Kick Brix Energy Chews
Hey CG readers! Check me out on Twitter and MySpace and make me feel loved! :P The Facebook page is coming too soon, and I'm still working on updating the Twitter and MySpace
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!
![[del.icio.us]](http://images.del.icio.us/static/img/delicious.small.gif){kind=small}
Max Velocity
I picked this drink up a while back at Albertson’s, when I was on the west coast. I had never seen this drink before, and due to the price of $0.88, curiosity got the best of me, and I bought a few. Max Velocity is a generic energy drink produced exclusively by Albertson’s, and can’t be found anywhere else(many thanks to Blue Fielder for pointing out that Albertson’s distributes this to other chains). I have to admit I don’t know what to expect from this drink, as it looks a little bland.
The packaging features a Cheetah running and the can reads that it’s an Energy Drink with taurine enhanced with B vitamins; that sounds very generic. The can is a dark brownish red and is 8.45oz. Each can contains 120 calories, 33g of sugar, lots of Vitamin B, taurine, and caffeine. Upon opening the can, the smell and the caramel-color jogged my memory and I realized what this was – a “poor man’s Red Bull.” Max Velocity, like many generic energy drinks, smells and tastes just like Red Bull, only a little less strong tasting. To be quite honest, it’s not bad like I thought it would be, it goes down smooth and doesn’t have any bad aftertaste or anything else that would make me not like it. Additionally, the fact that it’s only 88 cents is great! You could buy 3 of these for the price of one Red Bull; this basically is Red Bull without the name. The can also has a quality promise on the back, and offers a refund if you don’t like the drink. I’m happy to say that I won’t be calling that number, as while a generic drink, Max Velocity is worth the 88 cents and may come in handy when you need a cheap boost of energy.
Unfortunately, the caffeine content isn’t listed on the can, but I’ve contacted Albertsons, and I should hear back from them soon!
Loading ...
New Page: Discounts/Coupons
Hey CaffeineGuru readers,
We’ve got a new page to the site, the Deals/Coupons page! CaffieneGuru.com has always been dedicated to giving you the best possible information and reviews of caffeine and everything associated with it. Now we’re branching out; CaffeineGuru.com is now also dedicated to giving you the best deals on the products we review. Unlike other sites, we don’t spam affiliate links to overpriced online stores in an attempt to rip our readers off for cash. What we do is offer you exclusive coupons and the best deals to help you, not us. So take a look at what we have, get your favorite drink for less, or try out a new one for cheap! So what are you waiting for? – go and check it out!
-Caffeine Guru
24:7 Cherry Berry
24:7 Energy is one of the many available energy drinks on the markets and one of the many flavors is Cherry Berry. You can find 24:7 exclusively at Walgreens for about 3/5$, which is a little steeper price than it’s worth. Either way, no matter how high the price, I feel an obligation to society to try any product I cross paths with. Now that I’ve ranted about prices and societal obligations, let’s get to the actual drink. 24:7 Cherry Berry comes in a can similar to the other varieties; the can has a Matrix-like print style on the lower half, and a large digital 24:7 on the top half. This drink doesn’t live up to it’s name, as if it did provide 24/7 energy I would stop reviewing other drinks and invest all of my assets in PriLabs Inc (the manufacturer). However, if you constantly drink this you will stay up 24/7. Well at least until you stop drinking it, or die of an overdose of caffeine, whatever comes first!
Appropriately, this drink has a red color, but it’s a little lacking in the flavor. While 24:7 Cherry Berry does down smoothly due to its low carbonation, the taste is sour and kind of tastes like cough syrup. It’s not as nasty as cough syrup, it’s just the same cherry flavor, although the sourness makes this just as enjoyable of Kid’s Tylenol Cough Syrup (which isn’t good at all). The drink seems more like diluted cherry syrup than a carbonated energy beverage because it tastes artificial and unhealthy. Part of me thinks this may be a bad can, and it expired before the expiration date or something, and I may try it again in the future to confirm whether or not it’s this bad. Neither the site, nor the can, list the caffeine content, although I’ve read elsewhere that each can contains 160mg of caffeine. I think this may keep me up 24/7 after all as I might have nightmares from this.
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.
Wired X3000: Mango Passion Fruit
Well, I got this drink on the West Coast and have never seen this in my area; the can is bright yellow and has red stripes stretching vertically along the can. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this drink, because I wasn’t sure if it was a generic drink or not as I’ve never come across it (it isn’t by the way, it’s a brand name drink) but I was pleasantly surprised by it. When I first cracked the can open, a familiar aroma over came me, this drink smells just like NOS, and so far, this drink is already doing quite well in my opinion. Wired X3000: Mango Passion Fruit also tastes a bit like NOS, a very fruity and smooth taste. The taste is a little weaker than NOS, but still very good. The color is a light yellow-orange, and the drink isn’t overly carbonated, but isn’t flat either. Another aspect of this drink that certainly isn’t flat is the kick; this drink contains a whopping 3000mg of Taurine, 188mg of Caffeine, 100mg of Inositol and lots of Vitamin B, putting this drink ahead of most of it’s competitors in caffeine content. The kick stayed with me throughout the day and I didn’t crash from it. It is only available in a 16oz can, and the price was a little less than $2.00, making this drink one of the best deals I’ve come across to date.
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.
Rip It Energy Fuel: Power
I have to admit, as a 99¢ drink, I didn’t expect much from Rip It. However, the drink pleasantly surprised me all together. Rip It Energy Fuel is an energy drink by National Beverage Co, and can apparently be found at Wal-Mart, but I got it at Xoxide (it cost 1.09, but the 10¢ extra was worth it to not have to go out and look for it) and has a light greenish yellow color. Rip It has a strawberry taste to it, but the taste can best be described as ‘artificial’. You can tell Rip It uses HFCS because the strawberry flavoring is a little too sweet, and leaves a fairly nasty after taste. Other than that, this drink exceeded my original expectations! A 16 oz can of Rip It Energy delivers 180mg of caffeine, 2000mg of taurine and 20mg of guarana. While the energy blend as a whole is a little lacking in variety, 180mg of caffeine puts this drink ahead of your average energy drink caffeine wise. Rip It’s carbonation is also pretty nice, it’s not too carbonated, and it’s not flat, it’s the sweet spot right in between the two. The energy was surprising, while the ingredients show it’s not much more than a caffeine injected generic soda, the energy boost was actually pretty good, long lasting and more gradual than sudden. While Rip It energy is a little lacking in taste and ingredients, if you need a quick boost and only have a dollar, Rip It Energy is worth the 99¢.
AriZona Rx Energy Herbal Tonic [Updated]
I love AriZona Beverage Co and everything they make, and their Rx Energy beverage is no exception. AriZona’s Rx Energy isn’t like other energy drinks though, because the Herbal Tonic doesn’t contain carbonated water (or any carbonation for that matter) or artificial ingredients. This drink is made of: Green Tea, Mango (which gives this drink an amazing flavor), Pear and Lemon Juice, and Honey, so there’s no nasty aftertaste or weird chemical tastes in it like those low end, generic, energy drinks have. After drinking this stuff, I felt the effects of it right away. I became more alert, and was no longer tired. I became disappointed when I ran out of it, because the mango taste is absolutely amazing, and the fact that I cannot drink anymore of this until I go buy more upsets me. What makes this drink so great and interesting is the fact that it contains AriZona’s premium brewed green tea, which is found in their other products, giving Rx Energy a very distinct taste. Rx Energy comes in a 24 oz can, or in a 20 oz glass bottle (picture here) for .99 or 1.99, respectively. Buying the can is a much better deal, but the bottle is great if you are out and need to put it aside for a bit, which I would never do because I can’t not (hooray for double negatives) drink it. Herbal Tonic also contains Caffeine, Panax Ginseng and Siberian Ginseng, and Guarana, giving it the properties of an energy drink, which is why it’s labeled as a Tea and Energy Drink. I don’t know how much caffeine is in this, but I emailed AriZona earlier asking for the answer, so I’ll update this when they reply. A 24oz can of AriZona Rx Energy Herbal Tonic contains 90mg of caffeine (30mg per 8oz), which isn’t as much as some drinks, so it’s perfect for people that can’t handle too much caffeine that still want an energy boost. Arizona Rx Energy Herbal Tonic is absolutely amazing, it’s cheap, great tasting, natural, and delivers a good kick. This drink is something that everyone should try.
