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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

In the huge field of energy shots, the sheer volume of different brands seem to be dwindling. Like the energy drink field a number of years ago, it is harder and harder to come out with a clone shot and still find your way onto the shelves of your local supermarket.

The only way to keep any shelf life is to have a completely different spin on your product than the other big names out there. If you taste medical and medicinal (5 hour energy), go for value (Stacker's 6 hour power) or extreme energy (Redline) you already have some stiff competition. Not only do you have to come up with a product that people want to spend a good deal of money on, but they need to feel like that small shot of liquid was worth the price.

Unfortunately, I am not sure Jacked Up energy shot really hs what it takes to make it stand out enough to last. The name of the product is great - and certainly explains what it is going to do to you. However, the bottle of it I found at my local 7-11 was stuck far in the back - and was old enough that the store did not even have the drink in their computer - not knowing how much to charge me. At least I got it for a Value price, but I am not sure this bodes well for the future of Jacked Up...

Packaging:5
Jacked Up comes in the standard 5 Hour energy 2 ounce bottle. There is no difference at all between this little wrapped bottle and the other dozens and dozens out there. It has a small opening on top so you have to sip your way through the drink, and you have to peel off their wrapper to get to the good stuff inside.

Functionally, there is no real problems, except for the listing of caffeine. The design is easy to read and printed very cleanly, but listing that this has the amount of caffeine equal to a cup of coffee is ridiculous! As coffee can have between 80-250mg of caffeine, there is a ton of wiggle room there. Listing the caffeine contents compared to any cup of any kind of coffee is just silly and makes no sense.

If they are trying to stand out from the rest of the shots out there, this package is really not the way to do it. I like it well enough, but there did not seem to be any compelling reason to try this over all the others sitting there, except for the fact that I had already tried all the others.

Taste:8
This smelled great - like a harsh and fakey cherry candy, and I could not wait to chill this whole thing down before taking a drink. While it did not say to refrigerate the bottle, it always tastes better when chilly. Very few energy shots taste better warm, and Jacked Up is no exception.

Jacked up tastes quite good - like a mouthful sour cherry medicine. It reminded me of a non-alcoholic Triaminic, and liked it! It tastes even better icy cold, and loses much of its herbal edge. I was shocked when I found that this liquid was clear - I expected from the strong cherry taste that the drink would be Hawaiian Punch looking.

This is a great reason why Jacked Up is different than many other shots - I would actually drink this one and enjoy it! I did not mind the small mouthed bottle opening at all, and quite enjoyed my time sipping through the bottle.

Buzz:5
While the energy in here is not bad, it is not blow you away crazy either. Jacked Up has just about the same amount of energy you can find in most other energy shots, fueled by the undisclosed amount of caffeine, Taurine, Glucuronolactone, Tyrosine, and Phenylalanine. There is the usual overdose of B vitamins, along with the standard 5-hour Energy Amino Acid Blend of Amylase, Protease, Lipase, Cellulase, and Lactase.

I did feel a nice boost from this - and did not get any jitters or crash, which is nice. However, I would not say I was particularly jacked up either. This had a moderate amount of energy in it, not enough that I would go rushing out to buy this over another energy shot out there that might be more or more value or a bit stronger.

While Jacked Up's cherry flavor was much better than most other energy shots I have had, I am not sure if just their yumminess of their blend is quite enough to pull their product out of the pack.

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.

I am always a bit confused by the idea of a non-caffeinated energy drink. Sure - such a thing is technically possible, but most other stimulant drugs are kinda illegal. This means that many decaf energy drinks try to fit all sorts of other herbs in their drinks to help stimulate your body. Black Bear energy is one of these drinks that try to overload your system by all sorts of other good things with the promise of giving you the boos you crave without the jitter and hum of caffeine.

Unfortunately it did not work. Fortunately, it was delicious enough that is made for a lovely natural sparking drink that was a pleasure to try out. Black Bear is a cute little plastic wrapped can of strawberry lemon yumminess, with the big selling point of over 500 times your body needs of Vitamin B-12. There is a whole lot I like with their drink, although there are the few missteps along the way.

Packaging:6
At first glance, Black Bear has a lot of interesting things going for it. THe logo is cool and prominent, and the whole look is quite clean and unique. I love the overall design and the call out for both being a local product (made in the mountains of Maine) an that there is no caffeine to be found in here. This can is very pretty, even if their logo of a purple bear face makes little sense to me (it took me a while to figure out that was even supposed to be a bear).

That being said, I wonder why thy went the cheaper route of having the bare aluminum shrink wrapped rather than actually printing on the can. The wrap certainly is cheaper, but it can get ripped up much easier, and when you get a small ding in the can, the wrap rips, and it no time you have a bare aluminum can in your hands. The only time I have really seen an energy drink that is shrink wrapped take itself seriously is Boston America's novelty energy drinks, like the kinds you find in Hot Topic and FYE. Black Bear looks great - it is just time to take it seriously, dump the plastic wrap and actually print it on the can itself.

Taste:9
This is where Black Bear shines, coming up with an original and delicious bend of strawberries, lemons and blueberries. This really tastes clean and fruity, without being overly sweet or candied. The initial odor is very pleasant, like a pink lemonade only with a slight herbal twinge.

Now for those who have not tried it before, Vitamin B is one of the most bitter vitamins you can have - more bitter than the flavor of caffeine or any of the other nutrients in energy drinks. This means that masking the Vitamin B is the most important part of an energy drinks' flavor, and this drink has more of it than most. Still, they managed to make it taste quite delicious!

Because there was no caffeine, I gave them to my kids to try out and report how they felt and what they thought of it. The first reports from all three kids is that it tasted great - although not mind-blowing. They would certainly have it again, but would prefer most sodas over the taste. I know I would prefer my kids drink this than most other sodas or even high - calorie juices that they seem to consume all summer long.

Buzz:3
Black Bear really tries to give a non-caffeinated buzz, packing all sorts of good things in here. Unfortunately, there is only so much one can do with Bitter Orange, ribose, carnitine, ginseng and Gotu Kola to get that edge. However, nutritionally they put some cool ingredients like Oolong tea and blueberry extract, all while being natural and low-calorie.

One of the more cool and interesting things with this drink is it does not contain cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup. Instead it uses a chemical known as trehalose. Trehalose is a natural substance, found in mushrooms like shiitake, some sea algae, and sunflower seeds, as well as shrimp and various insects. This new sugar substitute is popular in Japan, but just making its way here to the USA. This trehalose and added Xylitol help keep things sweet and tart, and keep the calorie content low as well. As for energy, Black Bear is staking its power claims on the amount of B-12 it has in it, just like 5 Hour energy does. When talking with people about energy products, it is very common for people to tell me in authoritative tones that their energy shot or drink or whatever works not because of the caffeine, but because of all the B Vitamins it has in it.

The truth of the matter is: B Vitamins Do Not Give You Energy. Not in the falling-asleep-needing-an-immediate-boost kind of way. Certainly it can not replace caffeine if you are a coffee or energy drinker - your body craves the caffeine goodness. Vitamin B12 is a super common vitamin found in everything from milk and eggs to cereals. So unless you only eat veggies and fruits, you already are getting enough Vitamin B12. While there are lots of places to explain the placebic effect of taking Vitamin B12, the Nutrition Diva does a great job of explaining the basics.

So what happens if you flood your body with this muh of Vitamin B12? Well, it certainly can not hurt you. A small bit of that 41,666 % of the RDA of it will get absorbed in your system, and the rest of it turns into some mightily nutrition heavy pee.

Unfortunately, there was absolutely no energy boost at all from Black Bear. Not even my kids - who are really prone to suggestion - felt any sort of immediate energy lift from drinking a can. However, the drink is very natural, and quite delicious too. While this might be a tasty enough drink for an anytime refresher, I would steer clear of this for late nights, long working sessions, times you need to keep your energy pumped up (like at the gym) or road trips.

Starbucks is back again with another attempt to confuse the public by coming out with non-coffee products. Like the smoothies and Starbucks Breakfast Sandwiches, in store offerings of ice cream and salads (not to mention CDs and other non-music items), Starbucks has been trying to be more-than-a-coffee store for a long time.

Now Starbucks produces canned drinks, and has for a for a very long time, but this is their first foray into a non-coffee energy drink. Sorta. They have jumped on the green coffee bandwagon that seems to be going around these days, which is where they use the unroasted coffee bean to get energy as well as other healthy things, without even getting that coffee flavor. So this is a coffee drink, but out by a coffee store, that really has nothing at all to do with drinking coffee.

Packaging:7
The Can is actually quite pretty, going far away from their usual coffee laden brownish cans and going for a crisp and bright look, using a very rich color scheme to try to attract the female side of the energy drink market. Truthfully, they look more like they are in the Functional Beverage category than the energy drink category, steering clear of things like energy slogans and not listing the caffeine (grrrr).

The other bits are functionally done well, like double facing the can, using the new calorie tab to show their heaviness, and printing very cleanly even on the bare can itself. I like the overall design a lot, just bummed that they did not list caffeine content.

Taste:7
The Strawberry Lemonade Refresher came out of the can a nice pleasing purple color, which is not really the color I would assume from a strawberry lemonade drink. I really like lemonade drinks, so I was pretty excited to give this one a go. While I was not let down by the can, I was not totally impressed either. It is a nice lemonade drink, but forgetful too. The strawberry was the first thing to hit my mouth, and it was a pleasing and light flavor, like a strawberry seltzer water. The lemon took over, and it had a little more bite than I was expecting. I am not sure if that was from the lemonade, or rom the other ingredients they had in here.

There really was nothing that stood out from this drink, other than the slight bitter harshness that came from the stevia. The lemon was kinda weak, and the drink felt very light and airy. It by no menas was bad, but it was not good enough to really stand out either.

Buzz:4
Nutritionally, they do have a good thing going. Refreshers uses stevia to get their sweet, a nice change from the usual sucralose/Ace-K concoction "light" drinks usually use. There are only 60 calories in a can, which is about half that of a similar soda. They use 25% juice in here, along with ginseng and B vitamins, although don't go expecting a big energy boost.

The problem is that they are only using green coffee for their caffeine. This means that the content of actual energy this can give you is quite low. As a matter of fact, the 40-55mg of caffeine in here is barely worth making it onto my reviews, barely clocking in on my Diet Mountain Dew scale (drinks have to have as much caffeine as a diet mountain dew to get reviewed, with a few exceptions...). There is more caffeine goodness to be found in your half-caff soy chai latte than you can find in a Refresher.
In other words, do not go around expecting to feel a big buzz from these cute little cans. Get them for the taste and the cool cache you get from holding one as you bounce from office meeting to office meeting, just don't expect it to be the thing keeping you from nodding off during the presentations.

I am not normally a tea drinker. I am a caffeine addict, and more than want, I NEED at least a hundred or so milligrams just to get going in the morning. Normally, that means a cup of coffee or two is all I am craving to get my brain in gear, but I need that or else... Unfortunately, the amount of caffeine found in a cup of tea means I gotta drink a whole hell of a lot of it to get the same buzz as a shot of some energy elixir or espresso, as there usually is about half the amount of caffeine in coffee as in tea. This all changed when I saw the Celestial Seasonings Fast Lane Black Tea. My tea drinking friends assured me this is supposed to give me the zing I desire, but be able to drink it in a pleasing and unique tea form instead.

I called Celestial Seasonings for a sample, but unfortunately they politely turned me down. The HR person informed me they dont give out samples, but they would be happy to direct me to a store to get some. Although, they would not be able to help me with this particular flavor as it had been discontinued. Bummer.

However, it was with great happiness I found new boxes on sale at my local supermarket, and bought myself a half dozen boxes to try out. I am really not a tea drinker, so I am not really one to go to great lengths about the flavor of coffee like I can with coffee flavors. To me, tea is usually what you drink when you have a cold or need a nap, not a drink to get you into gear in the morning. I know many people who enjoy a couple cups of tea first thing in the morning, and in fact people have been clamoring for this particular blend. I guess it used to be out, but then was discontinued. Thanks to people's outcry (there were even online petitions like the Bring Back Fast Lane Tea Petition), Celestial Seasonings brought brought it back into the marketplace.

Seeing as there was such a hubub made over extra caffeinated tea, I would be remiss to not give it a serious try. Rather than go for my morning coffee, I started decided to start every morning for two weeks with a big cup of their spicy black tea instead.

Packaging:9
I have just entered the corporate worksphere - enough that I can really relate to the artwork on this cover now. There is a Superhero - my guess from the emblem on his chest he is Captain Steep, the Tea Savior (or maybe that just stands for celestial seasonings). His superpower seems to be flying, and getting others to fly too as there is a man and woman in boring business attire blasting off. That does sum up my life at the moment - a whole lot of boring outfits and needing blastoff.

There are ll the other things about Celestial Seasonings that make it a tea you like buying. They have lots of info how they are saving the environment by not using tea strings or staples, how the box can save the trees and how just looking at the box in the right light will make you feel like taking up yoga and going vegan. But there is one even cooler thing they do that makes more impressed - they list their caffeine.

For a coffee drink to list caffeine is rare, but for a tea drink this is almost unheard of - especially in loose form! Truthfully, I loved learning I was going to get a bigger buzz from this than my office floor's nasty coffee. It was a breath of fresh air to know what I was putting into my body - even though the full recipe to making this tea is hidden.

Taste:8
It is a good thing that they listed the major spices they used in Fast Lane Tea. My taste buds are usually good enough to pick out a number of flavors, this blend of black tea from Indonesia is mixed with more flavors than a cup of chai. I definitely tasted the cinnamon, ginseng, licorice, and nutmeg (those were also the flavors listed in their ingredients), but then after that I have no idea. I just do not have enough of a sophisticated tea palate to pick out all the other flavors.

I can tell you it is delicious! Truth be told, one bag is nowhere near flavorful enough in my 16oz mug. No matter how much I let it steep, I need to use at least two bags to really be able to taste it. Also, I am a tea n00b, and can not drink it without loading it with sugar. If I was drinking coffee I would sneer at myself, only I don't know if tea people are just as much purists as coffee drinkers. What makes things even worse is my favorite thing to add into tea is Sweet and Low, the old time slightly sour sugar substitute that might or might not give you cancer, depending on whether or not you live in california.

All this strong spicy sweetness makes for a happy morning. It is a lot harder getting bummed out when you have such flavors around you - it is like being sad in a bakery during Christmas.

Buzz:9
I do not know of any other bagged tea there is that adds caffeine in it - let alone lists the caffeine content for you. I for one, really appreciate the buzz it gives me - and consistently gave me a bigger-that-coffee sized dose of energy when I was needing it most, like during the third consecutive droning meeting or when trying to finish my spreadsheets and paperworks... just writing that makes me sleepy.

There are some other yummy things in here, like ginseng of course the tea flavor ingredients, but the main star here is the 130mg of caffeine per cup. No worries - there is energy aplenty to be found in Fast Lane, and it tastes so much better than slamming down the work sludge over and over throughout the day. I am not sure if I would be picking this up over a cup of decent and real coffee, but I am definitely going to enjoy the rest of my supply.

This is the unfortunate review of an energy drink found in a very unfortunate area - doomed to failure with little promise. My son found a can of S Power energy drink for me in the back woods of Pine Ridge, South Dakota, one of the poorest and most destitute places in America. To those who's life's problems revolve around getting their tablet to sync to their new macs and deciding between a Smart Car or plunking down cash for a new 300cc Vespa, it would be impossible to imagine life in the Pine Ridge Rez, where you are lucky enough to afford running water or electricity.

When the annual income of the 28,000-40,000 resident population of Pine Ridge has a 80% unemployment rate, spending an extra two bucks on soda is pretty ridiculous.Especially, when there is good alcohol that could be spent instead. That is the one extravagance which the residents of Pine Ridge spend whatever money they do have, with an alcoholism rate higher than anywhere else in the country. Even theVice President of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Tom Poor Bear, (He has been trying to sue beer companies for selling to them), has been arrested recently for blood-alcohol content at .306, nearly quadruple the legal limit for driving. The poverty and hopelessness that runs so deep in this community, fueled by cheap beer and liquor have made the roads scary to drive on, .

A Pine Ridge convenience store is such a strange place to find a unique and obviously European drink. No one in Pine Ridge would buy this energy drink. The average yearly income for a resident of Pine Ridge is around 6-7 grand a year, which does not eave a lot of extra cash for cheap bad knock off energy drinks like S Power. My eldest son was on a trip for school fixing up a skate park in Pine Ridge, and during a break he managed to stop by one of these stores to find me this unique energy drink. This can of S Power is a real enigma - how did it get all the way out here? Not to mention, it did it well before the expiration date? Figuring the drink, the company that made it and even the advertising firm connected to it has long since gone out of business made things even more strange. In a place where living life is so hard (the life expectancy of the population is only about 50 years old, and the infant mortality rate is 5 times higher than the national average), finding this drink still fresh is quite odd.

Unfortunately, S Power is just another fatality of the area - a leftover that most people will never think about, promising much but delivering little.

Packaging: 8
The one thing S Power has going for it is it looks decent. Although I kept thinking the name for the drink was Spower, as all the letters blended together, it still looks nice sitting on the lonely shelves. A great designer named Maciej Rychlik did a decent job designing things, and made a can which conveys power and energy without overdoing it on the Xtremeness. The printing job on the can was pretty weak, and showed that S Power did not really have the cash to spend on a quality printing job.

The only things that seemed a little strange were the 5-hour energy silhouetted dudes being energetic (running, playing guitar, going to a meeting) and no double facing. However, the can is just a small 8oz drink, so there might not have been a whole lot of room.

One of the stranger things is from looking at the energy ingredients list, this is a European drink. There is a European nutrition label, and closer inspection uncovers the info that this drink is made in the EU someplace and brought over to the US by a firm in Chicago. The company making the drink, the importers and their respective websites have all gone - so it will just have to stay a mystery how it got all the way out there.

Taste: 4
This is boring bitter Red Bull clone, which I am sure will piss off the people who were in Pine Ridge drinking this. When you want an energy drink, it should taste like you expect it to - or better. Spending a couple bucks on a drink to have it just remind you that you did not get an actual Red Bull and are left with the flavor of Tylenol and crabapples is just sad. There is a lot of Citric acid in here, along with the usual flavors of herbs and B vitamins. I would chalk some of this to the date it was made or settling, but in both cases it does not look like it applies - this is just a clone - and not a terribly good one at that.

Buzz: 5
Coming from Europe, the buzz in S Power is the same as every other energy drink mandated by the European Union - just barely less that 80mg per 8 ounce can. Specifically, there is 32mg per serving, and they list 2.5 servings in a can. I understand the EU made the rules, but can you imagine just drinking 100ml of soda and having enough? That is just barely more than three ounces in a serving - which is ridiculous.

There is the regular energy drink stuff in here - a bit of taurine, inositol and the usual B vitamin mix too. The crazy thing is, if this was a super-value brand, I could see it working in a town where almost everyone is far below the poverty level. If this was under a buck, it might be a way to get your cold caffeine fix, but for a regular priced energy drink, I could see why these could sit on the shelf for a good couple years.

It does not really matter what kind of convention you end up in - from sexy ones in las Vegas to alcohol fueled beer conventions in Denver, It is hard to separate yourself at a convention from all the other hundreds of vendors out there. I I have been lucky enough to get to go to Drupalcon, a Big Ol' convention for web geeks who like to talk about open source technology and building websites that can change the world.

And I am not really exaggerating.

For those who aren't in the web universe, Drupal is a platform in which Web developers can make a blog-ish site for people quickly and easily - and it all can be downloaded and installed for free. There are a number of other platforms that do this too, but Drupal is the only one I know of where their user base loves to get together to party like rockstars ( I have seen some coders actually get asked for autographs), sing songs made about Drupal and bond under a giant iconic smiling logo. It is kinda cool and kinda scary - like at any moment, Dries Buytaert, the guy who's behind Drupal, is going to start handing out little dixie cups of grape Kool Aid to everyone, or at least create the contrib module for it (jimjones-7.x-1.0.tar.gz). But still, the conventions are cool and geeky fun, and a great way to connect and see what companies are out there pushing the Drupal message into the streets like Hare Krishnas on a quota.

One of these drupal web shops is Drupal Connect, a web development company that was marketing their wares on the floor of the convention center with one of my favorite bits of swag - a private label energy drink! Yes, I know Drupal Connect is not in the business of energy drinks, but they did go out and find a private label drink company to make this for them and get some killer swag for the Con. Between this and the cupcakes they made they were the stars of the show.

So coming from the standpoint that this is a drink made especially for one event, it is great indicator of the base level for most private label clone energy drink places. I have reviewed a couple of the standouts, like Drink Ink, but this one was just your off-the-shelf Red Bull clone formula - what you get most of the time when you go to a private label for a marketing energy drink. For those not in the know, private label energy drink companies create a great marketing tool - making drinks for all sorts of occasions, from conventions weddings to musc festivals. Basically, the client designs the label, send the template to the company, picks out a list of features including colors or flavors, and then they drum up a bunch of their energy drinks for the occasion. Boston America uses the idea for churning out their novelty energy drinks like Moes, Emily the Strange and Booty Sweat for Hot Topic - tossing on a new label as they see a market, but mostly a person would get these in a goodie bag or as a takeaway rather than something purchased at a grocery store. All in all, it is not a bad business idea, as I have covered when creating my own Possessed by Caffeine energy drink.

In terms of a company, Drupal Connect is a pretty cool web design firm, making and supporting some big clients switching to Drupal as their internet platform, like Sony Music Entertainment, GE , the New York Stock Exchange, and NBC. It is fair to say they probably aren't energy drink afficianados, but this is a pretty typical drink people get when they ask for this kind of marketing.

Packaging:5
In terms of packaging, Drupal Connect did a decent idea of printing up a nice label, although I would have appreciated the caffeine amount on the label too. Most companies do not force their clients to put the caffeine content on their drinks - like they force them to have a nutritional label. It they want to put the caffeine content on the can, they first have to ask the manufacturer how much is in there, and then they need to add it into their own artwork. You can imagine, this almost never is done - which does not make any sense.

How should Drupal Connect know that there was not going to be a caffeine listing on their energy drink? If they knew about the energy drink market a little more they could have hook_altered the display. By contacting the maintainer of the drink, they could have retrieved the data as to the correct caffeine content and apply it directly to the theme in its own block. This is not their business - but it is the business o f the private label energy drink manufacturer. They really should have had the caffeine amount on their template they as their clients to design on. Not having one just does not make any sense.

Mechanically, Drupal Connect did not really do a whole lot of research in to energy drink design. On the manufacturer's part, they did a decent job with the shrink wrap. It lasts a decent amount of time, and is well made enough to stand the rigors of late night drinking and coding sessions that happened all around downtown Denver. However, for the next time Drupal Connect, or anyone who is making energy drinks for a takeaway, here are some things to keep in mind.

Put your drink name on their twice - a big one on one side and a small one on the other. This ensures that even if your drink is facing weirdly in someone's hand or on a cafeteria table people could still see what it is from and get out their brand.
Put on your messaging. There should be enough room even on a small label to get what your slogan out. Something that tells people what you are and why everyone should get to know them
Put on your contact info. At least having your website would let people who seemed interested in your slogan would come to you if they had more information.

Taste:5
Drupal Connect is a straight on red bull clone, from the herbal odor when you pop open the can down to the slightly bitter and medicinal finish. This is not early a bad thing, as it is about the closest thing I have tasted to a real Red Bull in some time. As a matter of fact, I am not sure if I could taste the difference between this and a real Sugar Free Red Bull, Both have that slightly metallic edge coming from the herbs or the preservative, and like a tpl.php file it is a little pre-processed in the end.

It was kinda surprising they went with going for a mainstream flavor, as Drupal is anything but a clone. I am thinking if they got Four Kitchens involved they might have been able to theme a new flavor profile that was a bit more unique. When you get one of these as a takeaway they usually allow you to pick out different flavors or colors you would like it to be. It would have been extra need if this one came in deep Drupal blue or at least aquamarine .

Buzz:5

There was a bit of coffee occasionally served during the con, but it was a ways to the nearest Starbucks, and if you did manage to find a carafe of the Sysco provided coffee for the event, it was only slightly drinkable. I was elated that some company went the distance to give me what my body was craving. I drank two of these in short order and sat through a rousing presentation of "User eXperience for Open Source: how to galvanize a community" and tried to pay attention to learning about how to improve the user experience on building a website with Drupal without nodding off or daydreaming. I actually found this to be more interesting than I expected, and even felt a little like I could make a difference to the Drupal community and the universe at large by the end of it. I even stayed awake and energized through the whole hour long talk - and I think the energy drinks had quite a lot to do with that too.

The ingredients were printed in blue and tinymce enough that I had to git to a bright hub to read the dark label and check out the ingredients.

This had the basic energy stuff you would expect to find in a clone; taurine, b vitamins, d-glucurolactone and inositol. The one thing found that was a little strange is that it was made with aspartame to sweeten it, not the more usual sucralose/ace-k non calorie sweetener. While I do appreciate that they went with a non-caloric drink for this one, the choice of the drink manufacturer to go with something that is full of such controversy is a little strange.

Yes, as an energy drink Drupal Connect could have done a bit better. However, they were also the only ones considerate enough to provide the thing all developers crave in one form or another - sweet sweet caffeine - and for that I am very thankful.

Street King Orange Mango energy shot

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Hype Organic Energy Drink

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WhoopAss Grapple Energy drink

Kick Ass Energy shot

Monster Protean Hybrid energy drink

U Force energy shots

Sapporo Coffee Guzzling Milk - One Piece edition

Hype Enlite Energy drink

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Ubermonster Energy Drink

Jacked up Energy - Bar Gin Berry shot

Hydrive Berry Blast energy drink mix

Black Bear decaffeinated energy drink

Starbucks refreshers strawberry lemonade energy drink

Celestial Seasonings Fast Lane Energy Tea

S Power Energy drink

Drupal Connect Energy Drink