Early this week I received a shipment of caffeinated goodies, which I ordered from chemicalevolution.com. One of the items I ordered were the Mad-Croc chews, which I was really looking forward to trying after the success of their energy gums.
Originally, I was expecting the chews to taste like a mix of orange, lemon and strawberry, but when I opened the package, I realized that these are the individual flavors and there are 4 of the strawberry, 4 of the orange and only 2 of the lemon chews. I guess I had some chewing to be done.
Taste
Each of the chews comes in a size and wrapper not unlike that of Star-Burst. The only difference is how soft each of the chews is. When I grabbed one to pull it out, my fingers managed to leave two nice dimples. As I was unwrapping it, I also noticed how sticky it is. Due to the stickiness, unwrapping each one proves to be a challenge.
Lemon - a burst of lemon the moment you eat it. The taste gets more and more intense as you suck/chew on it and there is a bit of a citric bite at the end. Surprisingly, there is no bitterness while chewing/sucking on the chew. There is a bit of it, however, in the aftertaste. But don't worry, it is so subtle, it is barely noticeable.
Strawberry - a very dull initial taste, which gets better. Along with the improved strawberry taste comes a bit of bitterness, which is not very subtle. The aftertaste has a bit more bitterness than the lemon. Overall, not bad, but not as good as the lemon chew.
Orange - dull start, but a burst of orange flavor comes seconds after you eat it. Refreshing and the citrus taste managed to subdue any and all bitter notes. Some subtle ones appear in the finish, but will not ruin the experience.
Overall, these chews are absolutely fantastic. They taste so much better than all of the other ones I have had the pleasure, or displeasure, to try. The lemon and orange ones are very refreshing and tasty.
Energy
Though there is no clear indication of the amount of caffeine, the back of the pack states that each pack is equal to an 8 oz energy drink, which I can only assume means that each chew contains only 8 mg of caffeine. OK, that would explain the subtle bitterness and the great taste. When I first took the pack out of its shipping box, I merely glanced over it and thought that the back said that each chew is equal to an energy drink. "Awesome", I thought to myself.
Well, seeing how there are only 8 mg of caffeine, the effects are obviously, subtle...if you take one. Each one results in a bump similar to a deep yawn that gets some extra oxygen into your bloodstreams. But unlike the yawn, it does take a few minutes to feel the effects. Take 3 or more and then you can start feeling something. Take the entire pack and the effects are similar to that of a Red Bull, though last for just a bit longer and have a build up of bitterness in the back of your throat. Eating the entire pack also requires a lot of chewing, which did leave my mouth tired at the end. I would rather just drink a can of Red Bull.
Ingredients: corn syrup, sugar, water, palm oil, citric acid, gelatin, honey, mono- and diglycerides with BHT and citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, caffeine, egg whites, arabic gum, tapioca dextrin, calcium silicate, niacin amide, d-calcium pantothenate, FD&C red no 40, taurine, cyanocobalamin, FD&C yellow #6, pyrodixine hydrochloride, FD&C yellow #5, riboflavin.
Scores:
Cost - $2.00 from ChemicalEvolution.com
Taste - 9.5/10 for the lemon, 8/10 for the strawberry and 9.5/10 for the orange
Energy - 1/10 to 6/10
Overall - 9/20 to 15.5/20...great overall taste, but very little caffeine in each chew
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