On The Wagon
5 hour energy decaf citrus
Ok I know what you are thinking. Decaf? Maybe decaf 5 hour energy Decaf is not for you but there are others who cannot handle caffeine for health reasons. Should those people be denied energy drinks and shots? I say not. Now you have to know your not going to get jacked up like you just pounded down a spike shooter or something but can you get a nice boost from a decaf energy shot? Let us see.
Packaging: 5 hr energy comes in the usual small white plastic bottle. It is 2oz sized with a screw on lid. There is a shrink wrap type label that covers the entire bottle including the lid (for tamper proofing). Not a lot of room on these shot bottles but 5hr decaf does a nice job. On the portion of the label covering the lid is an images of a lemon and a lime sliced open with the flavor” Citrus” printed over it. On the rest of the label is a graphic that features a person running up a mountain the sun pictured in the background. Written over the sun image it reads “Decaf 5-hour energy” in a black font with the yellow of the sun around the test. Lower down in the mountain range area of the graphic is this list of words “Hours of energy, No crash later, Sugar free, Decaf, Only 4 calories.” Below that it reads “Feel it in minutes, last for hours” On the back is your typical ingredients information. I think they do a good job of portraying this as an uplifting drink and one to get your day off to a good start. I will give them a grade of B- for packaging. Not exciting in a grab your interest kind of way but one that lets you know what’s in store.
Slogan: Feel it in minutes last for hours is as close as they come to a slogan. Not a bad one though really. It gets the message out there that you will be getting energy now and it will last. That’s a good message to get out there. I’ll give them a B for Slogan. I can see that it might grab your attention and make you want to try it.
Taste: Ok shots don’t usually taste good. How does this shot taste? I poured one in a small glass and it comes out a cloudy pink color. It does not have a medicinal smell like some energy shots. I slammed it down and it had a fairly good citrus flavor with some orange and a slight lime hit at the finish. I had no bad aftertaste to speak of. I did not feel like I needed to wash it down with another drink like I do with some shots. I will give them a B for taste. The B is compared to other shots. I don’t expect a shot to compete with full size energy drinks in the taste category.
Kick/Ingredients: I decided to got without caffeine for a couple of days in order to properly review this shot. The first day I drink a shot in place of my morning coffee. I did not get a big boost but I definitely woke up and felt alert the rest of the morning and I did not suffer any caffeine withdrawal. That night I went a party and well partied and had a good time. The next morning I felt like I had been at a party. Instead of grabbing a cup of coffee though I grabbed a 5 hour Decaf. Sometimes coffee is just too rough on my stomach after overindulging the night before. The 5 Hour energy had me going well within 15 minutes. I felt alert and awake and generally felt better than I should have. I was able to get back to my normal self and get things done. Usually it takes me hours to even think about doing anything on this type of morning. The 5 Hour decaf had me getting work done and I even went out and did the yard work! So what is in this shot? There is only 6mg of caffeine. Then you have 8333% of your RDA for B12, 2000% of your RDA for B6, and 100% of your RDA for Folic Acid. The you have the energy blend which consist of Choline, Glucuronolactone, N-Acetyl, L-Tyrosine, L-Phenylalanine, Taurine, and Malic Acid. That’s not all though. They have an enzyme blend like I first saw in Mana energy potion. The enzymes are Protease, Lipase, Celluase, and Lactase. I am giving them a grade of C for kick/Ingredients. It’s a C- from the kick standpoint but the ingredients push it up to a full C.
Web Presence: They do have a nice website at 5hourenergy.com there is a lot of information about 5 hour energy shots. Not a lot about this new Decaf version though. They do have a Faq, Product comparison, ingredients, where to buy, and directions. It is a site worth poking around on a bit and is very professionally done. I will give them a B for web presence. You will find a ton of hits if you Google 5 Hour energy as well.
Recap:
Ok so I was surprised by the alertness I got from this Decaf shot. I should not have been. If you look around you will find reviews all over the net stating that regular 5 hour energy is great. Regular 5 hour does not have a lot of caffeine in it either so removing the caffeine was not as big of a deal as one might think. I think I’ll use these 5 hour decaf shots when I need to cut back on my caffeine intake for a while. Reviewing energy drinks along with drinking coffee in the mornings can build up my tolerance for caffeine and I like to “purge” my system every once in awhile. Instead of dragging for days though now I can grab a 5 hour energy decaf and still get through the morning. Give these a try and let me know what you think. If you’re not allowed to have caffeine this might be your best bet.
