Blast Powder energy mix

I had two different opportunities to try out Blast Powder, not to be confused with Blast Caffeine, which I was able to try out a couple weeks ago.  Blast Powder comes in a little tube - and is a mix of sweetener, caffeine and creatine - all to be added to your favorite food or beverage

I took one on an all day bike ride with the kids - thinking it might be a great way to keep alert and perky for a day-long ride in the city.  I added it to the Powerade I was drinking and headed off.  The sweet of the Powerade did bad things with the sweet of the Blast Powder - and it made for a difficult chug.  The buzz was worth it though - and kept me bouncing and happy the entire day long (minus two small crashes).

The second time I tried it I thought it might taste better if I added it to a cold soda - which has both a stronger flavor and bubbles to help mask the stevia harshness.  I poured the mix into my IKEA Pear Soda (thanks Jen for braving IKEA for this!)  and hoped my brainpower at work would improve.

Packaging:8
Blast Powder comes in the standard energy package tube - the only difference is there was no rip mark at the top to get at the good stuff inside.  Their packaging said it works best to cut off the top with scissors - but anyone who just has a pair of scissors lying around for when they need an energy drink might have issues.

The labeling is nice enough - with simple straightforward graphics and layout.  I liked how the caffeine content was printed right on the tube - as well as the ingredients list.   Although this is not going to give any awards for innovation, it is a job well done.

Taste:4
It turned both drinks sour and bitter - enough so that it became hard to drink down.  It was oversweet and overpoweringly bitter too. It makes you wince to drink the mix down, in both the powerade and in the Ikea Pear drink.   The mix of stevia and caffeine is always a difficult one to master - and it was definintely not mastered today.  It completely altered both drinks to the level of changing the original drink's compoisition.  Whatever drink you did have will taste very little like the drink you have now.  I understand they went with stevia because it is a no-calorie sweetener that is all natural, as opposed to sucralose or aspartame.  But the chalky, plat-like bitterness of stevia is something most people don't enjoy - especially because it completely changes the flavor of whatever you put it in.   I mean, there is a good reason it took until very recently before people started using stevia commercially.  Sure there was an FDA problem, but getting a stevia only sweetened product is very hard to get right - and misses the mark here.  The third package I had to sample was give to a work friend (guinea pig) who added it to water.  His report was that it tasted OK, but he was expecting the harsh flavor to begin with so he thought it was pretty decent.

Also, there were still little clumps in here - and it never really did dissolve completely.  In the Powerade, this made little difference, as the liquid was put into warm non-carbonated liquid and shaken to all hell on the back of my bike.  But when added to the 16 ounce soda, there was no way to shake up the can adequately, and the powder kinda clumped up at the top - and it took quite  bit of swizzle stick work to get most of the powder dissolved int he drink without overflow.

Buzz:9
Regardless of taste, I really did enjoy the simplicity of the energy blend found in Blast Powder.  There are just three chemicals that make it up: caffeine, stevia and creatine. They did not add sugar or any preservatives in here, which is why there was probably a little caking going on.  If I had my choice to have silica and other non-natural ingredients to make the powder smooth and creamy, or just shake my drink up more - it is easy to go healthy.

There is also a full dose of creatine in here - perfect for hitting the gym with.  Creatine helps muscles recover from workouts - and does a whole bunch of non-energy related stuff for you.  I liked to see it in here because it meant I did not have to deal with my creatine powder mix before doing my biking workout.  I could just dump it in my drink and go.

The buzz is really what is important in here - and there is a TON of buzz to be found!  300mg is HUGE - just what I need to get me through those very difficult mornings or those moments my head is about to hit the desk in the afternoon.  This is equivalent to drinking 4 cups of espresso, so expect happiness, jitteriness and a level of physical and mental confidence that takes a LONG time to come down from.  While I am not sure I could down one of these every day, I would certainly go to this again when I needed that serious boost.

I know they say in their marketing that there is no crash - but I found there to be a big one about 4 hours after downing the packet. .  With all three tries, I felt pretty sleepy after coming down from this very explosive blend.  Still, it is a small price to pay for the almost immediate rush you get from Blast Powder.