Even the protein induced aisle can have it's share of caffeine. Sometimes I even see energy jelly beans and other times I see numerous chews. While at Harvest Health I bought two packets of Clif Energy Gel. One of them is a mocha flavor and the other is chocolate. I will be tackling both flavors today. First let's start with the mocha flavor. I did this sort of like medicine by squeezing it unto a spoon, until I realized my spoon couldn't hold every drop, so I made a small mess in the sink. The first thing I realized is how gunky and how sticky this is. It's a cross between a syrup and a gel. The cool thing is, these packets don't taste bad at all. Sure it's not your average Starbucks Mocha flavor but for a concentrated gel like this, it's pretty good. The only thing that might put people off is the stickiness. The second flavor I tried was the chocolate flavor. This is basically the same story as the mocha except it has no coffee flavor. It's still stick, gunky, and quite thick on the palate. After a quick swig of water, I had it down in no time. Right when I looked at the package I noticed this small phrase at the top of the packet. It said, "50 milligrams of caffeine". This equates to about the same amount as a weak shot of espresso or a can of Mountain Dew. Then I took a gander at the chocolate flavor. It didn't have any caffeine at all. No protein either. And no B Vitamins. So where is the supposed "energy"? Then I spotted it: carbohydrates. Both flavors have 25 grams of carbohydrates. They also make a double espresso version with 100 milligrams of caffeine. About as much as a cup of brewed coffee. Now, it says to take this about 15 minutes before a workout. Unfortunately, I wasn't what you would call ready when I took it, so I ended up taking it about half an hour before I fired up the treadmill. During my 1.5 mile warm-up run, I didn't really feel a whole lot from this. But I do realize that this stuff isn't exactly what you would call potent. After my run, I swallowed the second one with a swig of water and got to my boxing session. Again, not really a whole lot from this. It's hard to say what exactly your supposed to feel when you take these. Energy drinks are supposed to give you a boost of energy via caffeine, taurine, ginseng, guarana, etc. These packets are more like gelled versions of energy bars, only without the protein. It relies mostly on carbohydrates then it does anything else. Although I'm sure the double espresso would be nice. I think I will give this product a 6.5 out of 10.
