The Consumer’s Corner

Found something new in my favorite little convenience store recently; Power Trip Energy Drinks. Apparently Power Trip is a pretty big deal up in the north eastern United States, as a little research I did indicated that they are the official energy drink of the Buffalo Bills NFL team. Even had hot pictures of their cheerleaders posing with the product to push that point home. Well, I was impressed.

Had just enough change on my to try one can, and I picked the ‘0‘ flavor, which I can safely assume is the diet version of the ‘Original Blue’ flavor. Anyone who’s read this blog enough knows I love blue stuff, and berry flavored stuff, so Power Trip 0 had a head start out of the gate. I poured the beverage in a glass, an odd thing I do not normally do, to discover it was opaque. Nothing wrong with that, just a bit different for the category. You can see through most products.

The flavor was wonderful. Light, not over powering, the sweetening blend was spot on, and it didn’t reek of vitamins. I could seriously drink Power Trip 0 as a soda, rather than an energy beverage. Assuming I never wanted to sleep again.

So far as an energy buzz, it wasn’t super intense, but I did feel it, and best of all it didn’t crash me when it was through doing it’s thing. A 16-ounce can, which is actually two servings, provides you with a negligible 10 calories, 0 carbs, 210 mg of protein, 2,000 mg of taurine, 46 mg of guarana, 72 mg of inositol, 200% of vitamins C, B3, B5, B12, and 400% of B6.

I really want to try the other flavors of Power Trip, and I’ll definitely be bugging the manager to bring them in. Power Trip 0 scores an easy ‘Win!’

Official Site

-Jeremy Hobbs

A morbid curiosity for sure, but I’ve always been very fascinated by infomercials, and the ‘as-seen-on-TV’ product lines. Some have been great, like the Clever Clasp. Some have been not so great, like the product this review is dedicated to.

The MICROforce shaver. It’s a compact wet/dry electric microfoil shaving system, designed for mowing down that 5 o’clock shadow. It’s advertised as being able to be your only shaver, but I’m not even that gullable. I was just hoping for something to knock off some of my stubble in between real shaves.

What I got in the MICROforce was a product that would cut every three or four hairs, leaving the rest far behind. Length of hair didn’t matter much at all, it cut longer hair every bit as poorly as the short stuff, and left my face irritated to no end. Also, this is the very first electric shaver that I’ve used that left a blood trail; that just should not happen.

Final grade? Miserable failure. Wasn’t worth the two triple-A batteries I used to power it. Waste of money ($10)

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

Time for a new round of Dews! The ‘Dewmocracy’ program has returned, and brought us three new ways to Do The Dew. First up is ‘Mountain Dew Distortion,’ which is Dew heavily influenced by lime. I was hoping for something similar to the ‘Baja Blast’ product sold at Taco Bell, but that’s not what I got. That’s not to say I was disappointed though.

‘Distortion’ adds a significant lime kick to the base Mountain Dew, and provides a bit or tartness. The balance is great, and really improves on the base in my opinion (I’ve always found non diet Dew a little sweet for my tastes). The lime flavor also intensifies as your beverage loses it’s chill and carbonation.

If you’re looking for a comparison, and have a long memory, 7-Up produced a green, caffeinated beverage called dnL (7up upside down) a few years ago, and the flavors strongly resemble one another. That’s great for me, because dnL was one of my favorite beverages before it was pulled off the shelves.

I have no trouble recommending ‘Distortion’ to any citrus soda fan, it’s a great product and a major ‘Win!’ for Pepsi. Even if this doesn’t win the Dewmocracy contest, I hope they’ll find a way to keep it in the portfolio.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

Much like nearly every other M&M variety, the brand new Pretzel M&M’s are incredibly addicting. That mix of the sweet candied shell, milk chocolate, and salty pretzel center is a superb combination; one that I hope really takes hold and stays on the market.

My gut feeling is Pretzel M&M’s will be hanging around awhile, as I didn’t see any limited edition notices on the packaging. Also, they will be available in all major sizes, even the really big resealable bags. Good thing, as I can see a family going through these rather quickly.

Only negative I could find was a higher concentration of ‘cracked’ candies, which really isn’t that big a deal. Very possible that it was just my two bags, but whatever. Chipped Pretzel M&M’S taste just as yummy as the whole ones.

For the foreseeable future, I’ll be purchasing these over peanut M&M’s. Though I didn’t check the label for allergy information, I think these may be a suitable substitute for peanut allergy suffers who would like a sweet/salty snack. Overall, Pretzel M&M’s are a total WIN!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

Thanks to The Consumer’s Corner’s friends at EMI Christian, here is a special gift. A streaming version of the latest CD, Miracle, by Christian group, the ‘Robbie Seay Band.’ Even better, this is a pre-release preview. The physical album doesn’t drop for another week or so. Give it a listen, and let me know what you think. Special thanks again to EMI Christian for choosing TCC to help promote this band!

I fell in love with 5 Flare awhile ago, and the rest of this line of gums from Wrigley’s continues to impress me. The more I fall in love with coffee, the more I fall in love with gum; it’s a sure fire way to eliminate that dreaded coffee breath.

‘Solstice’ is described as ‘…a warm and cool winter.’ I translate that as wintergreen, and the shoe fits, so that’s what I’m going with. Regardless, it’s quite tasty. Not so over-powering as to hurt your teeth, but intense enough to achieve that ‘chill’ in your nose and throat as you breathe.

Like 5 Flare, the flavor of 5 Solstice just seems to go on forever. If anyone ever asks me to recommend a gum to them, I always recommend the ’5′ series for that reason; I haven’t yet found anything else that can compete. The texture stays nice as well, sticking together without getting too firm.

5 Solstice can be purchased in single, 15 stick packs, or in multi-packs of 3 – 15 stick packs. Prices will vary by store, but don’t expect to break the bank. It’s gum. 5 Solstice gets a solid ‘Win!’ all the way around.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

Until I’d tried Fabulous Flats Sandwich Flats, it is quite possible that I’d never eaten a preservative-free bread. That idea was enough to chew on for awhile, whether I had food in my mouth or not. What else do I let enter my body, having no idea what it is, or where it came from? I’ll never be the kind of person to agonize over things like that, but it is food for thought.

Back to the Sandwich Flats, they were ‘different’ looking than what I’ve been accustomed to eating all of my life. They were not bleached white, were not ‘loaf’ shaped, and had no ‘crusts’ for me to pull off. They rather resembled a very large cracker. I was a bit nervous at first, but they smelled particularly yummy, and I recognized (and could even pronounce!) all of the ingredients, so I knew it couldn’t be too bad.

My favorite combination I tried was making a sandwich of peppered roast beef, and a spicy mustard. My sandwich tastes are simple, and I don’t appreciate a bunch of greens or juice-oozing extras. The Fabulous Flats were just right; not too chewy, and flavorful enough to compliment everything else, not over power it. That’s the way it should be.

At the end of the day, it is bread. But it’s good bread! How important that is to you will depend on your appreciation of all things baked. I say ‘Win!’ Should I see these floating around my grocer, I’m sure I’ll re-sample from time to time. Check the official site for some interesting information on how everything is made!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

Swallowing large pills can be difficult for me at times. Even though I know of their benefits, I’ve always found myself avoiding multi-vitamins for that reason. I’ve tried the adult chewable varieties, but they taste… bleh… at best. That after taste really, really lingers.

While fiddling through the supplement section at Target one day (I have odd hobbies), I saw these One A Day VitaCraves. They have gummie, and sour gummie varieties, and are designed for adults. The price was a tiny bit higher, and the bottle doesn’t contain a whole month’s supply, but I was intrigued enough to try them anyway.

They still have a touch of that flavor that exists in the hard chewable product, but it’s covered up pretty well by the gummie candy. I suppose it also helps that the grit doesn’t stay stuck in your mouth forever, so the aftertaste is much more agreeable.

I try not to critique packaging often, but One A Day did an amazing job with these. I see the bottle and want to try one, versus seeing it and cringing. What was once a chore now feels like a treat, and that’s half the battle.

Despite the price premium, and reduced supply, I give these a ‘Win!’ Should they decide to level off the price with the rest of their lines, and give me the full 30 days, VitaCraves would make it onto my list of this year’s best new products.

Nutritional Info

Official Site
–Jeremy Hobbs

Over the past month, I’ve become a 3-cup-a-day coffee drinker. I’ve found it the cheapest way to catch my needed caffeine buzz, and I’ve grown to appreciate the taste. I’ve gone from hating it, to tolerating it, to craving it.

Nescafe is psychic, and knew I was looking for an easy way to make single cups of coffee, without a bunch of fuss. So they sent me a bunch of samples from their line of single serving packets, which you add to hot water. To be honest I was a tad leery of instant coffee, having heard nothing good about it, but I’ll try anything once.

In the case of ‘Nescafe Taster’s Choice’ Vanilla, I’ll try it twice. And then a third, and then God knows how many times after that. Just really good! While how a person may ‘take’ their coffee is a very individual choice, Nescafe’s recommended directions were perfect for me. 6 ounces of water produced a drink that was just strong enough, full of flavor, and the vanilla sweetened it enough that I could have lived without adding any sweetener.

I had a similar experience with the ‘Original’ and ‘Colombian’ blends. Also available is a ‘Hazelnut’ and ‘Decaff.’ I don’t like Hazelnut in general, so I’ll just withhold an opinion on that. ‘Decaff’ was decaff

It would be a crime not to mention the convenience of the little pouches, they just slip into a pocket. Rip off a corner and pour. So easy a caveman can do it! Win!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

(Very retro commercial)

Edit:

Get your own free sample at: http://smartchoice.tasterschoice.com/#/Try_It_On_Us/

Mini Chill is a ‘shot’ form of the emerging line of ‘relaxation’ beverages. I call them anti-energy drinks. The first one I sampled, ‘Drank,’ worked, but was more that a little ‘ghetto’ in appearance. Mini Chill does exactly the same thing, in a more compact and infinitely more dignified package.

The flavor is ‘Berry Bliss,’ and it’s fairly pleasant. Think ‘diluted kids cough syrup.’ Not something you’d want to sip on all day, but that isn’t the point. The idea is to get it down the hatch without gagging, and Mini Chill accomplishes that going away.

Mini Chill’s label promotes relaxation, stress relief, better focus, and mood. I can’t say I noticed any difference in my focus or mood, but the stress relief and relaxation was definitely noticeable. The first bottle I tried, I fell asleep sitting up. That never happens. The second time around, the effect was much more subtle (as I wasn’t dog tired to start with), but still quite adequate.

I give Mini Chill a Win! Great as a non-alcoholic night cap, no calories, decent flavor, convenient packaging. If you find it somewhere less that $2.99, I think you should feel comfortable that you’re getting your monies’ worth.

Official Site

-Jeremy Hobbs