Reize Energy Drink Review

A box of Reize was sent to me for a review all the way from Australia. You can't purchase Reize in stores, but you can get a monthly subscription to satisfy your caffeine needs.

Taste

First off, Reize doesn't dissolve as easily as other instant drinks. I had to go back to stirring a few times until all of the powder was gone from the bottom. But once the powder has been properly dissolved the end result is a clear, Red Bull-like mixture. It even smells like it.

The flavor is unlike anything I was expecting...in a veeeery good way. It is a mix between cola, gummy bears and just a distant hint of Red Bull-like berries. Love it! This has to be one of the most unique flavors I have ever tried. There are no weird off-flavors, or artificial sweetener notes, or caffeine bitterness...it is just sweet cola, gummy bears, and some of the familiar Red Bull with an interesting cane sugar-like round finish. Even the sweetness is well balanced and does not build up. I am surprised by how much flavor there is in such a small sachet of instant drink. Amazing!

Energy

Each sachet contains 50 mg of caffeine which is on the low end of the energy spectrum, but because there are multiple sachets, there is nothing stopping you from using multiple for a stronger kick...except common sense. After all, this is still an energy product so you should be careful.

One sachet is enough to give a short burst of uncontrollable energy. When I had one first thing in the morning, my mind was racing within 15-20 minutes and I was ready to run around in circles. Unfortunately for me, I had to do some paperwork at the time. The energy was way too rough for mental tasks, but this is perfect for physical exercise.

Scores:
Cost - unsure
Taste - 9.5/10...I just love this flavor
Energy - 5/10 to 10/10...depending on how many sachets you use

Overall - 14.5/20 to 19.5/20...very unique flavor

Crystal Light Energy Drink Mix Review

Does this photo look familiar? It should if you are a fan of energy mixes or read this blog regularly. A few weeks ago I took the same type of photo for my review of the 4C Energy Mixes. So go on, check it out.

I already reviewed the Wild Strawberry flavour last year, but I think for the sake of the photo, I will just paste my previous review (with a few edits to shorten it) here and add my thoughts on the other flavours.

Wild Strawberry

Whoa, the taste is delicious. It is exactly what I was expecting it to be - a strong strawberry taste with a nice sour kick which leaves your mouth a bit dry and very refreshed. There is very, very little sweetener taste, which does not appear until well into the aftertaste. There is also a very subtle bitterness which, again, does not appear well into the aftertaste. Other than that this mix tastes exactly like any other drink mix without caffeine.

Grape

Very light grape flavour, but very sour which in my mind brought out the flavours a bit more and made this drink super refreshing. There is a mild sweetener note that appears in the aftertaste, but compared to diet or sugar free drinks, it is much more subtle. Also, there is a little bitterness far into the aftertaste, but the sourness offsets a good deal of it.

I liked this grape flavour. Unlike many of the other grape interpretations, this one is not very sweet and the sourness really gives it a real grape taste.

Peach Mango

OK, this one is also amazing. The aroma is tropical with subtle sweet notes of peach and sour bites of mango. The taste is similar and starts off with a sweet and mellow peach and quickly transitions to sour (all of these drink mixes are sour) mango with very subtle peach hints. The aftertaste has some sweetener, but more of the sour mango goodness.

Loved this one.

Citrus

Before I made this, I expecting an orange color since the picture on the packet was of a tangerine. Nope - it was greenish. Oh well, it does say Citrus so there could be lime in it.

And there IS lime in it. The taste starts off with a slightly sour tangerine note, but quickly a strong lime flavour reveals itself and takes you to the finish. Some tangerine notes are present, but flavour is dominated by the lime. Same sweetener taste is present.

Not bad, but I have to go back to my Peach Mango.

Energy

There are 60 mg of caffeine per serving and each packet has 2 servings, therefore, there are 120 mg of caffeine in each of the jars. This is about 75% of what you get from a proper energy drink the same size, but this mix is easy to carry and a lot cheaper.

Each flavour has the same active ingredients and the effects are all the same, so I will only describe the effects from one of them.

I started to feel the effects within 15 minutes and it all started with me gradually waking up and my mind focusing on the tasks at hand. There were no jitters and just a gradual progression towards the full caffeine kick about 20 minutes later. At that point I was feeling energized, but not over the top energized like you would from a sugary energy drink.

The kick lasted for 2.5 - 3 hours without a crash at the end. I was surprised how well this drink mix worked considering the brand.

4C Energy Rush Review

So many, many, many months ago I got a variety pack of 4C Energy Rush powders which sat in the back of one my cupboards for....well....many, many, many months, until now. Yeah, that's right, I moved a can of soup this morning and discovered what was buried back there. I quickly opened the box, took one of each flavour and mixed 4 energy drinks.

OK, I am not going to drink all 4 at once because this will probably not end well so what I decided to do instead is try a quarter of each so that I can comment on the energy kick properly....because 4*1/4 = 1.

Energy Rush Berry

This one looks more like a grape flavoured energy drink and not mixed berries, but oddly enough it does smell and taste like a medley of berries. The first thing you notice are the raspberries and then comes the unidentifiable mix of other berries. I think there is some blueberries and blackberries, but I cannot confirm. And last, but not least come some sweet blueberry notes.

So to recap, this drink has a raspberry start, a black box middle and a blueberry finish along with some more raspberries. Not bad at all, except for the sweet, sweet, sweetener finish, which quickly builds.

Taste - 7.8/10

Energy Rush Strawberry

This one has a funky strawberry aroma, part of which is trying to warn me not to expect too much of this. However, this is only partially true because the taste is pretty decent with a subtle strawberry flavour at the start which quickly develops into a stronger sour wild strawberry-like flavour within moments. Unfortunately immediately after the sourness goes away comes some of that funky, chemical taste. A bit weird, but not a huge turn off if you keep drinking because the funkiness is quickly replaced with more of the sourness.

Taste - 7.5/10

Energy Rush Orange

Super strong and inviting orange aroma. Though the flavour seems a bit generic at first, the finish is done very well and brings out some real orange-like flavours and a bit of tangerine. The flavour is sour and refreshing throughout with no funky business.

I know it is not very original, but this is my favourite flavour - it is simple, well done and very refreshing.

Taste - 9/10

Energy Rush Citrus

Unfortunately this one shares not only the same color as one of my cleaning solutions but also the same aroma....not flavour because I am sure the cleaning solution tastes nothing like what it smells like.

The flavour seems creamy with lime up front and some lemon right behind it. It didn't wow me, but it didn't turn me off either. The flavour is refreshing and long lasting. Out of all the 4C flavours, this one probably lasted the longest until I had some water to cleanse my palate.

Taste - 8/10

Energy

Neither the box nor the packets state the amount of caffeine present, but if I had to guess from the pictures on the box (1 packet = 2 x 8.3 fl. oz. energy drinks), I would say that each packet contains around 160 mg of caffeine, or the equivalent of a 473 mL energy drink can.

I can also confirm that each one contains at least that much, because the kick is pretty damn good. I felt awake within minutes of trying the berry one and by the time I was done with the citrus one, I was ready to fly away. Sure I felt a bit jittery, but the kick is unbeatable for the price (OK, it is beatable if these are on sale, but come on!). I felt energetic for 3-4 hours and at the end, I gently came back down on earth without any drama.

If I was going to buy this again, I would go for a box of the orange flavour. Mixed with some ice cold water, it becomes and amazingly refreshing orange drink and almost comparable to an orange Gatorade.

Cost - don't remember, but it is somewhere between $2.50 and $4 for the pack from Meijer

Crystal Light Energy Mix Wild Strawberry Review

For months I have been reading about Crystal Light and a other manufacturers of drink mixes releasing caffeinated mixes, but none of these have made it to Canada yet. On my most recent trip to the US, I managed to buy a lot of Crystal Light mixes and I am super excited to try them.

Taste

I am starting off with the Wild Strawberry flavour because this is the one that sounds the best to me. As usual, I got myself a bottle of water (I extremely rarely buy bottled water), had a sip to allow for enough room for mixing and dumped the packet in. After a few shakes the powder was dissolved and the water was pink.

Whoa, the taste is delicious. It is exactly what I was expecting it to be - a strong strawberry taste with a nice sour kick which leaves your mouth a bit dry and very refreshed. There is very, very little sweetener taste, which does not appear until well into the aftertaste. There is also a very subtle bitterness which, again, does not appear well into the aftertaste. Other than that this mix tastes exactly like any other drink mix without caffeine.

Energy

There are 60 mg of caffeine per serving and each packet has 2 servings, therefore, there are 120 mg of caffeine in the bottle when dissolved. This is about 75% of what you get from a proper energy drink the same size, but this mix is easy to carry and a lot cheaper.

I started to feel the effects within 15 minutes and it all started with me gradually waking up and my mind focusing on the tasks at hand. There were no jitters and just a gradual progression towards the full caffeine kick about 20 minutes later. At that point I was feeling energized, but not over the top energized like you would from a sugary energy drink.

The kick lasted for 2.5 - 3 hours without a crash at the end. I was surprised how well this drink mix worked considering the brand.

Scores:
Cost - $2.69 from Meijer for a box
Taste - 9.5/10
Energy - 7.2/10

Overall - 16.7/20...tasty and works surprisingly well

HyDrive Energy Berry Blast Energy Drink Mix Review

Here is a brand new product from my favorite energy drink company - HyDrive. This new product is an energy mix and transforms any glass/bottle of water into an amazingly tasting HyDrive Energy Berry Blast energy drink. The product will be available in mid March 2012 and will come in boxes of 8. This will make shipping across the border, hopefully, a bit more affordable.

Taste

Always remember to take a sip or two from your water if you are adding this mix directly to bottled water. This way you will have enough room to dissolve the powder with just a few shakes.

I added the packet to a 500 mL bottle of water, which is just over 16 oz. This resulted in a very aromatic and flavourful energy drink bursting with strawberries, tart raspberries and a little bit of blueberries. I assume the intensity of the taste will be taken down a few notches if you use more water, so do yourself a favor and stick to 16 oz. This way, you will get to enjoy a beverage with the same flavour characteristics as the HyDrive line up of energy drinks.

But back to the taste. The flavour is rich and tart making the drink very enjoyable and easy to drink. The aftertaste is crisp, a bit dry and with very minimal sweetener notes. I was very impressed since while drinking it, you can actually taste the sweetness, but there are barely any traces of it in the aftertaste. Also, the energy ingredients have zero influence on the flavour.

Strawberries and raspberries are well defined and I also got a bit of blueberries towards the finish. Some cherry flavour can be noticed in the aftertaste, but it is not as strong as the strawberry/raspberry blend.

This is a fantastically refreshing drink to have and I think it will taste even better in the hot summer days.

Energy

There are 160 mg of caffeine per packet, which puts this into Monster/Rockstar category, only it works much better.

I tried this on an early Sunday morning after a late night of drinking and I felt awake within 10 minutes. For the first 20-30 minutes I felt awake, calm and very focused on what I was doing, which is exactly what I was expecting from a HyDrive drink. Soon after the caffeine kicked in and I felt very energized, like I had just woken up from a nice sleep. I wasn't jittery, just felt energized - very clean energy.

The energy lasted for a few hours and there were no ill effects at the end.

HyDrive prove they know how to make an energy drink once again!

Scores:
Cost - $9.99 for an 8 pack only from HyDrive
Taste - 9.5/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 17.5/20...one of the best, if not the best tasting and performing energy mix I have tried

Ed Hardy Energy Sticks Orange Review

This week I received a package from Ed Hardy containing some of their caffeinated products. Luckily for me, included in the package were a bunch of their Energy Sticks, which really helped me out this morning when I felt too lazy to make coffee or get an energy drink. All I had to do was tear open one of the packets and pour its contents on my tongue.

Taste

To my surprise, the orange powder tasted really good. As soon as I opened the packet, a blend of orange and tangerine aromas hit my nose. As soon as I poured the powder on my tongue, I felt the sour kick of the citrus fruits, but none of the bitterness of the added caffeine. The amount contained in each packet is only 2.45 g, which is much more manageable than other tongue powders. This one dissolves quickly and doesn't clump up.

Once the powder absorbs some saliva, the orange flavour becomes much more intense and also helps you freshen up your breath. Once swallowed, there is a bit of bitterness that becomes noticeable, but it doesn't last that long and it is not that strong. Soon after the bitterness comes a dry combination of orange peel and artificial sweeteners, which may send some people to get some water. I know I had to when I had 2 packets in a row, but not when I had just one.

Energy

There are 3 packets in a pack and each packet contains 80 mg of caffeine, which is about the same as a Red Bull. The effects, however, are a bit different. I did not get that sudden rush that you get from drinking a Red Bull. The energy came in my more gradually and there were no jitters. I felt peppy and awake within about 15-20 minutes and that surprised me a bit because I only had about 4-5 hours of sleep. The energy lasted for about 2 hours and there wasn't a crash.

If you take 2 or all 3 at once, the effects will be a bit more different. There are some jitters and when the energy kicks in, it is much more noticeable and resembles the kick you might get from a full sized can of an energy drink packed with sugar.

Scores:
Cost - $3.29 for a 3-pack from Ed Hardy
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 6/10 to 9/10

Overall - 14.5/20 to 17.5/20...depending on the number of packets you consume at once

Crave Energy Drink Review

OK, not so much an energy drink as much as an energy powder, but these are the words used to describe Crave on each package. It is true that when combined with water, this will results in an energy drink.

Taste

The instructions are simple - "just add to bottled water". Unfortunately we don't buy bottled water so the next best thing was to measure 500 mL and pour them in a pint glass. Adding the packet to the water results in a very odd looking green concoction which would be best suited for something to drink on March 17th.

The first couple of sips come with a bit of bitterness, but after that it almost goes completely away. Crave has a sweet melon taste combined with a subtle fruit punch note and a twist of lime towards the end of each sip. There is a bit of a soapy taste, but that comes and goes.

After a few sips the taste develops a slightly sour kick and a dry finish. The sweetener can be tasted, but compared to other drinks like this, it does not have a huge impact on the overall enjoyment.

The drink is very easy to drink since there is no carbonation (unless you add this to carbonated water) and quite enjoyable.

Energy

There are 80 mg of caffeine per serving and 2 servings per packet, thus, 160 mg of caffeine in the resulting energy drink. Since there is very little sugar, the effects are not instant, but they will show themselves within 15-20 minutes. Depending on how you drink the energy drink, the results can vary from a gradual and enjoyable boost, or a huge wave of energy.

I drank my first one slowly and started to wake up and feel energetic very gradually. There were no side effects, such as jitters, just a smooth energy boost, which lasts for about 3 to 4 hours and ends without a crash.

Overall, this is a pretty decent energy mix, though I could live without the soapy hints here and there.

Scores:
Cost - $2 per packet from Crave
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 7.5/10

Overall - 16/20...great tasting energy drink mix with a pretty decent boost

ZizZazz Cherry Lime Explosive Energy Mix Review

I got another ZizZazz flavour recently and this time, I will not be using water. That's right, I decided to dissolve the powder in about 12 oz of pomegranate-blueberry juice since I was getting a bit tired of the bland, mostly artificial taste of these mixes (OK, there was one that was OK).

Taste

First off, the juice is a real juice and is very tangy from the pomegranate and not very sweet at all. I have tried other energy concoctions with this particular juice, and it always overpowers what I am dissolving in it. This time, though, ZizZazz can be noticed. The first thing that hit me was how sweet the taste has become. It wasn't a real sweetness, it was the artificial sweetener which also gave the mix a diet-like aftertaste. The lime part of ZizZazz cannot be tasted, but the cherry is very pronounced in both the taste and the aftertaste. Overall, drinking the energy mix like this seems to be more enjoyable, but to me, it just seems to ruin a great glass of juice with its diet-like sweetness.

Energy

Same as always, this packet contains 200 mg of caffeine and you can feel the effects of the mix in about 10-15 minutes, which seems to be just a little bit quicker than dissolving the powder in plain water. The natural sugars in the juice do have an effect on the delivery speed. The energy comes smoothly without jitters and in another 20 or so minutes, I was feeling great. The boost lasted for about 3 hours and I actually put it to a good use since I went curling. Like all other ZizZazz powders, I did not experience a crash at the end.

Scores:
Cost - $2.00 per packet from KingofCaffeine.com
Taste - 5.9/10 on its own, 7.9/10 as part of this juice...the juice itself is at least a 9/10
Energy - 8.5/10

Overall - 14.4/20 to 16.4/20...liked it better in the juice, on its own it would have tasted worse

Fire Star Energy Booster Lemon Flavour Review

Fire Star is one of those caffeine products you place on your tongue and wait for it to dissolve. I cannot say that I am a huge fan of them, but they do seem to work.

Taste

If you look closely, you will discover in the upper left corner of the package that this energy booster is supposed to have a lemon flavour. Does it? Well, kind of, but I believe that most of it is coming from the citric acid. The lemon taste itself doesn't show up until the powder dissolves and you swallow whatever is left in your mouth...The dissolving part, this is what I want to write about. First off, there is 3 g of the powder in the pack, which seems like a small amount, but when you dump that on your tongue, it doesn't quite fit on there. It quickly falls off the tongue and fills your mouth with the powder, which quickly sucks up the moisture in your mouth and makes swallowing the powder a little tricky.

Aside from the lemon finish, the powder is not that great tasting. It seemed sour and promising at first, but then the bitterness of the energy ingredients hit me, and it hit me hard. It felt like I had just finished chewing on a pill and all I had in my mouth was its bitter powder and chunks. Alongside the bitter taste, was a slightly sour taste which reminded me of the Aspirin you can dissolve on your tongue. Mixed with those two tastes was the taste of the citric acid, which should have been more present in the mix...just my opinion.

Just a warning, the finish stays bitter with an Aspirin twist for some time, so I recommend having a sweet drink to get rid of the taste.

Energy

The packet does not contain any information on how much caffeine is in, but a quick, yet extremely thorough, internet search tells me that there is between 160 and 200 mg of caffeine. I already mentioned that these types of energy boosters work well, and this is no exception. I felt something within exactly 5 minutes of ingesting the powder. It was a calm and gradual start which helped me focus at first...but that only lasted for about 10 minutes. Then the rush started to come in. I felt my heart speeding up only 15 minutes after taking Fire Star and within another 20 minutes I was feeling the full effects of the energy booster. Unfortunately the boost lasted for just over 2 hours when I started to feel the caffeine effects fading away. I was no longer over energized, but still had some energy to continue with my work.

Ingredients: caffeine, citric acid, sugar, calcium stearate, sodium bicarbonate, hydrogenated vegetable oil

Scores:
Cost - $2.00 from KingofCaffeine
Taste - 5/10
Energy - 7.5/10

Overall - 12.5/20...if the taste was improved a little,

ZizZazz Tangerine Explosive Energy Mix Review

It was 7-11 that used to sell ZizZazz packets locally, but since their restructure earlier this year, all caffeinated products besides energy drinks and shots disappeared from their shelves. I was in the process of trying all of the ZizZazz flavors at the time and their disappearance made me very sad. Fortunately, my favorite supplier of caffeinated products, KingofCaffeine.com, has some in stock. I got a few from there to review and I will start with Tangerine since I absolutely love the fruit.

Taste

I know that energy mixes are easy to screw up and can be watery if you decided to maximize your dollar and dissolve them in the maximum recommended water quantity. This is why, I went with the bottom of the recommended range - 12 oz. At 12 ounces, the beverage is very, very sweet and a lot of the tangerine taste is lost to the sweetness. The fruity taste manages to come out on top in the aftertaste and it seems borderline real. The aftertaste does have notes of the artificial sweeteners used, but they are not as pronounced as in some other energy mixes or tabs. The resulting mixture does not have any sour bite, which is something I did not enjoy very much. I think the addition of some extra citric acid could have improved the overall taste greatly. I, myself, am too lazy to get up and go to the fridge, but a squirt of some lemon juice would give this energy mixture a great kick.

Energy

There are 200 mg of caffeine per packet which makes this a great bang for your buck. The delivery is fairly normal and I started to experience an improvement in my state within 15 minutes. Since I drank this over the course of 30 or so minutes, I did not experience any jitters or negative effects while the caffeine was working its way through my system. In the initial stages, I experienced moments of calmness and focus. The full effect became apparent about 20 minutes after I finished drinking it and it was absolutely fantastic. I felt great for over 3 hours and then I started to slow down a bit. There was no crash, but I wasn't feeling as energized...obviously. But that was nothing a cup of strong tea couldn't fix.

I said this before, and I will say it again, this is a great product for your money. Just find your flavour and get a box of it. You can even take half of the packet and save the rest for later.

Scores:
Cost - $2.00 per packet from KingofCaffeine.com
Taste - 7.9/10
Energy - 8.5/10

Overall - 16.4/20...a little too sweet, but overall a great product for your money

SuperFly Energy Drink Tabs Citrus Kick Review

This is exactly what it looks like - an effervescent tablet with caffeine. There are 6 tablets in each of these tubes and a single tube will cost you $4 from the KingofCaffeine.com.

Taste

The tube tells me to drop a tab in a glass filled with 8 to 16 oz of water or any other amount of water depending on how I want the drink to taste. Well, from previous experience with energy tabs, I decided to go with the 8 oz glass of water first because even if I mess it up, I still have 5 other tabs I can experiment with.

The tab dissolved in about 2 minutes in the 8 ounces of water and produced a drink with a caramel color and an aroma similar to many of the mainstream energy drinks. The resulting mixture is lightly carbonated and tastes just like a can of Red Bull/Red Rain/Red Fire and other imitators. Awesome! I love the taste of Red Bull and paying $4 to make 6 glasses of essentially is 6 cans of Red Bull is fantastic. The next thing I will try is using more water to see if I can stretch those 8 ounces and great taste into 10, 12, 14 or even 16 ounces of a Red Bull clone.

Energy

Like many other tabs, the caffeine content is given as part of the proprietary energy blend, which is 163.5 mg in total. I think that a fair bit of this is caffeine since I started to wake up and experience some positive effects within 10-15 minutes time. Within another 30 minutes I was feeling completely energized and ready to do anything. I did experience a mild case of the jitters, but at least it didn't last too long. I got almost 2 hours out of the single tablet before I had to reach for a strong cup of tea. Not bad for $4.

Proprietary Energy Blend (163.5 mg):

• Caffeine
• Guarana Extract
• L-Carnitine
• L-Arginine
• Creatine Monohydrate
• Ginkgo Biloba Extract
• Grape Seed Extract
• Ginseng Extract

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Niacin - 20 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 2 mg
• Folate - 400 mcg
• Vitamin B12 - 1,500 mcg
• Pantothenic Acid - 2 mg
• Taurine - 1,000 mg
• Glucoronolactone - 400 mg
  

Other Ingredients: citric acid, sodium bicarbonate, natural and artificial flavors, inulin, sucralose, FD&C brown.

Scores:
Cost- $4 for a 6 tab tube from KingofCaffeine.com
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 6.5/10

Overall - 15/20...could be another Red Bull clone, but at least it is very compact and cheap

Encaff Energy Stix Black Cherry Review

When I first got this sample, I thought it was a powdered energy drink. Good thing I flipped it over to read the back, because it clearly said "No water needed!" Wait, what? No water needed? Yes, no water needed because you are supposed to sprinkle the powder on your tongue and swallow it.

Taste

Have you ever licked your finger and dipped it in a packet of a powdered drink? I used to all the time when I was a kid. The powder tastes very intense due to the concentrated citric acid and flavour crystals. This is how Energy Stix tastes - intense. There are no traces of bitter energy ingredients or a nasty aftertaste - just an intense cherry/berry taste. Once you down the whole packet, the aftertaste does become very diet-like, but the cherry sweetness helps a little.

Tip: Don't sprinkle the whole package on your tongue at once, it will cake. Do it three of four times.

Energy

The package does not say how much caffeine is in it, but a quick browse through the Energy Stix website shows the magic number to be 75 mg. Hm, that's less than a Red Bull, but the delivery is faster. I felt a nice buzz within 10 minutes and within another 10 I was wired and good to go for about an hour. If you are taking this, take two packets.

Ingredients: sorbitol, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, caffeine, citric acid, artificial flavour, salt, FD&C Red #40

Scores:
Cost - tester
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 6.5/10

Overall - 15/20...not bad at all

EQ Smart Energy Drink Lemon Lime Review

I finally found the time to continue with the EQ Smart Energy Drink line-up. Today's tablet is lemon lime flavoured and this time I poured less than 8 oz of water to see what it will do for the flavour.

Taste

The result has the recognizable lemon lime aroma, but the taste is still very mild. You should expect this from a tablet that promises only 5 calories. A squirt of concentrated lemon juice will improve the taste significantly, but unfortunately I did not have any on hand. Though there is barely any lemon or lime in the taste, it is sweet, just like the other tablets and because it is not carbonated, it goes down really fast. Overall the flavour is very similar to the other ones with only subtle differences in the aroma and taste.

Energy

You will find the same energy blend in here as well - 1,680.7 mg. Because I used less water, I drank the energy mixture faster and thus I felt the results earlier - around the 10 minute mark. It wasn't for another 20 or so that I felt fully energized and ready to go. The feeling lasted for quite a while but it wasn't as intense as some energy drinks on the market. It was more melow and easy going and like the other EQ tablets, I did not experience a crash at the end.

Energy Blend (1,680.7 mg):

• L-Taurine
• d-Glucoronolactone
• Caffeine
• Ginkgo Biloba

Other Ingredients: citric acid, inulin, maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavours, polyethylene glycol, sucralose, canola oil

Scores:
Cost - $1.00 for a tab from the King of Caffeine
Taste - 5.8/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 13.8/20...good energy kick, but a bland flavour

Helix Energy Mix Review

I am slowly making my through all the products I have received and/or purchased in the last month. Today I am trying the Helix Energy Mix, which like other energy mixes you have to dissolve in 500 mL of water. The package suggests to use bottled water, but that is not something I have at my house so tap water in a pint glass it is.

The resulting energy mixture has an inviting orange aroma and a smooth orange taste. You can still notice that this is powder because it has that effervescent tablet taste. If you don't know what that it is, it is a slightly salty taste and something else I can't quite put my finger on. There are no unpleasant notes, if you don't mind the effervescent taste, and the aftertaste is fairly refreshing and enjoyable. The aftertaste changes a little bit towards the end of the drink. You can start noticing a diet orange taste. It is not bad, but if you don't like diet drinks, you might be a little turned off. This is not a bad energy mix at all and dissolving it in a bottle of water is very convenient.

Once again the label does not list how much caffeine it is in the packet, but tells you how much of the proprietary blend there is. This is one of the ways you can distinguish between American and Canadian labels. The other is the lack of French. A quick browse through the Helix website reveals that there are 170 mg of caffeine per pack, which is pretty damn good. I started to feel awake within 10-15 minutes. In another 15-20 minutes I started to experience some jitters and my mind was racing. I was definitely ready to run around the neighborhood and punch things. The effects lasted for about 4 hours, which was pretty damn good. What was ever better was that there was no crash at the end. This is one solid energy mix.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Vitamin C - 60 mg
• Niacin - 10 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 2 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 6 mcg
• Pantothenic Acid - 2.5 mg
• Proprietery Energy Blend (taurine, caffeine, d-glucuronolactone, l-carnitine, panax ginseng) - 500 mg
  

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, ascorbic acid, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, magnesium oxide, yellow 6, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, cyanocobalamin

Scores:
Cost - $1 from the King of Caffeine
Taste - 8.8/10
Energy - 8.5/10

Overall - 17.3/20...cheap, great refreshing taste, excellent kick

Zipfizz Energy Drink Mix Berry Review

I got this product from the King of Caffeine for $2. Why is it $2 you ask? Well, it comes in a plastic tube, which means you can use only whatever you need and then seal the rest. Also you can dissolve this in 20 oz of water, which makes a large drink.

I love the tube, it is so convenient if you just want to use a little. The plastic is very hard so you can just toss it at the bottom of a bag and take it with you. The moment I dumped the powder into a glass of water, I realized why this is called zipfizz...because it fizzed violently like an effervescent tablet. A thick head rose up and started to overfill the glass and come out of it. Luckily I had a spoon nearby so I scooped a lot of the foam. The resulting mixture is plum red in color and a little cloudy. It has a tangy berry scent with a weird, medicine-like undertone. The taste is pretty good though, except for the fact that I dissolved the powder into 14 oz of water and not the suggested 16-20 since I just didn't feel like drinking so much liquid. Now back to the taste. It is OK, but a slight plastic tone can be noticed both in the taste and aftertaste. The tone lingers for some time, but the tanginess of the drink really helps drawing attention away from the unpleasantness. The berries can be tasted and it is a mix of raspberries and cranberries with a perhaps a touch of cherries. Overall, this is one of the better powdered energy mixes that I have tried.

This container has one of those "Proprietary blends" and only lists the individual ingredients, not how much of each there is. After a quick look at their website, it looks like there are 100 mg of caffeine from natural sources. I started to wake up and feel refreshed within 15 minutes, which was a good sign. In another 10 minutes my mind started to race and I got really excited. Unfortunately, this lasted for a couple of minutes, and then I was back to just feeling refreshed. The refreshed feeling lasted for a few hours and then I experienced a mild crash. It may have been from the heat and the fact that I was driving most of the morning, but I felt really tired and had to stop for some coffee.

Ingredients: citric acid, glucose polymers, potassium carbonate, malic acid, calcium ascorbate, natural flavours, magnesium glycinate, potassium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, beet color, guarana see extract, grape skin extract, L-arginine, taurine, potassium citrate, sucralose, silica, niacin, zinc amino acid chelate, grape seed extract, manganese gluconate, d-alpha-tocopheryl acetate, green tea leaf extract, alpha-lipoic acid, pyridoxal-5-phosphate, D-calcium pantothenate, American ginseng root extract, ginger root, xylitol, riboflavin-5-phosphate, thiamin hydrochloride, cyanocobalamin, chromium dinicotinate glycinate, folic acid, and selenium-L-methionine complex.

Wow, I don't think I have seen more ingredients in an energy mix before...or any other energy drink.

Scores:
Cost -
Taste - 8/10
Energy - 7.2/10

Overall - 15.2/20...tastes pretty good, comes in a convenient package and packs a decent kick

EQ Smart Energy Drink Strawberry Dream Review

Today I am going to try the strawberry flavour of the EQ energy tablets. This time I made sure to pour less water to get more of the flavour.

The resultant mixture looked very similar to the Mo Apple one I tried last week in terms of color. I expected this to turn pink or even red, but it didn't, it was pale straw. The result had a weak aroma, but the strawberries were detectable. The taste was stronger and sweeter now, but the strawberry flavour was lost. The drink was just sweet and the only time I sensed the presence of strawberries was in the initial stages of the aftertaste, which itself, was very sweet. This energy tab had an overall weaker taste than Mo Apple and disappointed me a little.

The energy blend is the same as the Mo Apple - 1,680.7 mg - and starts to act with 15-20 minutes. The energy kick came in gradually over the next 20 minutes and was almost clean, except for the brief period of jitters. The energy lasted for a few hours, about the same time as the Mo Apple one, and the no-crash-end repeated itself.

Energy Blend (1,680.7 mg):

• L-Taurine
• d-Glucoronolactone
• Caffeine
• Ginkgo Biloba

Other Ingredients: citric acid, inulin, maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavours, polyethylene glycol, sucralose, canola oil, caramel color

Scores:
Cost - $1.00 for a tab from the King of Caffeine
Taste - 5.9/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 13.9/20...this one did not have a very distinct flavour, but the kick was pretty good

EQ Smart Energy Drink Mo Apple Review

When I got back home yesterday, a small package was waiting for me from the King of Caffeine. It was some caffeine products I ordered a week ago and I was wondering why the box was so small since I purchased so many things. It turned out that the guys at King of Caffeine are extremely efficient at packing, which reduced the shipping charge to Canada significantly, and for that, I am very grateful. If you are looking to get caffeine stuff online, that's the place to go.

But, let's get back to the review. Today I am trying EQ - The Smart Energy Drink, which is a tablet you can drop in any drink. I chose water as my solvent and dropped the tablet in. It took a few minutes for it to fully dissolve, turning the water from clear to cloudy and pale straw. The final solution smelled like a blend of apples with some Granny Smith and some sweeter ones. Since there are only 5 calories and the resulting mixture is sugar free, there isn't much flavour...BUT what's there is actually enjoyable. Now I see why the label suggests 8 to 12 oz and not the 16 I poured. That is completely my fault. I think at half the volume, the drink would have had more flavour. What I was drinking was slightly carbonated and had a mild apple combination taste. There were no unpleasant tastes, which was fantastic. The aftertaste was mild and mostly clean and aside from the light diet taste, there was nothing else to negatively impact the experience.

This is one of those products that state the energy blend and not the caffeine content. Unlike the Blood and Zombie Blood energy potions, which I had recently, this must have had a good amount of caffeine, because I felt a boost within 15-20 minutes. I was wide awake and ready to head out and go to work. Next time I will pour myself 8 oz of water to speed up the intake process and hopefully experience the flavour better. In another 10 minutes I started to feel a little jittery and felt all of the caffeine kicking in. In another 10 minutes I was fully wired. The kick lasted for quite some time and at the end I did not feel a crash, I just felt kind of normal. Not bad, but next time I will definitely try using less water.

Energy Blend (1,680.7 mg):

• L-Taurine
• d-Glucoronolactone
• Caffeine
• Ginkgo Biloba

Other Ingredients: citric acid, inulin, maltodextrin, natural and artificial flavours, polyethylene glycol, sucralose, canola oil, caramel color

Scores:
Cost - $1.00 per tab from King of Caffeine
Taste - 7.7/10...possibly more if less water were used
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 15.7/20...decent flavour and a great kick for only $1

EBOOST Health Energy Drink Mix Review

Last night a small package from ThinkGeek arrived and good thing that it did because I had one very sleepless night and I am exhausted this morning. The first thing I decided to try was the pack of EBOOST that I bought for $5.99. There are 5 packets inside, which can make 5 orange flavoured energy drinks.

Of all the powdered energy drinks that I have tried, this has to have the best packaging design. It is well organized, laid out and the color combination is pleasing to my eyes. The packets dissolve in water and make a cloudy, orange/carrot colored drink with a thin pale orange foam ring around the edges of the glass.

The drinks smells and tastes like an orange/tangerine combination with a little bit of salt. The resulting drink is non-carbonated, which helps it go down easy in a few large gulps. There is some diet taste and aftertaste which shows up about a minute after consumption, but does not linger for long. What stays for a while is a subtle tangerine aftertaste. Overall this is a solid tasting energy drink, which could be made better if juice was used instead of water.

There is no indication of the amount of caffeine present in each packet, but I know there is some since there is Green Tea Extract. The back states that the EBOOST blend is 1,050 mg and breaks it down, but does not give the individual amounts. Good thing I am really tired because judging the energy kick will be easy. I did not experience a sudden rush of energy due to the lack of sugar, but after 10 - 15 minutes, I started to feel more focused on my morning tasks. Within 20 minutes I was feeling much better, but I still wasn't fully awake and energized. I was feeling calm and focused, but did not have the strength to do anything physical. I felt this way for some time, but I wished there was something more, like a hard caffeine hit just to get my gears going. I could have made the drink much stronger if I had added a caffeine mixer like 5150.

I think EBOOST will make the perfect afternoon drink when you want to fight off the sleep, but don't want to caffeinate yourself so you can't sleep.

Medicinal Ingredients (1,050 mg blend):

• Green Tea Leaf Extract
• Glucuronolactone
• 5-HTP
• Huperzine-A
• Vinpocetine
• Astragalus Membranaceus Root Extract
• Grape Seed Extract

Other Ingredients: citric acid, maltodextrin, potassium bicarbonate, potassium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, natural flavours, potassium citrate, beta carotene color, beet color, silica, neotame, sucralose.

Scores:
Cost - $5.99 online through ThinkGeek or EBOOST's website
Taste - 8.2/10
Energy - 6.5/10

Overall - 14.7/20...a compact, great tasting drink with a unique energy kick

ZizZazz Raspberry Lemon Explosive Energy Mix Review

Last year I tried one of the other ZizZazz flavours, but used too little and found the resulting mixture to be too bland for my liking. This time I will not repeat my mistake. I got this powdered packaged for only $0.99 from 7-11 after they decided to cut most of the caffeinated products from their stores to sell cheap DVDs and games. There are a bunch of other discounted energy products so if you wish to get loaded on caffeine, the time is now.

I filled my Nalgene bottle with exactly 16 oz of water and poured the whole ZizZazz package in. Unlike the other ZizZazz mixture, this one did not take too long to dissolve completely into a cloudy, pinkish liquid. The resulting mixture had a weird cough syrup smell with hints of lemon and berries. The taste is not bad. It tastes a lot like a diet non-carbonated soft drink. The lemon flavour attacks the tongue at the beginning, but goes away very quickly. I wouldn't call the second flavour raspberry as it is more like just berries. That flavour also goes away quickly due to the artificial sweetener used which makes the finish very, very sweet and makes way for a nasty, bitter flavour which lasts for quite some time in the aftertaste. The bitterness is also weird as it just feels that way on your tongue, kind of like when you chew on a bitter pill and some of the powder stays stuck to your tongue. At least I found that if you wish to get some flavour of these ZizZazz powders, you have to use the whole package.

The resulting 16 oz drink contains 200 mg of caffeine, which is pretty respectable. I started to wake up and feel energized in about 20 minutes which could be from the caffeine, or something else. By the 20 minute mark I had consumed more than half the drink so the energy escalated from none to pretty good in matter of minutes. I did not feel jittery or experience a headache, which is always a plus. Another 20 minutes later and the whole mixture gone, I was feeling very, very energized...but I also had plenty of sleep. The boost lasted for a very long time and I did not feel a crash at the end. For something that costs less than a dollar, this works amazingly.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Taurine - 483 mg,
• Vitamin C - 300 mg
• Caffeine - 200 mg
• Niacin - 30 mg
• Pantothenic Acid - 10 mg
• Glucuronolactone - 8.75 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 3.4 mg
• Vitamin E - 1.35 mg
• Green Tea Extract - 70 mcg
• Ginseng Extract - 70 mcg
• Alpha Lipoic Acid - 70 mcg
• Rhodiola Rosea Extract - 70 mcg
• Folic Acid - 200 mcg
• Vitamin A - 90 mcg
• RAE - Vitamin B12 - 60 mcg
• Vitamin D - 5 mcg

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: maltodextrin, citric acid, dextrose, fructose, phenylalanine, sucralose, natural fruit flavour, natural beet juice, acesulfame potassium, natural salt.

Wow, I was not expecting this many medicinal ingredients in such a tiny package for a powdered drink. Look at that list, most of the energy drinks that I drink have only half of those ingredients.

Scores:
Cost - $0.99 for a 7g package from 7-11
Taste - 6.7/10
Energy - 8.5/10

Overall - 15.2/20...the artificial sweetener is overpowering and there is a bitter tone in the aftertaste, but there is plenty of energy for less than a dollar

Intense NRG Energy Mix Grape Review

I am quickly running out of things to try. In order to find something new, I have to drive around and stop at every gas station, 7-11 or convenience store. Now I have decided to start trying a few things I have been avoiding for a while, things you can find in most stores - energy drink powders. This NRG powder cost me $1.49 and I am supposed to dissolve it in 500 mL of water. I am trying stay consistent here, so I decided to dissolve it in 473 mL of water.

The powder itself has a strong, sweet grape scent and dissolved rather well. OK, the pleasant powder scent is one thing, but once it was fully dissolved in the water, the resulting solution had a fairly bad, sharp smell like rotting fruits. I was still able to detect trace amounts of grape, but the bad smell was overwhelming. The taste is actually not as bad as the smell. It tastes like a well diluted cheap grape juice. There are still hints of that horrid typical NRG shot taste, but they are easily lost. The grape flavour is there mostly in the finish and is very mild. The finish in the long run is fairly clean with just a slight hint of grape, but that's because you are using water to dissolve the powder.

The package says that there are 2.4 grams of energy ingredients, but that could be anything. I tried finding information online, but nothing came up. This product is not even listed on the company's website. The only products listed are the 4 energy shots they sell. The only results I was getting were from online stores to buy a box of these. Well, I will try to ballpark the caffeine content based on my experience with this.

I felt waking up around 25 - 30 minutes after consuming half the drink. The experience for the next hour was a bit underwhelming. I was expecting a torrent of uncontrollable energy, instead I got a jittery feeling for a few minutes and nothing more. By that point I had already consumed 2/3'rds of the drink. Once finished with the entire drink, I started experiencing some more jitters, but energy wasn't as intense as I was expecting it to be. Two hours later I was feeling rather normal and just slightly pepped up. I would have to guess that there are around 140-160 mg of caffeine in the packet. The powder is definitely less effective than their energy shots, but a lot more tolerable to consume.


Scores:
Cost - $1.49 CAD for a packet
Taste - 5.2/10...unlike the NRG shots, this is tolerable once you get past the smell
Energy - 7.4/10

Overall - 12.6/20...tolerable taste, enough energy for something that costs $1.49