Mountain Dew Voltage, The Winner
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You may remember back to Summer 2008, in CaffeineGuru.com’s early days, when Mountain Dew had their promotional election (the DEWmocracy campaign) of a new flavor. We gave each a review: SuperNova, Revolution, and Voltage, and Dew fans around the world voted their favorite of these three flavors to the top. Well, Voltage won, and Mountain Dew has just finalized it as a new addition to the lineup! That’s right, Mountain Dew Voltage has hit the stores, and will stay around with the rest of its kin. While we already gave Voltage a review, we figured that in honor of its new status as a full time flavor (and the fact that we haven’t had any in a few months), that it deserves attention again.
Voltage arrives in an all-new bottle, with a bright, electric logo. The packaging proudly proclaims it as the winner and mentions that Voltage contains ginseng and it has a bright blue color to it. Upon opening this new Dew specimen, I was overcome with an aroma of raspberry; this stuff really smells fantastic! The raspberry smell has a hint of other citrusy fruits in it too, so it’s an interestingly good smell. The taste too is amazing, I can see why this won the competition, and I am no longer bitter about SuperNova losing to it. MD Voltage has a taste that’s as good as its smell, it’s rich taste is smooth, goes down well, and is consistent. While some drinks only give you a lingering moment of flavor after you drink it, Voltage provides a constant source of flavor. I’m really impressed with what Mountain Dew came up with, and I thank all of you that voted for this specific drink last summer.
This drink contains the same amount of caffeine as the rest of the Dews do (try saying “Dews do” ten times fast). The 20 oz bottle contains 91mg of caffeine, which amounts to 36mg per 8oz. Voltage contains 290 calories and 76g of sugar (wow), and a diet version should come out down the road. The bottle doesn’t say how much ginseng there is in it though.
Overall, Voltage definitely takes one of the top spots of drinks I’ve covered. I’d recommend everyone trying this at least once, whether you’re a Dew fan or now, it’s the only drink I’ve come across with this unique of a flavor, you won’t find anything else like it.
If you want more info (and prizes) relating to Voltage, then head on over to DEWmocracyVoltage.com
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bHIP Energy Mix
A lot of companies seem to be marketing energy drink mixes online now, and we’ve got our hands on bHIP energy. bHIP markets itself as a “New Breed of Energy,” and comes in individual 9.3-gram packets. The whole idea behind the packets is to allow for a more convenient, more portable energy drink that just requires some water. The company also tries to make the drink a social thing, and allows people to market the drink and to sell it themselves online. (We don’t sell any though, we just review, and we don’t entangle our reviews with profit) The directions say to mix one packet with 8oz of water, and we followed directions accordingly.
When you first open bHIP, you notice the dark red/brown powder. The powder itself doesn’t look all that enticing, but the powder smells a bit like fruit punch Kool-Aid, hopefully this stuff will have the same taste. After pouring this stuff into 8oz of water, I stirred the concoction up, let it settle and then put my taste buds to work. This drink mix still has a hint of the fruity smell from earlier, but it’s not as strong after being mixed with the water. This stuff also turns into a dark red concoction after being mixed, but I need to stop boring you all with details, it’s time to try t already! This stuff has a tiny hint of a fruit taste in it, but is also pretty bitter, and doesn’t taste as good as it smelled. In addition, some of the powder granules won’t dissolve, which leaves a bit of a grainy texture to this drink, and makes the last few sips really overpowering.
As for the nutrients and such, bHIP contains 24 calories per bag, 2g sugar, 30mg Vitamin C, 120mcg of Vitamin B12, and a 3000mg energy blend. bHIP is marketed as a natural energy supplement, and contains Acai berry and stevia leaf. The fact that it contains few calories and sugar helps boost this drink ratings, and it comes across as a similar drink to FRS.
Overall, it’s tough to say what I think of this stuff, its taste isn’t the best, but some people prefer a more natural tasting drink, it’s really all preference. We obtained this stuff from the bHIP Global website, where you can get 30 packets for $42 if you’re interested.
