SLAP Frozen Energy Crisp Apple Review

Last week I got a box of these SLAP Frozen Energy drinks and right away I threw them in the fridge and started counting the minutes until they were fully frozen and I could try one.

When I first saw this product online I thought that the packages were small, much like the Gatorade pouches you can buy in stores. To my surprise, these pouches are much larger since they do contain 300 mL of liquid. Here is a photo for reference.

I left the pouches to freeze overnight and when I took one out to try it the next morning, it was completely frozen. I was a bit surprised since I expected them to semi-freeze. Fortunately the manufacturer was one step ahead of me since they had included a short list of instructions - "give SLAP 3 minutes to soften". Well I did and it sort of worked. After 3 minute the drink was still mostly frozen so I decided to give it a few squeezes. That helped since the heat from my hands helped soften the drink a bit more and the squeezing helped break it into smaller pieces. Could not wait to try it.

Taste

SLAP is like the next level Freezie with its unique flavour and caffeine, minus the bright color. Drinking it....er...eating it is a bit awkward at first since it is hard to get something semi-frozen out through a narrow opening. Good thing the manufacturers have figured this out as well and provided instructions - squeeze it!!! Yes, squeezing the base, coupled with sucking on the opening gets all the frozen goodness out of the pouch and into your mouth. The last bit at the bottom is also consumed in a manner similar to consuming a Freezie - squeezing all the juice from the bottom up to your mouth while rolling the package.

The apple flavour is candy-like and sweet and starts off great, however, there is an odd fragrant note which takes over shortly and lasts well into the finish. I cannot quite put my finger on what this flavour is or where it comes from, but I did find it a bit distracting. The apple flavour is still there, however, it takes a backseat to the stronger rogue note. The aftertaste is great with a subtle sweet apple flavour.

The drink is sweet and the sweetness builds up, however, if you give it a few minutes between sips/gulps/mouthfuls, the sweetness does go down to a more reasonable level. To be honest I am not too surprised by this since there are 230 calories and 63 grams of sugar in the 300 mL pouch!!!

I greatly enjoyed this on a hot summer mid-morning, but I do wish there was a bit less sugar. Once I was done with the pouch I had to get a glass of water to hydrate myself and get the sweetness level in my mouth down a notch.

Energy

There are 140 mg of caffeine in the pouch, but is it really 25% more than leading brands? Here is some quick math:

• SLAP - 140 mg/300 mL = 0.467 mg caffeine/mL
• Red Bull - 80 mg/250 mL = 0.32 mg caffeine/mL
• Monster/Rockstar (average) - 160 mg/473 mL = 0.338 mg/mL

Difference - 38% to 46%....wait...this doesn't make sense...here is another comparison:

• SLAP - 140 mg/300 mL
• Red Bull - 112 mg/355 mL

Difference - 25%...but the base is different.

Anyways, the energy delivery is pretty smooth since it took me some time to suck/squeeze the contents of the pouch out into my mouth. I did not experience any jitters, but if I were more skilled in extracting the contents, I could have probably consumed the 63 grams of sugar in a much shorter time. I felt awake within 15-20 minutes and felt energized and great within another 10. The energy lasted for a couple of hours and then I started to experience a bit of a crash. Yes...all that sugar and caffeine were taking their toll. 

All in all this is a pretty unique drink that is fantastically refreshing on hot summer days, but I don't think it will appeal to me in the winter time.

Scores:

Cost - $2.50

Taste - 7/10

Energy - 7.5/10

Overall - 14.5/20...very sweet and syrupy due to the high amount of sugar, but if you drink/eat it slowly, you will not experience any jitters