TOMIC

Energy always seems to mean something is exploding. So what better way to represent that than with an atomic grenade?

Packaging: 
Tomic Energy Shot comes in a short, slightly rounded bottle, with a stylized grenade design in green. The logo is the "atomic" warning symbol. The bottle is mainly green with silver and yellow writing on it.

Taste: 
The first thing I noticed upon opening the bottle was the fruit smell. It is almost like a fruit tree in bloom with a bit of an overpowering floral essence to it. The flavor is almost like an apple/pear/citrus/passion fruit combination. I can not quite place it, but it is different than most drinks I have tried. Maybe there is a bit of pomegranate flavor to it. It is sweetened with sucralose, so it has a bit of the really-sweet without the sugar kind of feel to it. I would suggest eating something with it because it is loaded with Vitamin B.

Energy: 
I could notice about 20 minutes after downing the bottle that I was already getting energized from this. The energy you get from this is really quick and strong. The energy blend does not tell how much caffeine is actually in the drink, but says that the blend as a whole is 1870mg. Aside from caffeine it also contains Taurine, Malic Acid, N-Acetyl-L-Tyrosine, L-Phenylalanine, Glucuronolactone, Citicoline. It provides a strong amount of energy and assists with focus. I got a few hours of energy from this, so it works well for the long haul. It only has 5 calories and 0 sugar, so it is great for people with a desk job that need a pick-me-up in the middle of the work day, without all the sugar and carbs in normal energy drinks that can pack on the pounds while you sit there typing away.

Overall Impression: 
I love the results, but am personally a bit iffy on the flavor. It gives a great energy kick. It is good, but I would really like to see improvement on the flavor to make it more fruit like and less blossom like. I am going to have to give this a 7/10.

Find Them on the Web:
http://www.drinktomic.com/
http://www.facebook.com/drinktomic
@DrinkTomic

Code Blue

Here is a drink that is not an energy drink, but a recovery drink. What exactly is a recovery drink? It is a drink full of electrolytes, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and natural anti-inflammatory fruit extract.

Packaging: The can is a silver/blue combination with the logo vertically written down the front of the can. The back of the can tells you what is in it and the nutrition facts, as well as what it does - Hydrates - Replenishes - Detoxifies - Reduces Inflammation.

Taste: To me the first taste of this reminded me a little of the flavor/texture of Emergen-C or ColdEez or something similar. It is lightly carbonated, and has a lot of vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes. Because of the sodium content (about 375mg of sodium or 16.5%DV) it reminds me of Gatorade back in the 90's. I cannot place the flavor. It has Prickly Pear extract in it, but I am not sure if that is part of the flavor or not. It has a light fruit sort of taste, I think. It is sweetened with natural cane sugar in combination with Stevia. This helps keep the calories down, so you are getting less "energy" and more recovery, as well as leaving out the sugar crash that some hydration drinks give you.

Energy: Since this is not an energy drink I had to evaluate it a little differently. I do not hold to a regular exercise routine. So trying this drink out, I went and got on the treadmill for a while. I got off, kind of loopy legged and shaky as I usually get when I use a treadmill. I stretched to cool down and drank a Code Blue. I was definitely less shaky after I drank it. I also had a couple over the course of fighting off the flu or whatever crud I had over Christmas. It really seemed to help me feel a little better, and less dehydrated.

Overall Impression: I really liked this for its recovery properties and being able to refuel after a workout or when feeling a bit dehydrated. You can use this "as needed" according to the label. Although because of the sodium content I would not go over two or three a day, as with energy drinks, just for a different reason. To me, the sodium content seems pretty high. I have encountered energy drinks with both more and less sodium than this. But only being 12 oz and having 16.5% of the DV of sodium it seems high. On one hand you need sodium to stay hydrated if you are working out and sweating a lot. On the other hand if you are just feeling like you have a cold or something I would say to drink Code Blue, but with plenty of plain old H2O. Other than that, I think this is an awesome beverage. I am going to give it a 9/10.

Find Them on the Web:

http://www.drinkcodeblue.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/drinkcodeblue

HiBall Sparkling Energy Water and Sparkling Energy Juice Drink

Before trying HiBall Energy drinks I had not had a energy drink without sugar in it. Yeah, no sugar at all, no artificial sweeteners. And the juice drinks are sweetened lightly with Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar. Keep reading to see if I am a fan of these.

Packaging 

The packaging is simple - Clear glass bottles with a wrap around clear label, except for the printing and logo. It is quite minimalist and lovely. It lacks distractions.

Taste 

The flavors, matching the picture above, are:

Sparkling Energy Water

*Lemon-Lime

*Orange

*Wild Berry

*Grapefruit

*Vanilla

Sparkling Energy Juice Drink

*Cranapple

*Lemon-Lime

*Wild Berry

*Orange

The Sparkling Energy Waters each have no sugar or sweetener of any kind. The first time I tasted one it was a little strange as I am not used to no sweetener of any kind. With the carbonation this was really weird at first. Of course I don't drink much plain seltzer water either, so the combination of carbonated flavored water without sugar is not one I am at all used to. After I told my brain that it would not kill me to drink something without that "sweet" flavor in it, and that this was actually healthier than other energy drinks, it was a lot easier to drink.

The flavors are phenomenal in both categories. The sparkling waters really highlight the flavors since it is not sweetened. Each one has just the right amount of flavor. My personal favorite was the Vanilla. I just had that one yesterday and it was amazing. It is kind of the odd-ball flavor since the other flavors are fruit flavors. It works really well, especially if you have ever tried a little bit of vanilla in plain water to spice it up a little.

The juice flavors are also excellent. The juice drinks only have 5% juice, but the taste is well balance. The orange is like drinking orange juice. The cranapple is a perfect combination of tart and sweet.

A huge plus about these drinks is that none of them tasted like energy drinks. It felt like I was drinking something good for me. The lack of sugar or sweeteners, and the use of organic cane sugar reduces the calories and the carbs. There really is not an excess of ingredients either. They are very simple and taste great.

Energy 

Both the sparkling water and juice drink have the same energy blend in them. They have Taurine - 1200mg, Guarana - 32mg, Ginseng - 32mg, Caffeine - 80mg.

I got a good energy kick from them. Although I did drink them kind of slowly because it is hard to chug something so effervescent, they kept me awake and focused.

Overall Impression 

I really enjoy the Hi-Ball lineup of flavors. They are really a fairly healthy alternative to most other energy drinks. If you drink them often you might find yourself enjoying the lack of sugar and turning to more healthy choices elsewhere, also. They do not make you feel "heavy" after you drink them like some energy drinks do. I enjoy it when HFCS is missing from drinks. I liked the energy I got from the drinks. I got just the caffeinated buzz I was looking for, and was able to enjoy the taste of what I was drinking. I am going to give Hi-Ball a 10/10 for their excellent products.

Find Them on the Web

http://www.hiballer.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/hiballenergy

Apologies for my absence

I apologize to my readers and to those companies whose products I have had and have failed to get a review up for for almost a month.

I was ill over Christmas with the flu or something like it. After being AWOL from the internet in general for a week I just got out of the habit of updating. I feel miserable about it. And the only thing I can do is try and get back in, and get to contacting, reviewing, and writing again.

I have four reviews I will be doing over today and tomorrow. So keep an eye open for them. I need to set goals for this thing. That is my short-term goal - To get these four reviews written and posted. Along with contacting companies and doing more research.

I hope I still find favor with my readers and the companies, and with other reviewers. This was just a hic-up in this thing. This is honestly something that brings me joy in the doing, and I will keep it up and going to keep consumers informed!

Wave Energy Drink

Wave Energy Drink is naturally flavored, lightly carbonated, and is a little bit different than most other energy drinks on the market.

Packaging: The design on this can is highly influenced by the name Wave. The font bearing the name has a little swirl coming off the top just like that of an ocean wave. The art work on it depicting the waves is done very well. The can is mostly a silvery blue with light blue, silver, and red highlights.

Taste: At first when I opened the can the drink smelled like it was a fruity flavor of some sort. I was not really sure. I had read the ingredients already, and knew it had vegetable juices in it. These are things I had never heard of before, too! It contains juice or extract concentrates from the likes of the black carrot, elderberry (which I had actually heard of before), purple sweet potato, and the (common) red cabbage. It kind of makes you furrow your brow in confusion, right? Surely all of that can not taste good together. Wrong. It is actually a very delightful flavor. Like I said above, it is more fruit like in flavor than vegetable. It has a bit of a veggie aftertaste, but not too much. I drank the sugar sweetened one for this review. It was not syrupy like many energy drinks are, which is a huge plus. 

Energy: I got a good amount of energy from this. I actually drank it well into the evening, and was still going strong by midnight, or even 1am while working on a project. The proprietary blend is listed on the can as being 1.14g altogether, but it does not list specifics on each item in it. The ingredients there include Taurine, Caffeine, Inositol, L-Lysine, Choline Bitartrate, and Guarana Seed Extract. It also has a lot of Vitamin B-6, but lesser amounts (not 100% DV) of B-1, 2, 3, 5, and 12. But given that there are 6 different B-Vitamins in it there is definitely a return there on energy and focus. Not to mention if you drink the whole can at once, like most people do, then you are actually getting a double dose of all the vitamins in it.

Overall Impression: I enjoyed this drink. It gave a good boost of energy, and tastes good too. I am going to give it a 9/10. I have to give them props for using real juices to flavor the drink. And while it boasts on the website of a lower caffeine content, it still manages to deliver on the energy.

Find Them on the Web: http://www.tastethewave.com/

*Photo edited from the Wave website (didn't have time to take one myself)

GEnergy Shot

My favorite experience with Green Tea was the traditional Japanese tea ceremony I attended at the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego. However, I have had many different kinds of green tea, brewed from a tea bag or loose leaf, with other flavors, including in other energy drinks. But today I am writing about the GEnergy Shot, a green tea energy shot.

Packaging: This, like the last two beverages I tried from Hard8, comes in an aluminum 2.4 oz bottle. The sealed plastic on the lid does not fit down below the plastic cap so it is hard to tell if it has been opened or not. The label is the same clear sticker with the art on it. I like the way it highlights the letters with the metal underneath instead of being painted straight on the aluminum. Below the logo and on the side of the bottle we are informed that this drink has Ginseng, Green Tea, and Ginkgo in it.

Taste: The flavor of this drink was strong, like a strong tea. It was a little bitter to my taste, but that can be expected with green tea that is not overly sweetened. If you have had matcha, the green tea powder that is traditional in Japan, you know how bitter green tea can be (which is why it is traditionally served with a hard sugar candy prior to drinking it). So while the drink is somewhat bitter, it also has a sweet aspect, since it has real sugar and also sucralose in it. It is not overly bitter, or overly sweet though, which is a good balance.

Energy: The energy return on this beverage definitely makes it worthwhile. I was energized for a few hours after drinking this. I was running some errands during the day and it got me through that quite nicely. I did not crash at the end of it really. This drink also has 120mg of caffeine. The energy blend contains Green Tea Extract, Ginseng Extract, Ginkgo Bilboa, Taurine, Guarana Extract, Carnitine, Glucuronolacrone, and Glutamine. There are also a lot of the B-Vitamins in it, which help, along with the Ginkgo with mental energy, focus and memory.

Overall Impression: Overall, this provided some really good energy. I am going to give this a 9/10. It is a really good drink and has promise on the market.

Find Them on the Web: http://www.hard8beverage.com/gshot.html

.50 Cal Energy Shot

OK, so I like themed drinks. Especially when they are energy shots in bullet/explosive themed bottles. To me, this never gets old. Hard8's new .50 Cal Energy Shot is no exception. Does it deliver the power of a .50 caliber bullet? Keep reading to find out.

Packaging: I love that Hard8 has bottled their beverages in aluminum bottles. This one is no different. It comes in a sturdy 2.4oz aluminum bottle. The major plus about this is that the cap is fitted with a top that makes it look like a .50 cal bullet. I really enjoy the theme of the bottle. The front of the bottle has a military font declaring .50 Cal Energy. Emblazoned across the bottom of the logo is an American flag and the flavor - Pomegranate Blueberry Warrior Blend.

Taste: This drink has a very smooth berry flavor. The pomegranate and blueberry is not overpoweringly fruity. The drink is sweet but not syrupy. I really like the flavor. It is very drinkable and light. It is sweetened with sugar and Sucralose but there is no artificial aftertaste. I would have to say that this drink hits the mark when it comes to flavor.

Energy: I was up earlier than normal today for some errands and I drank this as I was heading out the door. The energy I got from this was swift and long lasting. I made it through the early part of the afternoon, about 5 hours or so on the energy from this. I am not a morning person so I am usually only hitting my stride by mid-afternoon, and this was great for getting through the a.m. It has 120mg of Caffeine in it, so it really keeps you going. I was not jittery from it either. I was simply awake, and focused. This has a lot of B3, B5, B6, and B12 vitamins in it which are great for focus.

Overall Impression: I have never really been a huge fan of berry/fruit flavored beverages, but this is one of those drinks that is winning me over to the fruit flavored side. Hard8 has done a stellar job on the flavor of this drink. It is so smooth I was kind of sad it was only a energy shot, but it will definitely keep people coming back for more. That plus the energy it brings will make this a competitor with the popular brands. I am going to give this a 10/10.

Find Them on the Web: http://www.hard8beverage.com/50cal.html