WTF?

Zusma

So I was strolling through my local HEB grocery store. HEB is a chain of stores in Texas and Mexico. I shop at HEB a lot and they usually offer some really good quality store brands. I am anxious to see how this drink is. I am glad they went with an energy tea and not a store brand Red Bull clone. Really that should tell you something.  I am not sure how many flavors they have but I grabbed 2 for this review

Packaging: It comes in a fairly nice 16 oz can. The can is wrapped in a white, black and green. It has some nice fonts and some interesting graphics. It’s not to edgy and not too adult looking. It kind of falls in the middle. The name itself is the only drawback I think. Not sure what to make of ZuSma. I have no idea what it means if anything. It does have caffeine content clearly listed on the back though and that is a big plus. None of that “same as a cup of premium coffee BS” Seriously I am going to start taking off points when I see that on a drink or shot. No problem here and I give this a grade of C+

Slogan: “Tastes and feels like an energy drink should” is on the in a little blurb about the drink. That is as close as you get. They could do a lot better. Grade C-

Taste:

• Mango Passion:  I pop the top and get a nice light tropical scent. I pour some in a cup and it comes out a light tea color with a very light carbonation. The carbonation is so low you can hardly tell its there.  I take a sip and it is a nice green tea flavor up front followed by some mango and passion fruit. The mango and passion work well together blending into one flavor and then the finish is a light honey tea. There is a tad of tea bitterness but it is tea so you expet it to taste like tea. This has a real natural taste to it and it is not overly sweet. I think the light carbonation is just right to bring it all together. Grade B
• Prickly Pear:  This one has a light tea scent to it most of all. It has the same coloring and light carbonation. The flavor is more green and black tea with some agave and honey blended into it. There is a hint of pear juice and the finish is all tea. Not as good as the mango passion but really a good tasting green tea. I found it quite drinkable. Grade C+

Kick/Ingredients: So the two times I drank these they went down smooth and fast with the light carbonation. It took the usual 15 minutes to get going but then it came on pretty strong. I don’t usually drink a 16 oz drink this quick and that may have had some to do with it but this was a good strong kick. It really had me going with a strong and yet jitter free buzz. I tore through a good four hours of work before I knew it and really after the four hours I had no crash. I just gradually slowed down.  Each can of this tea is actually made from some quality stuff. Energy ingredients include 180 mg caffeine, 500 mg Taurine, 50 mg Ginseng, 100 mg Inositol, 200 mg Glucuronolactone, a decent amount of B vitamins, and green and black tea. You also have 5% juice, cane sugar, Agave syrup, and Honey powder. It comes in at 200 calories and 48 grams of carbs and sugars. I give this a solid C+  It is not super strong but it delivers an above average buzz with some quality ingredients. 

Web Presence: Nothing anywhere. Really I think with the effort put into a quality product like this you would at least have a single page or something. Grade F

Recap: 

• Packaging  C+-
• Slogan C-
• Taste B/C+
• Kick/Ingredients C+
• Web Presence F

Wow so I was really surprised by this one. I like that they made something different. I like that they used premium brewed black and green teas as well as agave and cane sugar. They gave it a good dose of caffeine to top it all off. I think if maybe they got behind this a little and promoted it better they might have a hit. I had said earlier that HEB is known for good quality store brand products and this one held up to that standard. If you’re in Texas or passing through grab one and give it a try.

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