Review for Hydrive Energy--Antioxidant

CAFFEINE CONTENT

160 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

Last time I have to say this: easy to get online, very difficult to find in the traditional fashion.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—9

Last time I have to say this also—I like these bottles; they effectively grab and you’re your attention without being obnoxious, and the slim profile is easy on the hands.

TASTE—8

Given their abundance, it’s understandable that red/triple/wild berry flavors get very tiring after a while—and that finding a good one is all the more exciting for the fact.  Having tried all but the electrolyte formula (my brother couldn’t find that one), a common theme in flavoring has emerged; Hydrive takes flavors that are typically over sweetened and juvenile and tweaks them to appeal to a more mature palate, resulting in an energy beverage that is both refreshing and easy on the stomach.  This antioxidant formula is no exception—you’ve got your raspberry, your strawberry, with maybe a hint of cranberry; each is a bit on the synthetic side but appealing nonetheless, and is just sweet enough to be able to enjoy it.

KICK (INTENSITY)—7

As do all Hydrive beverages with the standard 160 mg of caffeine, this offering’s boost is less than ideal.  If you’re only moderately tired this should help some, but if you’re really dead on your feet you’ll want to go with something more potent.

KICK (DURATION)—7

Three hours, no crash.

THE SHOT OVERALL—7.33

This tastes just fine, but I confess disappointment with its efficacy.  As I indicated in a previous review—I don’t remember which—at some later point, if I manage to find these again, I might drink two in one go, and will report on that then.  Until that time, however, you’re best sticking with Hydrive’s Extra Power formula—or something else altogether.

WEBSITE: hydriveenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Hydrive Antioxidant energy drink review, low calorie, low sugar, hydration energy drink, thirst-quenching energy

Review for Hydrive Energy Extra Power--Blue Raspberry

CAFFEINE CONTENT

195 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

Individual bottles for retail are scarce; your best bet if interested is to buy them in 12-packs online.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—9

I’m reaching the point where I feel bad repeating myself like this—it’s dreadfully monotonous to write and probably feels the same way reading it time and time again.  But…in case this is the first Hydrive review you’ve read: the labels on these are nice—straightforward, uncluttered, not boisterous.  The bottles are perfect for gripping, and are comfortable on the go, resting, whenever.  The only thing I have to say against this one in particular is that I’m not wild about this shade of blue with black—but that’s just me being nitpicky.

TASTE—8

The flavor profile is similar to that of most blue raspberry drinks (and I know you’ve all had them), though unlike those others it is vastly less sweet—which proves advantageous, as I have trouble getting most of those down (not so with my son, who delights in an occasional bottle of Hog Wash)—and works nicely for quenching one’s thirst.

KICK (INTENSITY)—8.5

After a number of less-than-stellar experiences with the other Hydrive beverages, it was nice to be reminded that there are beverages in the line that manage to excel in terms of performance.  If you like the idea of Hydrive (thirst-quenching, etc.) and are looking for a boost—meaning something that will really wake you up and make it so you can actually get something done, regardless of how tired you are beforehand—then you’re going to have to go with one of these extra power beverages.

KICK (DURATION)—9

Four hours, no crash.

THE SHOT OVERALL—8.5

I prefer the black cherry flavor, but if you’re thirsty and want a legitimate kick this will work just fine.

WEBSITE: hydriveenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Hydrive Extra Strength Blue Raspberry energy drink review, low calorie, low sugar, hydration energy drink, thirst-quenching energy

Review for Hydrive Energy--Recovery

If you’re reading this review with the intent of finding out whether this drink works as a hangover recovery product, I’m going to tell you right off the bat that I won’t be reviewing it as such, but fortunately for you, your head, your stomach, and everything else, Big Red Boots of possessedbycaffeine.com has, and reported complete recovery.  If interested, you can get the full review here.  I don’t drink and don’t ever plan on drinking, and that being the case I never plan on having a hangover, and have no need for hangover recovery products.  I do, however, frequently find myself in need of something caffeinated, and with be reviewing this as a beverage that gives me just that.

CAFFEINE CONTENT

160 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

Scattered, scattered, scattered.  If looking for a lone bottle I’d say you’re just about out of luck, though I would surmise that individuals looking into this for its hangover recovery properties are going to be more open to the suggestion of purchasing it in bulk from Amazon…so the difficulty of finding it the old-fashioned way doesn’t really matter.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—9

This has all the things I like about the other Hydrive bottles (clean design and nice-to-grip bottle), plus the added awesomeness of purple.  What more is there to say?

TASTE—8

The flavor profile of this one reminded me of grape Kool-Aid—though mercifully far less sweet and boisterous.  It’s still plenty full-flavored, even without the glycemic holocaust of all Kool-Aid’s sugar, and something I’d be just fine drinking again.  Oh…and it does a decent job of quenching your thirst.  Got to remember to put that out there.

KICK (INTENSITY)—7

Like Hydrive Extra Power—Black Cherry, I drank this Recovery formula in a time of great need.  My day had entailed helping a stranger change a flat tire only to find that their “spare” didn’t fit, removing an entire roomful of paneling as the beginnings of a remodeling project, and after all that making sure my 3-year-old son was fed and happy.  By the time late afternoon rolled around and the hour allotted for my run drew near, I knew I was in trouble unless I had some help.  As indicated, I don’t drink, but I figured that this would be an appropriate test for Hydrive’s recovery capacity.

Turns out it worked alright.  I wouldn’t say that I was overly energized, but I no longer felt drained, lethargic, and foggy, and was able to proceed with my 50-minute run without difficulty.  As I’ve said in previous Hydrive reviews—I generally prefer something more powerful, but in this instance, it did the job and I really have no room to complain.

KICK (DURATION)—7

Three hours no crash.

THE DRINK OVERALL—7.34

Is this a stupendous energy product?  No.  Did it work in my case?  Yes.  Do I recommend it?  Sure.

WEBSITE: hydriveenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Hydrive Recovery energy drink review, low calorie, low sugar, hydration energy drink, thirst-quenching energy

Review for Hydrive Energy--Vitamin

CAFFEINE CONTENT

160 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

I travel the northwest quite frequently and extensively, and I’ve never actually encountered this.  For me it took a sibling who travels weekly for a living to find them, so unless you know of a place nearby that sells them, you’re quite out of luck.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—9

Much like the others, I appreciate the clean design and slim, easy-to-grasp bottle, and like the others this holds a sort of appeal that is unique; in this case it looks to me like the sort of breakfast drink I’d grab if I woke up particularly thirsty.

TASTE—9

On top of looking like a breakfast drink, this tastes like a breakfast drink—and a particularly delicious one.  The advertised “citrus blast” consists of the flavors of mandarin oranges, tangerines, and maybe even some peach and mango—though those last two aren’t citrus fruits, they add appreciable dimension to the drink and have certainly earned their place in it.

KICK (INTENSITY)—7

I’m starting to wish that all of Hydrive’s beverages were as caffeinated as their Extra Power offerings; I’m really not all that impressed with the efficacy of the others.  This made for a decent mid-afternoon pick-me-up, but the appreciably functional period that I really savor in an energy drink lasted only about an hour—not enough time to get everything I need to get done taken care of by a long shot.  The other two hours I was awake enough, but still kind of dragging my feet.

As for the “vitamin” part of the formula—you get 200% the recommended daily value of your B vitamins, some calcium, and…25% of your recommended daily value of vitamin A.  Don’t look for much of a difference in terms of your boost, but if you find you’re seeing better at night when you’re drinking these, you might need to work some carrots into your diet.

KICK (DURATION)—7

Three hours.  No crash was experienced, but tired as I was it was really easy to tell when this had worn off.

THE DRINK OVERALL—7.67

Tastes pretty dang good, but works just alright.  If this ever pops up nearby I think I’ll drink two and report back on the difference, because I don’t think a single bottle is really good enough for much.

WEBSITE: hydriveenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Hydrive Vitamin energy drink review, low calorie, low sugar, hydration energy drink, thirst-quenching energy

Review for Hydrive Energy--Focus

CAFFEINE CONTENT

160 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

If you’re looking to buy individual bottles you’re basically out of luck—while they did sell a variety pack on the Hydrive website back in the day (i.e. about six months ago), they have shifted their sales section to Amazon and no longer do so now.  Best bet in terms of getting one’s hand on it is to take the gamble and buy a 12 pack online.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—9

I like this bottle about as much as I liked the previously reviewed Extra Power bottle, just in different ways.  I still like the clean, uncluttered label, the slim bottle, and the listed caffeine content; the what’s different here is that the mellow shades of pink have the effect of making me think “hydration”—and let’s face it, when you’re really thirsty, that’s never a bad thing…unless something really hypertonic gives you that same idea falsely, which is not the case here.

TASTE—6

I didn’t really like this one.  That doesn’t bother me so much as the fact that I’m having such a hard time figuring out why.  I don’t think it’s something that I would really have all that much trouble drinking, but at the same time, it’s not something I’d enjoy for the taste alone.  I think it’s the execution of the strawberry and kiwi flavors; I almost wonder if they weren’t into emphasizing nuances of the flavors, and opted to emphasize all the wrong ones…that’s as close as I can come to explaining it.  Bottom line is that it wasn’t my favorite.

KICK (INTENSITY)—7

I elected to test this focus formula Hydrive beverage on a morning where I was going to three straight hours of afternoon meetings in which I generally had a hard time paying attention the whole time—on top of seeing how it would do at keeping me awake during a particularly sluggish time of day for me, I would be able to see how…well, focused I was.  Turns out that it performed just alright in the former category (it was a lot more anemic than I would expect, given the performance of the Extra Power formula), and in the latter it didn’t make an appreciable difference at all.  My thoughts are this—if you drink two, I imagine you’ll get a really substantial, invigorating boost, but if you’re looking for focus, you’re really out of luck—though I guess this shouldn’t come as a surprise, given the fact that the ingredients unique to this formula are panax ginseng extract and guarana extract.  Hardly anything special.

KICK (DURATION)—7

Three hours with no crash

THE SHOT OVERALL—6.67

Generally, I wasn’t terribly impressed with this one.  It didn’t taste all that great and the kick wasn’t nearly what it should be.  Hopefully the rest of the line does a little better, otherwise I’m going to have to recommend you stick with the high-caffeine formulas….

WEBSITE: hydriveenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Hydrive Focus energy drink review, low calorie, low sugar, hydration energy drink, thirst-quenching energy

Review for Hydrive Energy Extra Power--Black Cherry

CAFFEINE CONTENT

195 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

I’ve never actually seen these anywhere…you know what?  Scratch that.  I did see it once at a gas station, but when I returned it was gone, and I never did see it there again.  My younger brother was, however, kind enough to pick me up the entire (save one) line when he came across it at a random stop in his line of work.  Thanks again, Burrhead.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—9

I don’t really have anything bad to say here.  The label’s clean and sharp, the slim 16 oz. bottle’s easy on the grip, and the deep red liquid is most appealing, the caffeine content listed…it’s a good bottle.

TASTE—9

As mentioned in my review of Mio’s Black Cherry energy additive, I’m not generally a fan of cherry stuff—most of the time makers go about it all wrong and turn their product into a sickly sweet mess. It has been done right before, though, and when it does it really hits home.  Fortunately for Hydrive, such is the case with their black cherry energy drink here—it is smooth and extremely refreshing (they weren’t kidding about this being a thirst-quenching energy drink) if a bit more synthetic and sweet than Mio’s product.  These are not huge flaws, and I wouldn’t think twice about buying Hydrive again if I was feeling in the mood for hydration, energy and cherries.

KICK (INTENSITY)—8.5

To give you an idea of the kind of scrutiny Hydrive was going to have to go through if it didn’t perform: my brother’s wedding Friday made for a late night, and the logistics of getting my wife to her sister’s wedding Saturday made for an early morning.  I’d done a lot of walking in the hot sun carrying my 3-year-old boy on my shoulders, and by afternoon, I was so exhausted that I unintentionally fell asleep on the living room floor for an hour or so. When I woke up, I was groggy, had a headache, and felt distinctly dehydrated.  In addition, I had a family barbecue that I would be going to in about a half hour, and I knew I would need to be in social mode for the duration.

I needed an energy drink.  And it needed to be a dang good one.

Noting the big ol’ “extra power” on the bottle, I figured this would be a good choice.  I drank it down pretty easily (see the above paragraph if you need reminding already), and halfway through, I felt the makings of a good rush coming on.  Feeling encouraged, I finished the bottle, and pretty soon I knew I was going to be just fine.  My headache was gone, the cobwebs evaporated, my body hydrated, and I was generally rearin’ to go.  The initial rush did taper off a bit about a half hour after I finished, but I was still in top form notwithstanding, so I bear Hydrive no ill will.

If you find yourselves in situations like the one I just described, this should work wonders.  If not…should work for whatever you’re up to as well.

KICK (DURATION)—9

The barbecue lasted a grand total of four hours—and so did the drink.  No crash to report.

THE DRINK OVERALL—8.83

I’ve heard good things about Hydrive’s drinks, and the line is sure off to a great start with this extra strength black cherry beverage.  It’s like a small red, PET-bottled Statue of Liberty, beckoning the sleep-deprived, the thirsty, the cherry-craving huddled masses come and drink deep of its waters, wherein there is found energy and quenching to spare…alright, that’s enough.  Hydrive Extra Power—Black Cherry’s a bang-up energy drink.  That’s all you need to know; go out and buy yourself one already.

WEBSITE: hydriveenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Hydrive Extra Power Black Cherry energy drink review, low calorie, low sugar, hydration energy drink, thirst-quenching energy