REVIEW OF XYIENCE ZENERGY BLU POM

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 200 MILLIGRAMS PER 16 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 7.3 OUT OF 10.

I'm back with a another review of Xyience Xenergy. This time, the flavor is called Blu Pom and this was actually requested by a classmate of mine, so this review is for him and all the rest of you guys/girls. Xyience is also the official energy drink of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is a form of extreme Mixed Martial Arts fighting. So anyway, I busted open the can and took a few sips. Immediately I notice the unmistakable flavor of artificial sweeteners along with what seemed to be some sort of a pomegranate flavor. It didn't taste a lot like pomegranate juice, and the artificial sweeteners ruined the flavor. I know it sounds like the drink is terrible, but all things considered the drink didn't actually taste that bad. If you want a good Xyience drink, go for the Orange Fuel flavor. Xyience brings some UFC style heat with their energy blend. It has 2,680 milligrams of taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, guarana extract, panax ginseng extract, inositol, and l-carnitine. Not to mention it has 200 percent daily value of vitamin B3, 500 percent daily value of vitamin b6, 160 percent daily value of vitamin b12, and 1,000 percent daily value of vitamin b5. The caffeine content roles in at 200 milligrams of caffeine, making it close to the industry standard of 150-200 milligrams. So I drank it this morning and the kick lasted a couple of hours without a crash. The overall effect was at a medium level and never spiked. To wrap things up, this flavor of Xyience Xenergy is not really a favorite of mine. I think that the flavor could be improved and that they should try harder to mask the flavors of artificial sweeteners.

REVIEW OF MONSTER REHAB

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 170 MILLIGRAMS PER 16 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 9.6 OUT OF 10.

I know I'm a bit late to the punch, but my gas stations don't have Monster M3, or the new Rockstar Recovery. Thankfully, I did find Monster Rehab, and to put this review in a few words: I highly recommend it.  The design is pretty cool, with a golden yellow and black label behind a black Monster M. I would put this as not only the best Monster packaging, but also one of the best I've seen, ever. The flavor is described on the can as a lemonade and tea mix. If you've ever had Arnold Palmer, this tastes pretty similar. It has a very refreshing and smooth lemonade flavor with a hint of tea. Unlike Arnold Palmer which is half lemonade, half ice tea, this has more lemonade flavor but the tea takes away any sourness. Unfortunately, it's only 5 percent juice but I've never seen a lemonade drink with 100 percent juice, otherwise they would call it lemon juice, which is sour and doesn't taste very good. The taste isn't the only thing that's amazing. Monster continues to impress me with there awesome energy blends, and this one is even bigger than the original. It has 200 percent daily value of vitamin b3. 200 percent daily value of vitamin b5, 200 percent daily value of vitamin b6, 200 percent daily value of vitamin b12, 2,000 milligrams of taurine, 400 milligrams of panax ginseng, and an energy blend topping 6,455 milligrams which has glucose, black tea extract, caffeine, concentrated coconut water, milk thistle extract, quercetin, l-carnitine, glucuronolactone, guarana, inositol, acai extract, goji berry extract, and mangosteen extract. Now I'm sorry but you just don't find blends like these every day. I won't go into any detail but let's just say this is one of the best energy blends I've ever seen. So far, so good for Monster Rehab. But how does the kick perform. Well, according to Energy Fiend, the caffeine content comes in at 170 milligrams per 16 ounce can. Combine that with some great energy enhancing ingredients and re-hydrating ingredients and you get yourself a killer drink. Of course, I have had stronger kicks before, but I really like how Monster Rehab hydrates you and gives you that energy drink buzz at the same time. There is no crash at all, since there is only 6 grams of sugar and 20 calories. To conclude, Monster Rehab will go down as one of my all-time favorite offerings from them. The rating is an incredible 9.6 out of 10. You have to try this drink.

REVIEW OF MANA HEALTH POTION

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 160 MILLIGRAMS PER 1.69 OUNCE BOTTLE.

RATING: 8.9 OUT OF 10. 

Here we have what could possibly be another Energy Product of the Month contender. So far, only 1 product has caught my eye this month. Let's find out how this one performs. First of all, it's made by Harcos Laboratories and they make some of the coolest energy products around. Remember that Zombie Blood I reviewed? Harcos made that. They also make Mana Potion energy shots (I will be trying the health potion). Ok, enough fluff, let's get going. I've never been a huge gamer, although I do enjoy a view rounds of Call of Duty from time to time. I'm a huge fan of racing games and first person shooters. This energy product is geared toward the World of Warcraft/Role Playing Game crowd. It comes in a nice looking bottle that looks exactly like a health potion bottle. The packaging is really top notch and any World of Warcraft junkie would love this. I poured some of the contents into a shot glass. The color is a vibrant red, almost like a fruit punch color. The taste is a delicious cherry flavor with only a slight medicinal flavor. It's sort of like cherry flavored cough medicine, only less medicinal tasting. I wouldn't say it's the best tasting shot I've ever had but it's certainly up there pretty high. The energy blend is also pretty sweet. It's got 80 percent daily value of vitamin b1, 80 percent daily value of pantothenic acid, 1,600 percent daily value of vitamin b6, 100 percent daily value of vitamin b12, 50 percent daily value of folic acid, 50 percent daily value of biotin, and a 1,560 milligram energy blend consisting of glucuronolactone, l-taurine, dl-phenylalanine, n-acetyl l-tyrosine, caffeine, ginseng root extract, and elderberry juice concentrate. 13 energy enhancing ingredients and over 1,601 milligrams is pretty nice, especially when it's smaller than most energy shots. The caffeine content is a great 160 milligrams per bottle. That's like cramming a Monster into a bottle less than the size of a 5 Hour Energy. It actually comes out to about 95 milligrams of caffeine per ounce. That's nearly 3 times as concentrated as the Cocaine Energy Drink I reviewed several months ago. So in energy drink math it's 3 times as powerful as Cocaine Energy Drink. Unfortunately, the kick wasn't 3 times stronger. But don't get me wrong, the kick is fantastic. It's not overpowering and it's the first drink I've had in a while where I could really feel an uplift in energy. Overall, this product shines quite brightly. It's got a great flavor, a potent energy blend, and a kick that could keep any WOW player up for hours. 8.9 out of 10. Probably one of the best energy shots I've ever had.

REVIEW OF ETERNAL ENERGY INKED WILD BERRY

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 222 MILLIGRAMS PER 2 OUNCE SHOT.

RATING: 8.5 OUT OF 10.

I've been reviewing energy products for over 2 years and I have never seen a package designed by a famous tattoo artist. Popular tattoo artist Tony Ciavarro is doing just that, designing energy shot labels. And just look at the photograph, where are you going to find a label as cool and as detailed as that? The only problem is, while they could get a tattoo artist to do the label, they couldn't get a beverage expert to do the flavor. This has always been a problem with energy shots. They cram all of these energy ingredients into a tiny package and the result can be terrible. The flavor I had was wild berry, and I was assuming it would be a 5 Hour Energy clone. I poured some in a shot glass and it comes out an amber color, similar to a Red Bull or Monster. Taking a sip I get an artificial berry flavor with a good amount of bite. It is actually quite tasty and I didn't need a chaser. I wouldn't go as far as to saying it's a 5 Hour clone, but they do taste similar. I actually like Eternal Energy better. It also has a nice blend. Let's go through the performance figures. 166.67 percent daily value of niacin, 2,020 percent daily value of vitamin b6, 101 percent daily value of folic acid, 8,416 percent daily value of vitamin b12, and a 2,000 milligram energy blend consisting of taurine, caffeine, maltodextrin, green tea extract, d-glucuronolactone, guarana extract, elderberry extract, d-calcium pantothenate, n-acetyl l-tyrosine, garcinia cambogia, grape seed extract, yerba mate extract, beta-alanine, dl-phenylalanine, l-phenylalanine, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, l-theanine, and folic acid. So this small, 2 ounce shot crams in about 20 energy enhancing ingredients. Yikes! Seriously, I have never seen that many ingredients crammed into an energy shot. That is just incredible. You would assume then, that the kick would be great with all of those ingredients running through me. Unfortunately, it isn't great. It's decent, but not great. If I were to give it a letter grade, it would be somewhere between a C and a C+. The caffeine content is 222 milligrams per shot. The kick doesn't ruin this product, at all. It's still a tasty energy shot with a huge energy blend. Final rating? 8.5 out of 10. If I don't see any drinks with a 9 out of 10 or higher, this could very well be nominated for April's Energy Product of the Month. In fact, it may even win. 

REVIEW OF ROCKET CHOCOLATE ORANGE BLAST

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 42 MILLIGRAMS PER CHOCOLATE.

RATING: 7.9 OUT OF 10.

Ah, chocolate. Just the sound of the word will melt anyone's taste buds. Chocolate is mostly used as a guilty pleasure, but some experts say that dark chocolate could be good for you because of it's antioxidants. Chocolate can also be used as an aphrodisiac and, of course, as a source of caffeine. A 1.45 ounce Hershey's Special Dark bar has 18 milligrams of caffeine. A Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar has about 9 milligrams and a Hershey's Chocolate Kiss has just 1 milligram. Considering Coca-Cola has 34 milligrams of caffeine, it's hard to see why some people think chocolate has a lot of caffeine. Of course, there are some chocolates that want to up the pace a little bit. Enter Rocket Chocolate. Each small piece has 42 milligrams of caffeine. Pop two and you'll be getting more caffeine than a Red Bull. They come in many different flavors and I will review as many as I can. First up is orange blast. The packaging is typical child-fun chocolate. The wrapper is orange and sports a smiling rocket blasting off into space, or something. The chocolate is solid, um, chocolate. Meaning, it has no filling. I usually don't enjoy milk chocolate but this was delicious. I may not have been able to detect an orange flavor but the chocolate was silky smooth. I'm a huge dark chocolate fan but I think there's some room left over for this milk chocolate masterpiece. As mentioned earlier, each piece has 42 milligrams of good ol' caffeine. No taurine, no b vitamins, no guarana, no anything. Just straight up caffeine. And being a junkie I had two which gave me 84 milligrams of caffeine and a pretty decent boost. It's similar to what you would find in one of the big boys (i.e. Red Bull). It's hard to say how long it lasted but I'll put it around 3 hours, give or take. Overall, Rocket Chocolate is a pretty well-developed product. For a milk chocolate the taste is delicious, the caffeine content is pretty nice and the kick is about average. 7.9 out of 10.

REVIEW OF MAD CROC SLAMMIN CITRUS

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 40 MILLIGRAMS PER PIECE.

RATING: 7.6 OUT OF 10.

Yesterday, I told you that I decided to limit myself on how much caffeine I could take. I decided it was pointless and now I'm here reviewing another flavor of Mad Croc gum. The thing is, there's this new thing on my blog called Energy Product of the Month and every month I pick 3 to 5 nominees for the best product that month. If I can't review anything this month, then who is going to win the award? And of course I don't want to disappoint my 7,000 monthly visitors. I've got a lot of products left to review from Chemical Evolution, so stay tuned, this should be a great month. Here we have another flavor of Mad Croc gum, called Slammin Citrus. The packaging is the exact same as all the other Mad Croc gums except it is yellow to let you know what the flavor is. And speaking of flavor, this tastes like any other citrus gum out there. The taste is almost indescribable, but what I can say was that the gun felt pretty tough and there was some caffeine bitterness. But overall, I enjoyed this piece of gum. I don't think I would have it over the power peppermint flavor, but that's just me. Ok, moving on now to the energy enhancing ingredients list. 2 pieces contain 50 percent daily value of riboflavin, 100 percent daily value of niacin, 100 percent daily value of vitamin b6, 100 percent daily value of vitamin b12, 80 percent daily value of pantothenic acid, 80 milligrams of caffeine, and an undisclosed amount of taurine. So it has the signature energy blend of caffeine, taurine, and b-vitamins. Pretty good for an energy gum. After consuming two pieces and getting as much caffeine as a Red Bull, the effect is what I would call medium. It got me out of my morning slump a little bit and worked about as well as any other average energy drink, such as Red Bull. Overall, Mad Croc Slammin Citrus is just an energy gum that just so happens to taste like a cornucopia of citrus flavors, have a decent blend, and deliver a good punch. I think I'll give it a 7.6 out of 10.

REVIEW OF BAWLS MINTS

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 5 MILLIGRAMS PER MINT.

RATING: 4.1 OUT OF 10.

If you're following me on Twitter, this review might confuse you. For those of you who don't know, I was taking the "no caffeine for a month" challenge. I decided to modify it and make it the "keep it under 50" challenge. This means I can have caffeine, but I must limit it to 50 milligrams a day. That's about a cup of black tea. I think that sounds more reasonable and it means I can still review some products. So, what's in store for today? How about mints with some Bawls? That's right, Bawls Energy Drink now makes mints. Actually, they've made these mints for years now but I haven't gotten a hold of them until now. They aren't technically mints, but rather a carbonated candy. Each mint will give you 5 milligrams of caffeine coming from guarana, of course. The packaging is also pretty cool, being very lively and exciting, even though this probably won't wake you up. The flavor is actually pretty good. Popping a couple in my mouth I get a sweet candy flavor with some carbonation. If you've ever had those carbonated Jones Soda candies, the feeling is just the same. It's fun to just put one on the tip of your tongue and have it fizz away. Like I mentioned earlier, each mint contains just 5 milligrams of caffeine. This means that 16 mints equals a Red Bull and 32 mints equals a Monster. If you manage to down all 75 mints, you'll be looking at 375 milligrams (about the same as 5 Red Bulls or 2.5 Monsters). I only had about 5 or 6 since these are marketed for taste, or at least they should be. My advice is to eat about 10, that will give you about 50 milligrams, about the same as a can of Mountain Dew. I consider Bawls Mints a novelty caffeine item. They won't pump you up at all unless you eat about a dozen of them, but a caffeinated candy with carbonation (alliteration for the win) is cool. 4.1 out of 10. Keep in mind that the rating is an average of taste, energy blend, and kick. I gave the taste a 7.8, the blend a 1.5 (it's only 5 milligrams, what do you expect) and the kick a 3 (that may have been generous). Average that out and you get 4.1.