Elite Ops Energy Strips Fierce Arctic Mint

Elite Ops Energy Strips is a new player on the energy strips field. They have little online presence since searching for the name will lead you to SAS and military-related information. Pretty cool to explore information, but I had a hard time finding any information about them and had to get creative with my search queries. For more information, just go directly to their website.

Elite Ops were developed to provide a lot of caffeine in a light and easy to carry package. My experiences with similar products have taught me that it is very difficult to hide the bitterness of caffeine in such a small volume, but we shall see how Elite Ops performs in a bit.

Taste

Right now Elite Ops energy strips come in a single flavor - Fierce Arctic Mint, but the creators are talking about bringing other flavors onto the market. I think mint is a very safe flavor to go with as an initial product because it is fresh and the oils should easily hide the bitterness from the active ingredients.

The strip has a rough and a smooth side and I tried placing both on my tongue to see which one would stick better, but both sides stuck to the top of my mouth, ripping the strip right off my tongue. That resulted in the strip turning into a ball but it wasn't a huge deal and it quickly dissolved both times.

Initially the strip has a very intense minty flavor, but after a few moments some bitterness comes through. It wasn't as much as I expected, though. Once stuck to your tongue, the fresh mint lingers throughout the entire time the strip is dissolving and well into the aftertaste, giving you a fresh breath for about 4-5 minutes. The bitterness is killed at first, but comes back once the strip is dissolved and adds a subtle bitter tone that sticks for a while.

Energy

Each strip contains 100 mg of caffeine and there are 8 strips in a box. Essentially in a little tiny packet, you are carrying the equivalent of 10 Red Bulls. Compared to other competitive energy strips, like Sheets, Elite Ops offers twice the amount of caffeine.

The energy strips take about 20-30 seconds to fully dissolve and the initial effects became apparent within 15-20 minutes. I didn't experience any jitters with the first strip, but when I had the second one 10 minutes later, I got a little shaky.

The full caffeine effects kick in in another 15 or so minutes and I felt super energized...especially having consumed 2 strips in quick succession. I had a bit of hard time focusing on mental work, but I had no problem doing physical work when I went outside 30 minutes later.

The effects lasted for about 4-5 hours and ended without any drama...yay no crash.

Despite the slow start, Elite Ops is a very powerful product. I think the package needs a bit of work, but once the money start rolling in, this will change. Look at Awake's initial packaging versus the new one....like night and day.

Scores:
Cost - $5.99 per pack
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 6.5/10 - 10/10 (depending on number of strips)

Overall - 15/20 to 18.5/20...minty fresh with a powerful kick