The only issue I have is with the lack of anything actually healthy in ehre. There is a ton of high fructose corn syrup, preservatives and artificial flavors in here - enough that I crashed pretty hard after my initial light rush. Still, for a brand change, they could have done a whole lot worse

Battery Hydro Energy Drink

2012-03-27T13:26:00.003-07:00

One of my favorite energy drink companies in the entire world is Battery Energy, and they know it. I am in love with the drinks, I am in love with the company, I am in love with their image - they can do little wrong in my eyes. It does not hurt that they spent over a year trying to finagle customs enough to send me a box of all their stuff, straight from their headquarters in Finland. But even through the sappiness that is bound to follow - there is a reason I love them - it is because they belong to a handful of energy drink companies who really get it - their fans - their product and what it is they do. Sometimes when there is a perfectly handcrafted set of products, these should be honored accordingly. I mean - they are the official sponsor of finnish metal bad Nightwish - who is also been around for 15 epic years.

The first of their newest products I am trying is their new energy + hydration drink, Hydro Battery. This is supposed to be used in the gym, to help with getting your body moving enough to go to the gym, stamina to make it through the workout and then recover when you are done. All this in a 13.5ounce bottle.

Packaging:9
Of course the biggest bummer here is that they had to give up on their battery-style packaging. It just is not right to e carrying around a workout drink in an aluminum can, so it makes sense that they moved to a water-bottle-shaped holder - although it is still sad. They did their best to dress it up though, having it be in a thick opaque black, rather than the usual colored translucent these usually come in.

Of course being directly from their headquarters means there is all sorts of fun writing on the package too! There is writing in 3 languages - none of them english. At least I think there are 3. MY favorite is the circle telling you that Pantti Panting this will save you 0,20 monetary units. I have no idea what that monetary unit is, or why it relates to something that sounds like college freshmen to to girls dorms as a prank. Unfortunately, it looks like it is just telling you to recycle, which is a letdown. It does, however, list caffeine content as well as all the other stuff - which I really do appreciate.

Taste:8
Battery comes out a caramel color brown - which was expected, although a bit plain. The odor of the liquid was nice enough - smelling of a tart Red Bull. The bigger question is if it could be taken while running on the treadmill, as most sports drinks turn out to be too glacky and ticky for really using at the gym.

Hydro isn't as lemony as their original flavor - but is still quite tart and refreshing. It reminds me most of a carbonated lemonhead, only the light carbonation helps get this down quicker. I easily sucked down the bottle - which was sad, in a way. I wish this came in a bigger container - just so I could enjoy more of it.

Buzz:9
Battery Hydro combines three functionalities in one product: energy, hydration and recovery. On the energy end this has a bunch of B and C vitamins and caffeine. Now they list this as having 32mg of caffeine per 100ml, and this is a 13.5 ounce container. Seeing that there are 3.38 ounces to 100ml, that means there is around 130mg of caffeine in this bottle, which is not too shabby. It is enough to help make you get to the gym if you are needing that extra push - and not so much that you are left jittering around the gym. Although this does not work as just a plain energy drink terribly well, for what it's function is, this gets the job done.

It also gets the job done on the hydration front too. I got to try two bottles of this out - and found that the recovery portion of this drink works like a dream. The magnesium in Battery Hydro is what helps to recover from workouts faster - and it really works like a dream. There is enough to completely rehydrate me after a good solid run. I had the other bottle during a big bout of sickness, when the only thing that sounds good is soup and gatorade. This stuff got me moving better than it really should have - as I spent the morning running errands and cleaning the house rather than napping and resting. It just made me feel normal again.

I love that Battery has stepped up to the plate with a workout drink - and something very worthy as well. Forget Angry Birds, Finland should find a way to have this drink be the hit social export for their country.

ICED Bhakti Chai Coffee drink

2012-03-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Since being able to experience CocoCafe Coconut Water Latte, I have been thinking about all the other cool flavors of coffee drinks that might work together. Bananas and coffee might be cool - and other fruity flavors lie Mango and cherry might work too. Actually, savory coffee drinks might be a surprise hit - like Clamato Juice. While I have yet to find a bacon coffee drink or beefy canned coffee, I did find Iced Bhakti Chai Coffee, a mix of black chai tea and coffee - for a very unique and surprisingly yummy combo.

Normally, tea and coffee makes for a bad mix, as the coffee is far too bitter and strong to handle being mixed into something subtle and delicate like tea. Chai tea is especially fragile. For those who have never experienced Chai tea, it is one of the few sincere simple pleasures on earth. How anyone could have found that perfect combo of ginger and sweet spices to create chai is beyond me, but they aught to have achieved sainthood. Bhakti Chai is surprisingly delicious by itself, so the thought of working it with a strong coffee is a pretty mouth watering idea.

"Bhakti means devotion through social action, so the company has been committed to social action through sustainable practices, purchasing only fair trade tea, and supporting local and international nonprofit organizations," says says Brook Eddy, founder and owner of the Boulder-based company. It is very very obvious this is a drink born in the Country of Boulder Colorado. As any good Boulder Colorado company does, they give a chunk of their profits to a charity, albeit ones which have nothing to do with Chai, the Global Fund for Women and Girls Education International. I guess giving to female charities is appealing to female chai drinkers than donating to Indian or Pakistan.

Packaging:3
There are all sorts of things wrong with this bottle - the biggest of which is that it comes from the Republic of Boulder. Often referred to as "25 square miles surrounded by reality", Boulder is known for being so far left that even even bleeding-heart liberals like myself find their rules ridiculous to the point of obnoxiousness. For example, on the package they actually tell you that this is "RE-Usable Bottle?" They go on to say this is Sustainable Packaging! Really? I should refill my dirty un-washable empty glass bottle with water? Craziness! Unless you are calling this re-usable because you are going to keep filling up my bottle with Chai, that is just over the top - making this the most annoying and downright offensive paragraph labels out there (and if you have ever read the back of a can of monster, it takes a lot to be more obnoxious). Well, coming from a place where they considered giving out tickets to bicycles for speeding, it is not much of a surprise.

Once you get past the label, the actual design and layout of the bottle does not make much sense. Did you know this drink is ICED? Well you should be cause ICED is the biggest boldest text on here - and this is packed with unnecessary text. Next to the words "Coffee Blend" it has a bizzarre bubble worded "Cold-Brewed Coffee Added" in case we missed the words Coffee Blend right next to it. They have a sticker telling you to remove the label and reuse, which is great if you like carrying around old water bottles with half peeled shredded labels on them. There is a Fair Trade and Colorado Proud label which is decent, but under the heading "Brewed in Boulder Colorado" it has in huge capital letters "GLUTEN FREE, DAIRY FREE, LOW-FAT,VEGAN" Now if you have ever heard of Boulder Colorado, you would not need to add this, because of course it is all those things! In the healthiest town in America, it would be surprising if it were not all those things.

One nice thing I did find, after examining the package for a good 20 minutes is an actual caffeine content listing! Of course it is the tiniest text on here and stuck on the side of the nutrition label, but seeing it there does make me feel a little less frustrated with the whole affair.

Taste:10
Truthfully, I had my reservations going into this. It was not made with any milk - like a god chai is, and instead uses Soy. Also, coffee and tea just do not play together - like lemon juice and milk. Coffee is just too rich and bitter and tea is just to nuanced and light to ever really work.

However, Bhakti Chai managed to pull it off very nicely. If you have ever had a real Chai (Tazo and Starbucks don't count) you will know the flavor here - a very zesty and almost peppery ginger flavor with heavy notes of cardamom and a little clove. This is a fully rounded chai - and the coffee only helps flesh the drink out. The balance of sweet and spicy and rich coffee is good enough that the whole soy/milk thing does not matter, and only the deliciousness of the blend matters. To accomplish this wonderwork, they use a cold-brew process for their coffee, like making a toddy, using Organic Fair Trade Peruvian coffee. By cold-brewing, the fresh coffee is 70% less acidic and far less bitter than hot-brewed coffee. They then mix that with their own chai recipe for something truly special.

Buzz:7
Bhakti Chai gives a couple different kids of buzz. Firstly, there is the buzz of a cold happy drink in your tummy -one that leaves a bit of zing on your throat and makes you smile. I know this is not about the caffeine, but like downing a big shot of spirulina, something about this Chai just made me feel all cool and fuzzy inside.

On top of that is the caffeine content - showing up with a decent 84mg in the 16 ounce bottle. For a tea based drink that ain't too shabby. This s still not anywhere near coffee-level caffeine amounts however. As a matter of fact, the Coffee only adds an additional 8mg of caffeine per bottle, leaving this about half as strong as an energy drink, and a third less than a comparable cup of the aforementioned Peruvian roast of coffee. The sugar rush in here was nice but very unexpected. If I did not care about all the calories in here I could easily see knocking back a couple of these a day.

Like many natural foods, jut because it is healthy does not mean it is nutritious. Eating a stick of butter made from non-GMO healthy organic cow's milk is just as bad as eating a stick of butter from any other milk. In this case, not skimping on the quality of ingredients is made up for in calorie count. There are 300 vegan gluten-free calories packed in this drink, more than what you would find in a comparable Starbucks, Bigelow or Adina bottled chai drinks. On top of that, this drink has 42 grams of Organic Evaporated Cane Juice (you know, the rest of the world calls that sugar), which comes down to about 10 teaspoons, or just a little more than your full daily allowance of added sugar.

The rush is minor but there is enough caffeine and sugar to make it worthy for an afternoon pick me up when you need a little sunshine in your life. Sure, this drink might be heavy enough to enjoy as a only-sometimes treat and you might have to pour it into a glass to get away from the obnoxious packaging, but Iced Bhakti Chai Coffee is amazingly tasty, and one of the better coffee combos out there.

Pure Kyk Energy Powder

2012-03-24T00:54:00.002-07:00

Back when I was in college, during exam time I mixed together this horrid concoction of Diet Mountain Dew, No Doz and espresso. It wired me to all hell, but of course it was the nastiest thing ever invented. I chalk it up to youth, and the crazy education you get at a sleepy mountain liberal arts college.

Now two Purdue students did it right - coming up with a nice little powder that they could actually market and have their dom mates test for them. They were smart and actually did taste and kick tests out on their friends and it looks like it worked. A friend who tried my swill back twenty years ago still has a hard time drinking Diet Mountain Dew.

Pure Kyk is an energy powder that much like other energy mixes is supposed to be added to the liquid of your choice to caffeinated pretty much anything you choose. Pure Kyk is a small company trying to get their name and drink out to the masses,and does have one big difference than many of the other energy drink mixes out there - power. While most other energy drink mixes might tread lightly, Pure Kyk sends an impressive blast of caffeine and other energy stuff.

Packaging:6
As a potent drink mix goes, this is not bad design wise. This goes pretty XTREME and veers closely to edgy, but it is a near miss. I do like the color use and the fonts too. The problem is that the rest of the drink info is tiny enough to almost make unreadable.

One of the impossible things to do is to measure out a single serving from the pack. Written in incredibly small lettering on the package you can see that there are two servings in here, with the very impressive caffeine count listed as well. The biggest seller for Kyk is the kick, right? So why not proudly advertise it - and do away with the silly and impossible-to-measure second serving? There really should be a big callout - 300mg of caffeine is an impressive amount to have and it should be more prominent.

Taste:6
Like many powders, I don't take it very easy on the testing. The first test was to try this by itself - in powder form. I really don't recommend it. I caught how they added a bit of sweetness to try to cut the terribly harsh caffeine flavor, but it really did not work that well. This is NOT encaff - or any micro-encapsulated caffeine blend. You just can not have this without putting it in something. But, you need to put it in the right things too.

First I tried a pack in V8. Baaaadd Idea. Also, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, tap water, cold milk, IPA beer, black coffee and Black tea are very very bad ideas.

That being said, some places this worked very nicely. OJ tasted fine. In Mountain Dew it turns the drink orange and tastes yummy. Same holds true for most clear sodas. It does not make Colas undrinkable - but it gets close. It is almost flavorless in a Manhattan, Frozen Margarita or spaghetti and meatballs.

Basically, if the flavor is strong and sweet, Pure Kyk works like a dream. It certainly alters the flavor, but it does not turn bad unless the flavor can not stand getting a bit more chalky and sour. Be careful for the foam it ends to leave on the top of your drink - and be sure it mixes well as well. This is not the best at blending in.

Buzz:10
What more could you possibly want in an energy packet? This is jam packed with 300mg caffeine, B12, Tyrosine, Taurine, Guarana, and a little Yohimbine (it is easy to overdo it on the yohimbine - makes me shake). On top of this, there are no calories, carbs, or sugar. I dont know what else needs to be said for this amazing powerhouse of a powder. This will wire you and for a long time. WEE!

Rockstar Iced energy tea

2012-03-20T13:56:00.001-07:00

Rockstar energy very rarely does their drinks half-assed. They are usually right on the money or they fall on their face. Rockstar Iced is one of those drinks that just hit the nail on the head; great packaging, fantastic flavor and a lovely kick that keeps you going for as long as you need it. With all of the new flavors of Rockstar that are churning out it might be hard to keep up - but out of the pack this one stands a clear winner.

Packaging:9

The gold and white can leaps out in front of the other cans in the energy drink case - screaming for your attention. Of course some might call this gaudy, but in the face of an energy-drink population, being a little excessive it forgivable. The can color is brass - which on black and white pops out more than if they used a shiny gold like many drinks in the past. If you look closely at the can you can see the exceptionally close attention to detail they put into the can and the quality of the printing job. The Rockstar logo is in a slightly different metal shininess which gives the entire drink can a slight distressed and mottled look, while the white lettering of their logo and the ICED wording have sparkles embedded which gleam in the sun. All in all, this is a terribly impressive label.

On top of that, it is funtional too. They call out all the drinks function (energy + tea + Hydration), the benefit (Only 10 calories, hydrating) and the nutrition and caffeine content without resorting to asinine buzzword heavy paragraphs telling you how XTREME it is. All this while being very easy to read and double facing the design too, this is about as good an energy drink can could get and still be in aluminum.

Taste: 9

I knew from the start what type of drink I was getting into from the can - a non-carbonated tea based tea flavored low calorie drink. What I was not expecting was for it to actually taste juicy. This mentioned a peach flavor, but there was a texture in here and a real sweetness I did not think was possible with using only inositol and sucralose.

The lightness of the flavor and the chill gave me a flashback to those summer months I spent knocking back Arizona peach teas like they we going contraband. The 16 ounce can easily slid down my throat as the can was emptied in about four gulps. If It was not as cold as it was I might have managed to suck down the entire can in one go - it was just that smooth and delicious. I am just glad this does not come in gallon-jug size

Buzz:9

The power of a Rockstar is always unpredictable. They have real powerhouses in their arsenal, but just as usual they wimp out and go for a less powerful blend. Fortunately, Rockstar Iced is no slouch. There is 240mg of caffeine in here, as well as a host of other energy ingredients. There is the usual B vitamin overload, 2 grams of taurine, as well as Ginseng and carnitine too.

What makes this really stand out is they packed electrolytes in here too - so it will actually quench thirsts as warmer months set in. While I doubt this reaches Gatorade style amounts of re-hydration, it still provides more rejuvenation than your average energy drink can.

I drank this on a particularly hard day - one where my sleep was interrupted and I needed a constant caffeine dose to get me throuht he day - and this powered me for a good 4 hours before sliding off to sleep. More than anything else, I think it will be a challenge to not over-caffeinated myself as I could easily drink two or three of these beauties off in a day.

Samba 99 energy bar

2012-03-19T06:58:00.002-07:00

Samba 99 is one of the more unique energy products I have seen. I have tried energy bars before, but this is the first one I have had that was basically energized pulp. If you are god with dried fruits, then you might just be a fan of Samba 99. From the start this product stands out from any others on the shelf, coming in a Toblerone-esque box. You open the box, and slide out the pulp, open the plastic casing and dig right in.

Packaging:4
Firstly, there is the name - Samba99. There are 3 different flavors of Samba99, and only one of them is caffeinated. None of them have anything at all to do with dancing the samba, except of course that the Samba is a brazilian dance and the snack is full of brazilian fruits. The owner mentioned that he went for this marketing scheme because he wanted the fruit bar to appeal to women as much as men. Well, I am not sure how much sticking hot bikini-clad babes is going to be appealing to women - unless they are insecure or lesbians. However, the same marketing tactic seems to work for perfume and jeans ads so maybe I just don't understand how advertising works.

According to their literature and website, this bar was supposed to be themed on Capoiera, a brazilian martial art/dance. Capoiera has had a rich cultural heritage since playing ( they call sparring matches playing) has become legalized (Capoiera was created by African salves in Brazil, and was forbidden to practice or learn about) a number of years ago, but is not really made for the Sarah Michelle Gellar types on the front of this package. Check out an example of some people playing Capoiera to see just how out of place the boxing badass girl is to the scene. The Buffy-the-Vampire-Slayer looking hottie was on the inside of the box as well as a "collectable photo" which is downright goofy. No one would want to collect a photo of a girl with lines and packaging marks on it even if they did find her cute.

The other big problem I saw is the lack of listing the caffeine added to the box. While there is listing of guarana, but that amount is completely useless. More useless are the slogans about how you will "really feel it", "Feel the Oomph" and such. This would have worked much better without the hot "babe of the month", addition of caffeine content and silly slogan.

Taste:7
This comes in a big gooey triangle - much like the outside of the box suggests. It unwraps from its plastic casing easy enough and reveals a very fruity scent, along with a big black glop of slightly squishy stuff. I could not help but be reminded of the Time Bandits scene where the boy is yelling to his parents who were holding a big chunk of black goo "Mom- Dad - Dont touch it! It's Evil!" In my case I did touch it, and it had the squishy firm texture of a super-hardened jelly. This triangular chunk of gummy pulp smelled and on first taste reminded me of an ultra thick Fruit Roll Up.

I can not be quite sure, but I think I liked it. The flavor is unique enough that I could not really get a grasp on whether or not I actually enjoyed it. This is not one of those snacks that you can pin down on the first try - and it kinda grows on you. The flavor itself is awesome, it is just the texture of biting into what amounts to a giant chewy gummy block that I am not sure of. I do think I would like to give it another try if I ever saw it - but I am not quite sure I am a fan yet either. The closest flavor I could come to in this would be prunes - or maybe figs. It has that earthy deep flavor that is not normally found in everyday fruits and berries.

Buzz:8
Theere is about 150mg of caffeine in here from the guarana pulp. I should have felt something from this, but on both occasions I felt no real boost. It could be because the body processes this slower than it would process a drink, or it could be that my tolerance levels have gone up this week. I should have felt more peppy - but I think I might need a higher dose. That being said, I DO think 150mg is a nice amount to have in here. I am not sure a higher boost of caffeine would help, plus it might start screwing with the cost. Don't expect a blast of energy from this though - more of a sustained and gradual lift over a couple hours than a rush over a short time.

In terms of nutrition, this absolutely rocks! This has very few ingredients, and all of them are soecial. The bar only contains organic Cacao pulp, organic Bacuri pulp, organic sugar, guarana, pectin and citric acid. While chocolate is made from the fermenting seeds of the cacao fruit, the pulp of the fruit is actually nothing like chocolate - it is yellow, slippery, and a bit less dense than an apple. The pulp gives this some fiber, as well as Vitamin C and Iron too.