You can tell a whole lot about a person by what they keep in their emergency stash. Everyone has one of these – a little place where they can keep that one thing that they can not ever live without backed up someplace, just in case. You know what kind of person would keep a Lucky Dollar tucked away behind their drivers license, compared to that last emergency business card, the mini Swiss knife or that last old pack of cigarettes hidden in some deep purse pocket.

I have always wanted an emergency stash of caffeine, some little thing I could slip into my shirt pocket just in case I felt a slump going on. Firestar looked like it might fit the bill for me – a little foil sealed pack of caffeinated sweetness you are just supposed to dump in your mouth and be on your way – No liquid needed. This little pack of caffeinated goodness is about as big as a business card – and not very thick either.

This stuff isn’t found in the states yet, but could be found in the UK and online at firestar69.com. Thanks to Andrew Guise for sending me some to sample.

Buzz/Nutrition:2
Have you ever drunk yourself sober? I think I have that sort of reaction to these. I mean, everything about them, from other people’s reactions online to the ingredients list tells me I should be flying off the walls after pounding this in me. Firestar Energy Booster is time released flavor crystals that delivers 200mg of caffeine over 4 hours. There really is not much else in here besides some sweetness ( there is 2 grams of sugar), a sour lemon flavor and caffeine. So I SHOULD be flying high on a relatively extreme caffeine dose.

Didn’t happen. Instead, all 3 times I tried it, I got immediately droopy. right in the middle of the day, I got overly drowsy not 10 minutes after dropping the powder in my mouth. All 3 times, I felt like I could sleep for days.
Needless to say, I got a little frightened, and could not really believe the results. So I gave my last packet to a guinea pig in the office – who got immediately sleepy too. And got a slight headache – and nauseous too.
I still can not figure out what happened, as I knock back 4-500 mg of caffeine a day – and this is not really that insane of a dosage. Either way, every time I tried, everything went sour.

Packaging:10
What I love is the cool little 3 gram packets these come in, designed expertly and produced perfectly. The bright red pack is very flamey and cool, but is not over the top. IT reminds me more of a rave flier than anything else. It even lets you know the caffeine content so you are not getting in over your head.
It is also very functional. I accidentally dropped one into a glass of drink and the whole thing stayed nice ad dry. The pack ripped off easily, and the powder inside was so simple to dump in your mouth. I don’t think you could improve on this design.
Flavor:8
I really did not mind the taste – kind of like a Pixy Stick or ground Sweet Tart. While not nearly as tasty as Encaff, they did a decent job masking the bitter of the caffeine. While certainly not for everyone ( my guinea pig thought it tasted like lemon flavored ass, although he did not elaborate how he knew what lemon ass tastes like) I enjoyed it – even the light fizziness from the baking soda.
If it were not for putting me right to sleep as opposed to perking me up, I would be inclined to just munch this as a snack.