Plop Plop Fizz Fizz- Zenergize fantastic caffeinated Tabs!

This product came from a good friend in Bakersfield, CA when talking of quick pick-me-ups. She was not the kind of person who normally would grab a Big Ol' rockstar, but was very pleasantly surprised to find she not only had a favorite energy drink, but it was new to me as well! She said how she gets these fizzing tablets and drops them in her water - and was able to have a pack last her for days. I was very intrigued by the idea, like a caffeinated Alka Seltzer. Their customer service informed me that only 4 tablets had caffeine, but could send me a couple to try out.

I expected I would get something eventually, as usually manufacturers have more important things to do than send out free samples, and it can take a while to process and ship. I was so so genuinely happy when a big box of all 9 flavor packs (10 tabs in each pack) showed up not 2 days later - so I could sample the immunity booster and Vitamin flavor along with the more caffeinated varieties!  Like other reviews I have seen online, your customer service really is far above par.

Zenergize was launched at the end of Summer 2007. While these are mostly found in California, they can be found in some stores in Washington and on the coast, and of course they are all over the place online. The average pack runs 6-8 bucks, which makes out to about 60-80 cents a drink. Pretty cheap for all the great things they pack into these fizzy tabs.

What you are supposed to do is this: By varying the amount of water you can mix your own stregnth energy drink. One tablet mixed with 8 ounces of water offers full flavor, one tablet mixed with 12 ounces of water offers a medium flavor and one tablet with 16 ounces of water offers a refreshing, light flavor. Like Alka Seltzer, you wait until the tablets get dissolved and it makes the drink carbonated. They even claim that this effervescent formula allows your body to absorb the nutrients 30% faster and more effectively than normal vitamins and beverages. Why that would not count for normal energy drinks I have no idea.

Packaging:9.5 ( would be 10 except for those dang silica pieces slipping out)
FANTASTIC job with these packs, except for a small design flaw that ended up with silica in my drink. The tubed format gives grocery consumers a more viable option," says Michelle Arnau, Bevology director of marketing. “It's portable and offers several servings." The 4-in. tall, 1-in. diameter, white plastic tubes are capped by this low-density polyethylene. Because the tablets are unwrapped, the silica is contained within a chamber in the reclosable cap that protects the tablets from air and moisture, keeping them fresh. For the same reason, the cap is designed with a spiral "shock absorber" to help reduce product damage to the unwrapped tablets. Likewise, the carton is designed with folded inner tabs to help secure the tube.

The only problem with this is if the little paper opens up, the silica can spill out all over the place. This probably would not have been a problem though if you don't lick off all the tablet dust from the inside of the packaging.

As for the overall graphics and layout - they score a major hit. There had been small tweaks in the packaging since launch, and all of the little changes have been for the better. The fonts are easy to read, and their layout is very pleasing. They list absolutely everything you would want, from their company info to their website, and thankfully listing their caffeine content on the side as well. All of the little dings I saw with their earlier package have completely vanished in this new design.

Taste/Buzz and Nutrition
I have to rate these all separately, as the nutrition and taste change per tube. Overall, they use only natural products, and sweeten with stevia, which already moves all their flavors to a much higher nutrition rating. They color all their tablets with a natural food coloring, such as beta carotine or beet juice, so you know you are picking up something which is going to be pretty healthy for you regardless.

However, these all are baking soda filled. Baking soda is really one of those things best used and not tasted. Whether it is because I have had poor childhood memories of one week a year having to brush my teeth with the stuff or if I just have a deep rooted fear of volcano science experiments, I have always thought baking soda flavor does not belong in foods. This goes for coffee, energy drinks and even cookies. sure, it is necessary, but if there is a way to make caffeine sweet, there has got to be a way to make sodium bicarbonate less nasty.

Tropical Citrus energy+ - Buzz/Nutrition:8 Taste:5
Worst at hiding the baking soda. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth as well. It is like a lemon lime soda only with a very chemical finish.  I appreciate all the minerals and nutrients in here, but the flavor of this one leaves something to be desired. It contains all the energy drink stuff, (Taurine, Glucoronolactone, Ginseng Extract, calcium, magnesium) and has 70mg of caffeine per tab. Great nutrition, decent buzz, bad taste

Berry Blend Energy+ - Buzz/Nutrition:8 Taste:8
Berry is a bit fakey, but  the very sweet flavor works  so much better than the tropical Citrus. Maybe it is the extra sweetness, but this tastes much more like a nice energy drink. The baking soda flavor is best masked well, and with the same ingredient list as your average healthy energy drink, the 10 tablets you get make this one well worth the price. There was 70mg of caffeine in this one as well, and colored with beet juice

Peach & Green Tea Burn - Buzz/Nutrition:8 Taste:7
Pretty tasty - but still very baking soda - enhanced by the flavor of the peach and green tea. While not my favorite of all their 9 flavors, it is helped by the great buzz the 90mg a pill. It is much easier to plop 2 of these into a small glass of water and really feel the fizzy effects. For an pretty regular caffeine drinker, a 180mg dose of flavor and fizz is right up my alley. While lacking the taurine etc... in this flavor, I still think I would have this over their energy+ flavors. This one has Green Tea Extract, Caffeine, Stevia Leaf Extract and Chromium Chloride, plus 90mg of caffeine to keep you moving (or 180 if you pop 2 in your water)

Raspberry and green tea burn - Buzz/Nutrition:8 Taste:9
FANTASTIC! the sour punch and the stevia mask the baking soda and caffeine bitter perfectly - almost good enough to eat! This was the first of the big capsules to dissappear- and at 90mg per pill they do a great job perking you right up. If I were to buy any of these for the energy, this would be the one to choose. I sat with one of these at my desk and nibbled it away like a giant sweet tart, added this to a very small glass of water, even combined with a glass of apple juice. after finishing the tube, I filled the canister up with water when I was done to drink the residue - I would choose this pack over a 4 pack of most any energy drink out there, and for 80 cents a pill this is a bargain!

Website:10
Wow! the engine room did a FANTASTIC job with this site. The UI is very easy to navigate, the information is all relative to the product, and there is NO excessive and stupid screensavers and downloads. They have articles on the science behind their drink, everything you want to know about the product, and even an easy to use and well planned out shopping cart.

My only problem, and it is a minor one, is still leaving in the yahoo store comments and the macromedia dreamweaver tags all over the place. It is also over a meg in size, with all those images and a 100k swf piece. On a slower connection the pages might bog. I am surprised that a design company as good as this one is has made such a bloated page, but in terms of what is important, this site is tops.
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