Barium Energy Powder Review

So this is the fourth and last energy powder from Harcos Labs that I have. What a shame, I should have bought some more because they are quite tough and portable.

Taste

The powder is dark grey/purple in color and has a cherry coke-like aroma. The taste is pretty awesome and packs a serious sour kick, which I completely love. This is the one thing that has been missing from the other energy powders, and this one has a ton of it. Sweet black cherry notes are noticeable underneath all the sourness, which carry through to the finish. The finish by far the best one of the bunch. It is very refreshing from the sourness and just a touch sweet and flavorful from the cherry notes. There is no artificial sweetener aftertaste, mostly because it has been well masked by the sourness.

It seems like the taste got better with each energy powder that I tried, because this is my favorite one with its high level of sourness, and a well done flavor base.

Energy

Like the other ones, there are 90 mg of caffeine in this one and the effects are similar. The sourness does give it a slight edge, because I was quickly woken up it.

Ingredients: sugar, dextrose, caffeine, malic acid, artificial flavors & colors

Scores:
Cost - $1.99 from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 9.5/10Energy - 6.9/10

Overall - 16.4/20...best one of the bunch. You have to try this one

Rockstar Recovery Energy Drink Orange Review

I have high expectations for this one following yesterday's review of Recovery Grape. I am already impressed with can design...though I should rather say the color choice, as the can design is about the same. The orange jumps out and does not look like a cheap like other orange flavoured beverages.

Taste

Just opening the can fills the space in front of my nose with a pleasant orange aroma that might just wake you up early in the morning. The taste, though...it is not bad, nor is it as good as I expected it to be. I was expecting something along the lines of HyDrive's Vitamin Formula, or even something like an orange Gatorade. Instead I got an above average orange taste with very little of complimentary flavours like tangerine. There is some citric acid, which adds a bit of sourness to the taste and gives the aftertaste a refreshing character. The aftertaste, like other Recovery flavours, is affected by the artificial sweetener.

The problem, I believe, is that it is easy to make an orange flavoured drink, but it is very hard to make a great tasting orange flavoured drink. I have had a great number of orange drinks, both caffeinated and non-caffeinated, and only a handful come close to the taste of the real thing.

Don't get me wrong, this tastes great and its non-carbonated nature makes it a great morning drink that will wake you up with its caffeine and orange taste, but I wanted more. If there was more of a tangerine flavour and just a touch more citric acid, this drink will be excellent.

Energy

The can contains the standard 160 mg of caffeine and the drink works in a manner similar to the grape Recovery drink I had yesterday.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99
Taste - 8.4/10
Energy - 7.9/10

Overall - 16.3/20...great, but could have been awesome with a little more work

Rockstar Recovery Energy Drink Grape Review

Canada may not yet have the latest Rockstar Pink and 2X, but we sure did get the new Recovery flavours. I picked up the Grape and Orange flavours on the weekend and the only thing left to do is find the time to sit down and review them.

Taste

You may already know that, but Rockstar Recovery are non-carbonated energy drinks. I like non-carbonated beverages because I am able to consume them quickly without having to pause to burp. The grape flavour is no different. It is non-carbonated and very, very easy to drink. Even though there are only 20 calories in the can, the grape flavour is very strong from the finish until very late into the aftertaste. The flavour reminds me of grape gum drops both in taste and aftertaste. It is mildly sweet, though the sweetness does start to build up halfway through the can. Halfway through you also start to experience a build up of citric acid which has a positive sour effect on the immediate aftertaste. The aftertaste develops an artificial sweetener taste, but it is well balanced with the flavour and the addition of real sugar.

There is no bitterness or cough syrup taste! Energy drink manufacturers have gotten much better at developing a great taste and hiding the active ingredients.

Energy

You guessed it, there are 160 mg of caffeine, a level of caffeine that is becoming a standard among Rockstar energy drinks. The effects are similar to the original Rockstar Recovery, which surprisingly came out almost exactly a year ago. I cannot believe it has been this long!

The caffeine kick is gradual and a bit slower than non-diet energy drinks due to the lack of sugar. But on the positive side there are no jitters. I started to awake within 15 minutes and I felt much, much better than I did before drinking this. I had a decent amount of sleep but I woke up in a zombie-like state. In another 10 minutes, I felt fantastic. The effects lasted almost 3 hours and there was no crash at the end. I wish there was more caffeine though.

Overall, I love this new Rockstar Recovery Grape flavour. It is easy to drink, tastes great and has a fantastic kick.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Taurine - 2,000 mg
• Caffeine - 160 mg
• Sodium - 78 mg
• Panax Ginseng - 100 mg
• Prickly Pear Fruit Extract - 50 mg
• Milk Thistle - 40 mg
• Niacinamide - 20 mg
• Pantothenic Acid - 20 mg
• Potassium - 14 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 4 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 30 mcg

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: water, citric acid, orange juice concentrate, sugar, natural orange flavour, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, acesulfame potassium, sucralose, magnesium lactate, gum arabic, calcium lactate, glycerol ester of wood rosin, beta-Apo-8' carotenal.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99
Taste - 9/10
Energy - 7.9/10

Overall - 16.9/20...Rockstar keeps upping the ante with their new drinks. I really liked this one

Plutonium Energy Powder Review

It is plutonium and it is green. I thought this will be green apple, but surprise, surprise, it is pear. There aren't many pear flavoured products so I am a bit excited to try this one.

Taste

Does this measure up to last weeks strawberry surprise? Hell yea it does. After a second or two, the powder in my mouth was moist enough for me to taste it and what a taste It was. Sour pears attacked my taste buds and instantly woke me up. Wow, this has the sour kick I so much wanted from the strawberry powder. The taste is so intense that it reminded me of those sour candies you can get at 7-11 - sourz and nuclear waste. Unfortunately, the initial sour kick is just that- initial. I wasn't able to taste he sourness as much in the following mouthfuls of powder. The pear taste is well done, but it picks up only near the end, right before you swallow the moistened powder. Following the pear taste is bitterness from the caffeine, which is fairly strong at first, but dies down within a minute to leave a refreshing pear Aftertaste. Overall, I would rank this on par with he strawberry powder because the additional sourness is canceled out by the caffeine bitterness in the finish.

Energy

This performs the same way the strawberry one does because it packs he same sour kick, which will instantly wake you up. The 90 mg of caffeine also help, but they kick in later.
Ingredients: sugar, dextrose, caffeine, malic acid, artificial flavors and colors

Scores:
Cost - $1.99 from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 9.3/10
Energy - 6.9/10

Overall - 16.2/20...I love this energy powder, I might even start eating pears

KickButt Amped Energy Balls Cappuccino Review

KickButt energy balls resemble chocolate covered jawbreakers both in shape and size. There are two balls in each packet, but you can also get them in a tube. To be honest, they are a little too big for me to consider putting them in my bag to get a kick when I need one. I fear that they might be crushed under the weight of my laptop or notebook if things get shuffled.

Taste

Unlike jawbreakers, you can bite into these with very little effort. Sure, they look tough, but once you crack the chocolate layer, you are biting into the doughy, cappuccino flavored inside. Yes, the inside is doughy/chewy, which is kind of nice, but what is even nicer is the taste. I was expecting something bitter with a lot of chemicals and artificial flavorings, but what I got instead was a pleasant dark chocolate layer with a very cappuccino-like filling. The coffee taste is mild and well balanced with other ingredients which give KickButt the taste of steamed milk you get with real cappuccinos. I was expecting bitterness to kick in from the active ingredients, but then I looked at the ingredients and realized the caffeine comes from coffee. The aftertaste is just as enjoyable, though some soy notes do emerge. The immediate aftertaste is a blend of coffee and chocolate, but after some time, milk also comes into play for the real cappuccino aftertaste experience. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the cappuccino KickButt energy balls and look forward to trying their other flavors.

Energy

Each ball contains 40 mg of caffeine which means that each packet packs 80 mg, the equivalent of a can of Red Bull (funny how the unit measure is a can of Red Bull...I use it because it is the energy drink most people have had and can relate to). The effects are similar to those of black coffee - no immediate kick, since there is no sugar (there is some in the energy balls), but once the caffeine makes into your system, you feel stimulated. The effects of the energy balls are quite good. There are no jitters, and the kick is clean - I was able to focus at first without feeling anxious to do something physical. The end was without a crash or another negative side effect. I am quite pleased with these.

Overall, these energy balls were a pleasant surprise, though I am still a bit uncertain about their size.

Scores:
Cost - $1.99 for a 2-pack from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 8.9/10
Energy - 4/10 to 6/10

Overall - 12.9/20 to 14.9/20...depending on how many of these balls you eat

Be Happy Chocolate Cherry Review

A few weeks ago I received an e-mail asking me if I would like to try a new shot that creates a positive mood and helps reduce stress and anxiety. What a silly question, of course I wanted to try such a product. After waiting patiently...yeah right, I looked forward to checking the mail every day...I received a brown box containing a 2-pack just a day ago.

The 2-pack is very similar to the one Slimquick's shots come in, but I soon learned the similarities stopped there. Unlike Slimquick, each of the Be Happy bottles have large caps with large mouth openings so that it is easy to consume. I like that very much.

Normally beverages that are supposed to work this way bring me down to a very calm state which sometimes borders drowsiness. Knowing that I decided to try one of these shots near the end of the work day just in case had this effect.

Taste

I know the effects are more interesting, but the taste comes way before the effects kick in. Before opening the cap, I gave the shot a good shake to get rid of any sediments. Upon opening the cap I was greeted by an off-putting sight - brown, muddy foam. Fortunately for the shot, the foam receded quickly and revealed the brown colored liquid inside, which looked a lot like a chocolate health shake. The shot smelled like exactly what the label said it would - chocolate cherry, heavy on the cherry. Not only does the shot look like a chocolate shake, but it tastes a lot like one with a healthy sour cherry kick in the finish. Unlike a shake, the mouthfeel is a bit thin. The chocolate flavour seems a bit watery at first, but builds up towards the end and finishes on a mild note. The cherry taste takes some more time to build up, but it lasts a lot longer in the aftertaste than the chocolate does. The aftertaste does become bitter, which was a bit of a surprise. I normally associate bitter aftertastes with caffeine and there is no caffeine in this shot. The bitterness, though, has a very similar bitter tone and fortunately does not last for too long. When it does start to die down, it starts to remind me of the bitter taste you get from biting into an apple seed.

Performance

Now comes the interesting part. I will cut straight to the chase - does it work? Well, it kind of does and normally I am a bit skeptical of these things. So how does it work? Well, it performs similarly to anti-energy drinks, except it doesn't make you as drowsy.

I started to experience the effects within 15 minutes which made me feel more calm and helped me focus on my tasks and you know how hard that is sometimes near the end of the work day. I didn't experience any drowsy effects and the focus lasted for almost an hour, after which I was left feeling very calm. The calmness did last a long time, longer than other shots that do promote calmness - about 3 hours. I never felt drowsy, which was a huge plus for me. I, honestly, thought I would have to take a nap soon after consuming the shot.

I have to be honest for a moment, though. The focus aside, I achieve the same calming effect by drinking loose-leaf chamomile tea. It is true that the Be Happy shot lasted a lot longer than a cup of chamomile tea, but 2 to 3 cups will do just fine. You also hydrate yourself, which is always good for you.

Overall, the Be Happy shot does work the way it says it does, though you may need to take more than 1 bottle per day to stay relaxed.

Propriatery Mood Complex (600 mg): chocamine, L-theanine, GABA

Other Ingredients: purified water, evaporated cane juice, malix acid, sodium citrate, pextin, xanthan gum, gum arabic, ester gum and natural flavours

Scores:
Cost - don't know
Taste - 6.9/10
Performance - 8.7/10

Overall - 15.6/20...tastes OK, but works the way it promises

Strontium Energy Powder Strawberry Review

Last week I tried the Uranium Energy Powder, which surprised me with its yellowcake taste. This week I am trying the Strontium powder, which is red and tastes like strawberry...no surprises here.

Taste

The Strontium powder has a mild strawberry taste, but wow, it has a very strong taste. The moment the powder hits your tongue nothing happens. I was expecting a burst of flavor or sweetness, but I got nothing. For a moment it felt like I was eating tasteless powder. But hold on, once your saliva coats the powder, a sour strawberry flavour starts to develop. Give it a moment and it will build up. Give it another moment and sourness will overpower your senses. Once you swallow the powder, the strawberry taste stays for a while, but so does the caffeine bitterness, which starts to develop shortly after the sourness dies. The strawberry aftertaste does its best to keep the bitterness down, but it cannot completely subdue it. I bet that if a bit of citric acid was added to this, the bitterness may have been reduced or even eliminated.

The powder reminds me of eating wild strawberries, those tiny strawberries you can find in forests which have an incredibly powerful taste for their small size. I love them, but they are very hard to get. This is why I love the Strontium energy powder, though there is one thing that brings down its score - the bitter caffeine aftertaste.

Energy

The vial contains the same amount of caffeine as the Uranium energy powder - 90 mg. To me, it seems that the Strontium powder worked faster and better, but part of the kick could have been from the sourness.

Ingredients: sugar, dextrose, caffeine, malic acid, artificial flavors & colors

Scores:
Cost - $1.99 from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 9.2/10
Energy - 6.9/10

Overall - 16.1/20...awesome taste wild strawberry taste with a pretty decent kick

HyDrive Orange Burst Energy Chews Review

I love HyDrive products! I love some of them so much that they are on my top 5 list. Unfortunately they are not sold in Canada, which is why it has taken me this long to review their energy chews. I got this pack from ChemicalEvolution.com for $1.89, regular $2.49.

Taste

Each chew starts off orangey, though the flavor is a bit dull. After a couple of chews, some additional flavors start to become apparent, flavors that seem to be coming from the energy ingredients. Not to worry, they are not bitter, but different. Once those flavors go away, the orange taste comes back even stronger. By this time the chew is almost gone. The strong orange finish lingers for a long time, giving you a refreshed aftertaste. The orange burst aftertaste morphs after a while into what can only be described as the aftertaste you get from biting into orange peel laced with artificial sweetener. Not a huge deal, but something to be aware of.

Energy

Each couple of chews contain 80 mg of caffeine, which is the equivalent of a small can of Red Bull. Given the fairly decent taste, I would say that this is a pretty good deal. The label instructs you to not just take 2 chews, but also follow them up with a single chew after an hour and another one an hour after that. This way, you will extend your energy period because everyone knows that a can of Red Bull is only good for about an hour...unless you are super sensitive to caffeine.

I, however, did not need so much energy and decided to just do the 2 chews test and see how I felt. Well, I felt great. I had just woken up from a nap feeling woozy. I popped two of these guys, chewed them for 15-20 seconds and swallowed. Within 10 minutes, my wooziness started to go away and within another five I was feeling pretty good. The chews had a very nice calming and focusing effect, though part of which may have come from the fact that I had just woken up from a nap. I experienced a very short period of jitters which also put an end to my calm/focused phase. As expected, the 2 chews lasted for about an hour after which I did not experience a crash.

Overall, I was expecting a bit more from HyDrive in terms of taste, but compared to some other energy chews, they have done OK.

Ingredients: sugar, corn syrup, calcium citrate, natural flavors, palm oil, soy lecithin, carnauba wax, magnesium citrate, citric acid, ascorbic acid, corn starch, caffeine, glycerin, taurine, sodium chloride, mono & diglycerides, potassium phosphate, niacin amide, panthenol, sucralose, citrus bioflavonoids, FD&C yellow 6, pyridoxine hydrochloride, cyanocobalamin.

Scores:
Cost - $1.89 from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 7.9/10
Energy - 5/10 to 8.5/10

Overall - 12.9/20 to 16.4/20...depending on the number of chews you take at once

Uranium Energy Powder Yellowcake Flavour Review

Thanks to the well stocked ChemicalEvolution.com I was finally able to obtain some of Harcos Labs energy powders. I will start off my series of reviews with the Uranium powder, said to have a yellowcake flavor.

First off, the packaging is absolutely fantastic. The test tube is made of thick plastic which seems like it can withstand a nuclear explosion. It feels great holding the tube. It is also small enough and sturdy enough that you can toss it in your bag and take it out when you need some energy. The resealable cap is also a plus.

Taste

I am not a huge fan of pixie sticks and even as a kid I never liked eating Tang crystals, though they were sour and sweet. So this is a bit of challenge for two reasons - one, I already mentioned, and two, there is just so much of this in the tube. Good thing I don't say no to challenges.

When I first held the tube and looked at the package and what was inside, I was half expecting this to taste like lemon and thought that the yellowcake flavor was a joke given the real meaning of yellowcake. But the moment the yellow powder hit my tongue, I was shocked. This DID taste like cake. The flavor was so real, it felt like I was eating a piece of cake. Do you know that yellow part of regular cakes? The one there are several layers of and they are all covered in icing? Yes, that's what it tastes like, but with a bit more vanilla.

Of course being an energy powder, there is some caffeine bitterness which is mostly noticed in the finish. While battling with the lump of powder in your mouth, the artificial sweetener can be tasted. The sweetener is also present in the finish, but not as much as the bitterness from the caffeine is. The sweetener/caffeine blend does last for a while in the finish, but at least you also have some of the vanilla taste from the cake.

Overall, the flavor was a pleasant surprise, but the bitterness did have an impact on the overall enjoyment.

Energy

I like products that tell you how much caffeine is in them. I like products even more when they do so in big red letters. There are 90 mg of caffeine in this tube and that's a pretty decent amount given the size of the container. I ate/swallowed the powder in a few goes and waited for the effects. Didn't take long. Within 15 minutes I felt becoming calmer and focused on what I was doing. I felt even more awake than I already was, but all this didn't last for too long because I got the jitters. They weren't anything serious, but I felt a tremble in my leg and then the shake. Fortunately this lasted for a few minutes and then I was back to being focused...a little less than at first, but still felt focused on my work.

The energy lasted for about an hour, while the focus lasted for about 15-20 minutes. There was no crash at the end, just the lack of feeling awesome. Now, I cannot wait to try the other flavors that are sitting on my desk.

Ingredients: sugar, dextrose, caffeine, malic acid, artificial flavors & colors, FD&C yellow #5, #6, blue #1, red #3, #40.

Scores:
Cost - $1.99 from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 6.8/10

Overall - 15.3/20...surprising taste, decent energy, great packaging

Warp Micro Hyper Charged Mints Lemon-Lime Green Tea Review

This will be a short one because as it turns out, I have already reviewed these. I bought a tin of their larger variety a few months ago - Warp Green T Lemon Lime Energy Mints.

The micro mints are, obviously, much smaller, about a third to half the size of the Green T ones. Also, unlike the larger Green T's, the micro mints come in a very compact, very easy to carry container. The thing I like about this container is the way it opens. When I first got it, I twisted and pulled, but could not get the lid off. Then I noticed, it slides open to one side. The lid is a slider, much like a slider phone. Yep, the tin is really cool.

Another very important difference is the energy kick. Since these are micro mints, they do contain much less caffeine and you will need many more to enjoy the same effects as the larger Green T's. I, however, prefer the smaller tin size. I found myself putting the tin in my front pockets without it creating a bulge and drawing attention to my crotch area. It works great in dress pants too, assuming there is nothing else in those pockets of yours.

Scores:
Cost - $1.49 from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 9/10
Energy - 0.5/10 to 9/10

Overall - 9.5/20 to 18/20...if you eat the entire tin