5150 Energy Non-Flavoured Energy Mixer Review

A couple of days ago I got a package with a couple of bottles of 5150 Energy, which is a non-flavoured energy mixer. Think of this as liquid caffeine which you can add to regular drinks to turn them into energy drinks. I got a nice little FAQ sheet and one of the first things it said was "If You Drink It - You Can Add 5150 To It."

The 5150 bottle is actually very small, it is about half the size of what a regular energy shot is, yet it contains 500 mg of caffeine. I tried a little sip of it and, you guessed it, it is extremely bitter and has no flavour. This is why I decided to take my time writing this review, gather some non-caffeinated drinks, and drinks with very little caffeine, and try them with 5150. First on the list was Gatorade, but when I went to the local convenience store to get some, I picked up a couple of bottles of Powerade, because they were on sale. It is almost the same thing.

Powerade with 5150

The label on the back of 5150 recommends starting off by adding just 1 cap-full of the liquid caffeine to a drink. A cap-full should provide you with about 83 mg of caffeine, which is almost the equivalent of a regular Red Bull. To fully duplicate the Red Bull experience, I poured myself 250 mL of green Powerade and added a cap-full of 5150.

There was a slight change to the taste of Powerade, it became a little bitter. The sourness of the green flavour could not mask the added caffeine, but with another 100 mL of the Powerade, the good taste was restored.

I started to wake up and experience the effects of 5150 in about 20 minutes. The energy was clean and I was not experiencing any jitters, I even felt focused for about 10 minutes. But like with any other 250 mL energy drink, the effects of the caffeine lasted for about 1 - 1.5 hours. Well, this is of no concern to me, I had 417 mg of liquid caffeine left in the 5150 container, which meant it was time to add it to the next drink.
Try at least 350 mL of Powerade/Gatorade to 1 cap-full of 5150. That way there will be no change in the taste and there will be plenty of caffeine.

Coke with 5150

Once every couple of months I have this urge to go and get a box of Coke cans and drink them as fast as possible, usually within 2 days. Luckily, I had the urge the day the 5150 package arrived and I still have 4-5 cans left in the fridge. A can of Coke already has around 34 mg of caffeine so with a cap-full of 5150 that number goes up to around 117 mg, which is pretty solid.

There is so much sugar in the Coke that you cannot taste the 5150. The Coke tastes like a Coke, but now has an energy drink punch. The energy kick was better here, partly due to the sugar content, which gave me a fast sugar rush, which eventually morphed into a caffeine rush. There was a very mild case of jitters. The energy high lasted for about 1.5 - 2 hours and I experienced a mild crash, probably from the sugar.

Orange Juice with 5150

Next I poured a cap-full of 5150 into a 250 mL glass of Tropicana orange juice. There was a slight change in the aftertaste, which reminded me of having bitten into an orange seed. The bitterness remained for only a minute before disappearing and leaving just the orange juice aftertaste. There was absolutely no change to the actual orange taste due to its acidity and mild sweetness. The bitter aftertaste tone disappeared half way through the glass probably because I got used to it.

The energy boost from the orange juice worked the same way as the Powerade. It was clean and took about 20 minutes for me to start experiencing some of the effects.

Tea with 5150

I love tea, loose leaf tea that is. My favorite is Earl Gray Royale, which is sold under a few different names at different tea stores. The local one sells it under the Royale name. Essentially it is a blend of Assam, Ceylon and Nilgiri teas, which create a very intense combination that can cover pretty much any other flavour. The tea itself already has caffeine, but not as much as I would like it to. I usually have 2 or 3 cups of it to perk up.

I poured a cap-full and as expected I did not notice a change in the taste or the aftertaste. The combination of caffeine from tea and caffeine from 5150 resulted in a pleasant energy boost, which lasted for 1.5 - 2 hours with no crash.

Overall 5150 is a fantastic product that can add up to 500 mg of caffeine to any drink. Like they say - "If You Drink It - You Can Add 5150 To It." I only say up to 500 mg because this is how much caffeine each container has, but you can add as much as you have or want...

Medicinal Ingredients (for the entire container):

• Caffeine - 500 mg
• Vitamin B2 - 0.8 mg
• Niacin - 9.3 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 1.0 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 0.6 mg
• Pantothenic Acid - 14.6 mg
  

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: purified water, sorbitol glycerin, citric acid, sodium benzoate

Scores:
Cost - $17.99 for a 12 pack from the 5150 energy website
Taste - depends on what you add it to
Energy - 6/10 to 10/10...depending on how much you add

Overall - this could be anywhere from 1/20 to 20/20 depending on how much you use and what you add 5150 to. My favorite was the Powerade and with a large bottle I had, I could have easily added half the 5150 container for a very powerful kick