Ole energy decent drink but a hard sell

November 15, 11:52 AMCaffeine ExaminerBig Red Boots  

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Ole energy is an exciting new drink out of Arizona - not only boosting your energy but waking your mind with adaptogenic herbs as well as a nice dose of caffeine. This drink might be a hard sell in the US, which is a shame. I mean, selling soccer is hard enough, but selling a soccer themed energy drink is even harder. I mean, where are you going to find these? At your local convenience store? Probably not. But if you manage to come across some of these cans, I would not hesitate to grab a few - as they give great name for a drink - getting you up and moving. Plus it gets the chanting going in your head ( if you don't know the chanting I am talking about, head to oleenergy.com to hear it ad nauseum).

Nutrition/Buzz:8
Unlike this companies other stabs at energy drinks, I like they used their ADX7 adaptogenic herbs and still added caffeine. The company's first outing into energy drinks gave us drinks like "Yet" and "Jugular" which gave you the herbs but no caffeine, so the masses who needed it were left still groggy. This stuff is powerful enough to give you a nice boost to your activities, without going crazy with the caffeine. The herbs work too, especially with the dose of caffeine to help those, like me, who are hopelessly addicted to it. This gave me a good 3 hour buzz - not crazy, but still pretty perky. What is interesting is the mental alertness I felt, besides the physical rush I received too - more than I usually get from energy drinks. The 80mg of caffeine in here is pretty decent - more than I would have expected there was in here.
So what is an adaptogenic herb?
Basically, they are herbs that have the ability to help the body cope more effectively with stress. Specifically, adaptogens recharge the adrenal glands, which are the body's nominal mechanism for responding to stress and emotional changes. They increase the body’s resistance to physical, biological, emotional and environmental stress. They are unique from other substances in their ability to balance endocrine hormones and the immune system, and they help the body to maintain optimal homeostasis. In other words, really good things for you in both body and mind.
Too bad there are also a good deal of preservatives in here. They sweeten things with fructose/glucose, so it is more natural, but also more caloric. The other ingredients in here are normal soda/energy drink stuff, including Vitamin B, Taurine, Caramel color, food dye and Inositol. I would love to see what they could do with an all natural version of this, or a sugar free one without the heavy 160 calories per 12oz can.

Taste: 8
Ole is a fantastic flavor, tasting strongly pungent, rich and very citrus - like grapefriut and cherry juice. It is very unique and very tasty, unlike a soda or any mormal energy drink flavor. I am not sure if the flavor is for everyone, but I loved the complex flavor - probably enhanced by all those herbs. My only issue was the color, which really did not need to be cola-brown. Why add all that caramel coloring and food dye just to turn it brownish? I could see if it was an unnatural color, but I would completely leave all that out and just let the natural color be. Brown should be a default color - a standard if you can not do anything else. I would have pictured this in a dark red or pink, if they were going to use any coloring at all.

Packaging:8
I love this shiny black on red, and the drink is very standout on the shelves. Something about the fonts used and the simplicity of the can is very very appealing. I LOVE the way they subtly mention the adaptogenic herbs, and use no slogan or big goofy text about how to "live it stronger!" B.S. Over 2/3 of the can is black and unprinted, giving a great atmosphere. While not a brilliant unique package this one does all the things a can should do very nicely.  For being a drnk that tries to market itself to soccer and salsa fans, I would have expected more of a sporty look than the black and red they went for, making this drink an even hardrer sell to stores.  Distribution is key in this business, and getting this outmight  present a challenge.  That being said, if they do manage to make it out to the public, I don't doubt that this standout design will impress

Website:3 oleenergy.com
I know these people are very excited to get their drink off the ground and up to an explosive growth level, but will need a much better website to do that. It is obvious their site was not made by a professional, as their code is bloated with crazy stupid HTML including a commented out interview with the founders, and their same energy drink copy over and over and over. Add that to the flash movie where the user interface is silly ( do we really need a home link to see the photoshopped images of Ole as a temporary boob tattoo again?) the information is hard to read ( the fonts used in the pulldown about adaptogens are thick and hard to read) and the buttons jiggle around without reason. This might be a good first attempt for this company, but for a drink with good investors and an interesting market, the right website could make a huge difference.

Taurine Rules
energy fiend