Caffeine Examiner

The guys that run this business know what they are doing. The CEO of Snapple Beverages and the President of A&W Brands and the CEO of Yoo-hoo/Orangina are the founders behind the Hydrive brand. They left their respective corporations to give this new beverage company a try, and so far have been doing everything right. From releasing a sports-endurance drink to tackle Gatorade, to a strong vitamin(Water) infused drink, to a straight on caffeinated water, their drinks cover all the caffeinated bases.

This is their latest offering, a sports/stregnth drink, with stuff that bodybuiders and lifters would drink, as opposed to their hydration or vitamin filled versions. Strangely, this one is blue raspberry - not a drink one normally associates with power. However, this is hydrive, and they have yet to make a mistake - coming out drinks that both taste great, give a definite energy boost and are in their own distinctive design. Hydrive S is a fine addition to the convenience store shelves.
Nutrition:8
They bill this drink as a power drink, and put in some great ingredients to back it up. 2 great nutrients are L-leucine and D-ribose. Ribose is a nutrient which eases muscle soreness and fatigue. Ribose may also help improve exercise tolerance in high intensity activities. Leucine is another sports supplement, but can be found naturally in many foods, such as nuts and brown rice. Good thing too, as this is an essential amino acid that you need to be healthy and have energy during excersize. The extra boost in this drink might not be enough if you are a bodybuilder, but it is a nice-to-have if you are a moderate excersizer.
They then put in 2 wierdo ingredients , as ginko biloba and maca root are not really huge in powerlifting circles. Ginko biloba and maca root have been touted for doing everything from adding energy to, you guessed it, virility. Like all other mystery drugs, from Crunk's ashwagandha to valerian root, they all are natures answer to viagra. Maca is a plant found in the andes and used for years as a way to get tannins and proteins. I am awaiting the mysterious ingredient POTATO to be found in energy drinks - touting it's nutritional and viagra-like properties.
Like all Hydrives, this has a good 145mg healthy dose of caffeine hiding somewhere in it too. This is with only having 30 calories in the whole bottle, so it does not leave you feeling heavy or bloated.

Packaging:8
I love their packaging - giving off the feeling of a vitamin water, only so much cooler and tastier - not to mention better for you.
Like vitamin water and the rest in this category, the sealable PET top is nice. This special "gripper" style of bottle formulated for Hydrive's drinks is completely proprietary and so hopefully wont be immediately stolen by giant faceless monster corporation ( Coke).Packaging is now "dual front," so it's not as crucial how bottles are placed on shelves. The caffeine content, website and all info I could want, including the mission statement are on here as well.

Taste:9
Hydrive accomplishes no mean feat by making a blue raspberry drink that does not taste fake or overly sour. Almost every blue respberry tastes like lollipops or tart Wonka candy. This drink nt only tastes sweet with no hint of sourness, it really tastes like real raspberries. There is almost no tartness and drink s very very easy. I can and did easily pound down my share of this drink and feel very refreshed after. I only wish I had more of this one - as I don't live where these are found, and can only go online to buy them off their website. If you live in a place where this drink is being sold - consider yourself fortunate and pick up a pack.

Website:http://www.hydriveenergy.com: 8
Pretty basic, but chock full of information; from their press release to a FAQ for those of you who dont know about caffeine and hangovers. I do like their store locator. Unfortunately, there is not a place near me at all that has one. Another cool thing about the site is the ability to get free samples from the site too, Well, almost free - you just need to pay fror shipping (around 6 bucks for postage and handling). Still, for 2 bucks a bottle it is worth a try. Somehow the addition of the latest drink has filled out the site, and it look like their have been some tweaks to a number of places, tightening up the design and layout.
While not a work of art, the site is nice and small, designed well and loads fast at 358k.

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