I have seen this bar around at various convenience stores, but the color and quality of the bar always seemed like a second class affair. The packaging just screams second rate. Big back package with bright red handwritten font – packed full of marketing and promotional text, from their flavor ( the only one they have) listed twice, to their slogan ( an energy bust in every bite!) to a whole paragraph with their whole mission statement, they designed this with the idea that more is less. It did not help that the pit bull on the front label is a weirdly illustrated/photographed sweet looking pit bull – who does not instill fear and energy as much as grimacing at the bad art job.
However, after trying it out, I was really impressed! The nutritive value in this bar, the calories provided from good healthy sources and the amount of caffeine in this little thing can provide enough energy to keep moving for a while. The jolt was sufficient that I did not need a boost til after lunch – and the crash was slow and not that noticeable. While the package might scare you, what is inside is worth going for.
The bar is a companion to the pit bull energy drink, which from the web site looks like the same art. The company is a small operation in Nevada, an independent minority owned Company; The Lead Principle is the Owner and operator of an LA based restaurant chain called Roscoe’s Chicken N’ Waffles.
Buzz/Nutrition:9
Decent buzz, with 164 mgs of caffeine and a decent shot of guarana as well. This sure can pack a jolt into your system. Fun thing is that it’s a food, so you don’t know it hits you for a while after digestion. Energy drinks seem to hit my bloodstream faster than food. So this bar kept the caffeine coming into my bloodstream in slower and more consistent intervals. 10 minutes after taking it, I was still asleep, and a half hour I was starting to get that healthy jitter. Helps that the bar has 200ish calories, so it can be breakfast too.
They also manage to pack in the EDM ingredients, from over 1000mg of taurine , ginseng, B, niacin, C and potassium, it also has a healthy dose of fiber and protein(15g!) – easily making this a great breakfast bar as well. You really could not want more from a nutritional standpoint.
Taste:7
The taste of this bar is , unfortunately, like an energy bar. I know, IS IS ONE, but I wish it did not have to taste like an oversweet chunk of carpet sample. Don’t get me wrong, I eat protein bars a lot, and I think they all taste like carpet sample. In comparison, I would say this tastes much like a Pure Protein energy par or one of the serious looking ones from EAS. Future flavors coming soon include Cranberry-Orange Yogurt and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.
Packaging:5
As mentioned before, is this really the best you could do? For a bar that works so well, a fantastic package would help the sales and marketing of such a unique product. And unfortunately, their website is going for the extreme market, rather than those who are actually health or body conscious. I think they missed an opportunity here,featuring bimbettes on the beach, as opposed to serious energy for people on the go.