Chargers Chocolate Espresso Beans
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I just realized how much I love chocolate covered espresso beans. I like them A LOT. Today we’ll check out Chargers chocolate espresso beans. Chargers come in a clever battery shaped tin that’s black and red in color and reads “Get Charged.” The tin is pretty small, about 2 inches tall, and has a pop off cap. Inside of Chargers’ tin are about 8 little red chocolate espresso beans, it seems like there’s not a lot, but they pack quite a punch, about 200-240mg of caffeine!
Like I just said, these things taste great! They’re like those bosten baked bean candies (the peanuts, you know what I’m talking about), but they’re even better because they’re caffeinated and taste like, well, coffee! The beans have a slight candy taste and are a bit chocolatey too. More so, however, they taste like coffee beans. Some of the products our there taste more like chocolate or candy than coffee, but Chargers’ beans have a coffee flavor that overpowers the chocolate, in a good way.
If you want to try these babies out for yourself, you can buy them online here for as little as $1.69.
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Shock-A-Lots
If Mars, Inc wanted to start bringing in the cash, they’d follow Shock Coffee’s footsteps and make coffee bean M&Ms. That’s what Shock-A-Lots: Chocolate Covered Coffee Bean Candy reminds me of – peanut M&Ms that have had the peanuts replaced with coffee beans. If you’re like me and you like chocolate covered coffee/espresso beans, you’ll love Shock-A-Lots! Even if you don’t like chocolate covered coffee beans, you’ll still love this confection.
Shock-A-Lots come in a bag of 12-16 coffee beans that are covered in chocolate and a delicious hard candy shell, I tried one at first, and then proceeded to pour the rest of the bag’s contents into my mouth. They’re THAT good. These little candied beans offer a new twist on the classic chocolate covered coffee beans, and delivers a nice kick of energy. The packaging states that each serving (one bag, 12-16 beans) contains the equivalent of 2+ cups of coffee. From that, I’m guessing somewhere between 200-240mg of caffeine, which is more than your average energy drink.
If you want some of these fellows for yourself ChemicalEvolution has bags for $1.69-1.99 and you can buy a box (12 bags) straight from Shock Coffee too.
Loud Truck Energy Gummies
Well, what do we have here? The generous folks at Chemical Evolution sent us some awesome products to review, and, well, we plan to review them! The products in the limelight today are Loud Truck Gummies; two different flavors of caffeinated, fruity, gummies!
The first of the two varieties are the citrus blast gummies. The bag is white and orange, features a green dragon, and boasts both no-crash energy and U.S.A pride. Each bag of the citrus blast gummies comes with 9 (the bag claims 9, but I lucked out and got 10!) energy packed gummi bears. Yep, that’s right, they’re gummi bears! One bag contains 32mg of caffeine, 36mg of taurine, 220mg of Vitamin C, and 60 calories. For a pack of 9 (or 10) gummi bears, that’s not bad! Upon opening the bag, there’s a great orangey, citrusy smell. As for the taste, the gummies have a great taste, there’s a hint of orange – they’re not overly powered, and they’re not bitter either. I like these a lot, and for 99 cents, it’s not a bad deal either.
The second bag contains the red blast variety, the stronger, cherry flavored variety of the two. This variety boasts twice the kick – 64mg of caffeine, 72mg of taurine, and 450mg of Vitamin C. The great part is that these are only 99 cents as well, twice the kick for the same price. These are just as good as the other variety, they have a mild cherry taste, and a great cherry aroma as well.
This is a great product, they’re caffeinated gummi bears, what’s not to love? If you want to try them out you can get the citrus blast ones here, or the red blast here.
Kick Brix Energy Chews
If you keep up with Caffeine Guru reviews, it’s pretty obvious that the non-drink part of the caffeine market is rapidly expanding. Luckily for us, we’ve got our hand on one of the newest products on the market: Kick Brix. Kick Brix are caffeinated energy chews that promise “A monster kick without the bull.” After trying these things out, I have to agree. Kick Brix come individually wrapped and come in both 5-chew bags and economy sized tubs (good for the office or the kitchen counter). To best understand this product, think of large Starbursts packed with caffeine (is your mouth watering yet? 
)
At the moment, Kick Brix come in two flavors, “Citrus” and “Berry Blast”. The 5-chew bag comes with both flavors, so we can check out both of them today. When you pop of these chews in your mouth, you’ll notice that at first they’re a little hard. After a second or two though, they soften up and are no problem at all to chew. Another thing I noticed, which I found interesting, was the chews strong menthol taste. The addition of menthol really makes these things stand out and it gives a relaxing feeling as the menthol clears your sinuses and throat. The first flavor, Berry Blast, comes in the red wrapper and is the slightly darker of the first two, whereas the Citrus flavor comes in orange wrapper and is a little lighter. Both flavors have the added menthol and have a hint of a fruit in them. The Citrus one has a more orange-based taste, and the Berry Blast tastes like, well, berries. To be honest, it’s hard for me to put my finger on the exact flavor due to the menthol, but they both taste great and are quite enjoyable.
Kick Brix only have 25 calories per chew, are sugar free, and contain 300mcg (1500%) of Vitamin B12. Also, these each contain a 150mg blend of panax ginseng, taurine, and caffeine. For those of you wondering about the amount of caffeine, each chew packs a punch of 90mg of caffeine per chew.
If you want to try some Kick Brix for yourself, they are currently having a promotion and are giving away free samples at their website!
Foosh Energy Mints
Not too long ago, the folks over at Vroom Foods amazed me with their ability to cram 100mg of caffeine into tiny little chocolate chews. My mind had trouble comprehending such a feat, and I finally have decided that the company must use some sort of magic or tiny gnomes to get high concentrations of caffeine into their candies. Regardless of how they do this, they have done it again through their seriously caffeinated Foosh Energy Mints. Foosh Energy Mints are available in two packages; either a 12-mint tin or a 6-mint case (shown in the picture). Each mint contains 100mg of caffeine, which is more than an 8oz RedBull and equal to the amount of caffeine in Vroom Buzz Bites.
Unlike other caffeinated candies, Foosh Mints contain no sugar, and aren’t bitter from the caffeine. I was extremely tired this morning, and decided to pop one in my mouth to see how well they work, and the caffeine from these little buggers is what’s allowing me to write this review right now. Foosh Mints are about the size of my thumbnail and are fairly thick. I tried to bite into it at first, and realized it’s easier said than done; these things are tough! After a few minutes of a delightful minty flavor that cleared my sinuses, the mint had dissolved enough for me to bite it because I am impatient and do not like to wait for mints to dissolve. The entire time, the Foosh kept its minty flavor and supplied me with enough caffeine to wake me up, and gave me fresh breath (as opposed to coffee with gives me terrible breath).
The concept of Foosh Mints is great! The small packages allow you to carry several mints with you for when you may need a sudden burst of energy. Foosh Mints don’t cause a crash, are sugar free, very minty, and contain 5 calories, 100mg of caffeine and a lot of vitamin B in each mint. Foosh Mints are also made with natural peppermint, making this a healthy and convenient product. Foosh also can deliver the best “buzz for you buck” (you like that phrase? I just made it up, and I just coined it as my own) as the cost per 100mg of caffeine is only $.25, where as energy drinks will cost more than a dollar for an equal, or lesser, kick. So if you want to spend some money on caffeine, and you want a good deal, Foosh Mints are one of the best deals in the market.
If you want to get some of your own, you can buy some through Vroom Foods, and if you’re a first time customer they’ll treat you to some stickers and a few extra mints!
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Maxxed Energy Pop
I came across this oddity the other day at a gas station when I was out of town. Being it the first energized lollipop I’ve seen, and being the sucker I am (haha), I couldn’t resist buying it (or making that terrible sucker pun). Maxxed Energy Pops are an “alternative energy source” for anyone that wants convenient energy on the go. Each pop comes in a small cardboard Pringles can type tube with a tabbed top for easy opening. The suckers, manufactured by Charms, LLC, are larger than your average Blow Pop and contain 40mg of caffeine. Maxxed also contains taurine, guarana, panax ginseng, and vitamin B12, putting it at the same level as many other energy products.
Maxxed Energy Pops are colored bright, neon green and come individually wrapped in gold foil. They are a little bitter from the high concentration of caffeine and the lemon-lime flavoring. If you don’t mind the slight sourness of the pop, then you’re good to go. If, on the other hand, you cringe at the thought of anything remotely sour, then I’d move on to something else if I were you. The site claims that Maxxed Pops are “50% larger” than ordinary lollipops, and they’re right in their statement. This thing takes quite a while to finish (without biting it of course) and as I write this, I still haven’t finished it. The point of this product is to provide energy, and I do feel a little more wired since starting this, and the fact that you don’t get all the caffeine at once helps provide a consistent source of caffeine. If you want to check this out for yourself you can go over to the Maxxed Website, but as of right now the site’s a little outdated and glitchy.
FRS Lemon Lime Energy Chews
Today we’ll start off with the first of four FRS Healthy Energy Products, the Energy Chews. The chews come in a resalable bag of 30, and each chew is individually wrapped. With 20mg of caffeine per piece, these energy chews are obviously weaker than the Buzz Bites, but the FRS products are marketed as energy for workouts ad exercise, not for high caffeine content. Nevertheless, these chews contain caffeine and deserve a spot on CaffeineGuru. When I opened the bag of these chews, an amazing aroma of lemon-lime overcame me. The actual smell of the chew alone is a little less ambrosial, but it still isn’t bad. The taste of the chew is a little weaker than the smell, a tad sour (form the caffeine and vitamins), with a hint of lemon-lime, and the texture is a little on the gritty side. Overall, it isn’t bad though, while the caffeine content is low, it still provides a small kick, and claims to provide essential nutrients such as quercitin and vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C and E. The small size of the chews makes it easy and convenient to get a boost of energy on the go, or for a workout. If you’re interested, you can get them and the other FRS products for free (well almost free, as there’s a shipping charge) here
and try them out for yourself.
Buzz Bites: Chocolate Energy Chews
The folks at Vroom Foods were kind enough to send a sample of two of their products, Buzz Bites, for review (just a side note, that I don’t bias reviews even if the supplier provides the product). Buzz Bites are caffeinated, chocolaty, candy chews that pack a whopping 100mg of caffeine, some taurine, and some ginseng per piece. Each tin contains 6 chews (only 25 calories a chew for anyone out there watching their figure), and costs around 4.00, or less, depending on how many you buy. This makes each chew average to a little over 50¢ a chew, which is a steal considering the chews contain more caffeine than some energy drinks and as much as a cup of coffee. So while 50¢ may be a lot for a plain old piece of candy, it’s worth paying for 100mg of caffeine instead of paying 2.29 for a less caffeinated Red Bull, or 2.00 for a cup of coffee. Buzz Bites come in two flavors: Chocolate, and Mint Chocolate. The chocolate ones taste like chocolate and have an ever so slight hint of bitterness after you chew it, which is to be expected considering the amount of caffeine in each mint. The mint chocolate ones, in my opinion, are better than the plain chocolate ones. They pack the same kick as the chocolate ones and are the same in every way, except for the flavor. They taste a lot like those Andes Mints, and they don’t have any bitterness, as the mint masks it. While I do prefer the mint ones, I really enjoyed both of these products a lot! The chews melt in your mouth and you feel the kick right away, faster than the kick from a cup of coffee. The chews are individually wrapped and easy to open, making Buzz Bites a great product to keep handy for when you need a quick boost. Finally, Buzz Bites didn’t give me a crash, making this product one of the best I’ve come across. You can get these Buzz Mints here, and they are becoming more available as they increase distribution.
Snickers Charged
I like Snickers and I love caffeine, so as you can imagine, I nearly wet myself with excitement when I learned I could get Snickers and caffeine together. Snickers Charged only cost me .79 and comes in a light gray wrapper with a rhinoceros on the front. The wrapper says limited edition, but I’m not sure if that means the product as a whole is limited, or just the wrapper is, but I’m leaning toward the thought that the product is limited. Snickers Charged is slightly smaller than a normal Snickers bar, and has 250 calories (normal sized bars have 280). It also contains 60mg of caffeine and 250mg of taurine per bar, and I was also glad that this limited edition Snickers tastes just like the normal bar and consists of the caramel, peanut, chocolate, and nougat that snickers has always had. The kick isn’t bad either, even though 60mg of caffeine isn’t that high compared to what other products have, it’s decent for a small candy bar, and very decent for less than 80 cents. The kick hit me after I finished most of the bar, and while it’s not a huge rush of energy, it’s enough to be noticeable and beneficial. Unfortunately, there’s bound to be a bit of a crash as Snickers is packed with sugar, but for the short term, Snickers Charged will deliver a kick. I found Snickers Charged at my local CVS, back in the drink section; so if you don’t find it at first, keep looking. I’d definitely recommend trying out Snickers Charged, it’s cheap, tasty, and gets the job done.
