Caffeine has become so commonplace in our society that I'm starting to think it has become unavoidable. I'm a big-time coffee aficionado (RYO Coffee, Latte Art, (STARBUCKS)RED Whole Bean Coffee) but methinks sometimes marketing "gurus" take it a little too far.
Recently, I counted 14 different flavors of Monster Energy Drink at a Fry's electronic store in a cooler by the registers. Do any of them taste good? Unlikely. Maybe that's why they have to keep cranking out new ones, to keep the public guessing.
Here are some of the latest snacks that have been, shall I say tainted with caffeine:
Butterfinger Buzz (Limited Edition) - Accordingly to the Candy Blog, this is made up of two smaller bars, each with 40 mg of caffeine. Eating both would be the equivalent of one standard Red Bull.
Cool Mint Chocolate and Peanut Toffee Buzz Clif Bars - According to the Clif Bar website, all their bars contain 3-5mg of caffeine naturally because of the chocolate coating. These two flavors; however, contain 50mg because they add a green tea extract.
Snickers Charged - Packaged in a shiny silver wrapper, it looks as if Mars expected it was going on the space shuttle Endeavour's menu. They put 60 mg of caffeine along with some taurine and B vitamins. Although I think this is somewhat ridiculous, Candy Blog illustrates the value of 60mg caffeine/$.75 candy bar vs. 80mg caffeine/$2.00 energy drink; hmm interesting.
Mana Energy Potion and Health Energy Potion - These come in little 50ml bottles (less than 2 ounces) that look like little bottles of magic potions. They are "the premium energy shot made by gamers for gamers" and also contain "elderberry, ginseng, and biotin" along with about 160mg caffeine "equivalent to...four cups of crappy office coffee."
Loud Truck Energy Gummies - One of the stranger items I found on the Candy Blog. Made by Albanese Confectionery Company, two gummie bears have 7mg of caffeine, some vitamin C and B and some taurine. A whole one-ounce package would have about 32mg. (their website)
Perky Jerky - Claims to be " the world's first all-natural performance enhancing meat snack" and I'm not going to be a Doubting Thomas. Their story is that they were up late drinking cocktails at a ski lodge and spilled an energy drink into their beef jerky. They ate said jerky the next morning and instead of being repulsed, they were inspired. After "several years of trial and error to find the perfect combination of flavor and kick," Perky Jerky was born. A one-ounce bag of this caffeinated beef jerky contains 150mg of caffeine, or about the equivalent of about two Red Bulls.
Blow - This has got to be the strangest thing I've ever seen. A white powder that you add to your drink of choice. It comes complete with a fake credit card and a mirror. It packs a whopping 240mg of caffeine and the company is appropriately based in Las Vegas... ILoveBlow.com.