This great product is the second I have reviewed from Sumseeds, the first being a pack of great bbq flavored energy seeds. Why even make caffeinated sunflower seeds? “A lot of people chew sunflower seeds to stay awake and give them energy, and we just thought we’d combine the two of them,” said Tim Walter, president of Carpenter-based Dakota Valley Products.
And somehow, they managed to not just put the caffeine and stuff on the shell as a coating, but actually caffeinated the seeds themselves! And the best part is that just like the bbq version, these little seeds pack a big whallop of buzz and nutrition in a very small tasty bag.
Packaging:8
the best thing about this bag is the size of the packages. This comes in a big 3.5oz package or a smaller snack size 1.75oz package. These little packs make it extremely to eat and take with me – although I would prefer if it had a little ziploc-style closure, it goes pretty fast. I would not mind taking these with me anywhere – as it looks like it is – a great and healthy uplifting snack.
The only issue I see is the lack of caffeine content information in here, more han saying it is equal to an energy drink. As we all know , EDs vary from 50mg to 500mg – and are useless as a comparison.
Buzz/Nutrition:9
One of the coolest things about these being caffeinated sunflower seeds was all the nutrition they have. These sunflower seeds naturally have 160 calories of some very decent stuff, including 11 grams of protein, iron and calcium. On top of that there is the very serious 120-140mg of caffeine in each container too. That means that this snack not only really fills you up, but gets you moving as well. On top of the caffeine, they also manage to squeeze inside the shell 96mg taurine, 53mg Lysine and40mg ginseng – so you can have the whole energy drink thang in a more convenient carrying bag. Not to mention lysene is something that can help your mouth out if you overdo it on these and end up with Salted Sunflower Seed Mouth.
After decimating the package, I found I was not only full, but I had a TON of energy for a good 3 hours or so from it. While not spectacular, It was still decent enough that I am sure I will be looking for these on my next road trip.
Taste:8
I found the taste to be just like sunflower seeds – no difference at all – excepting for the fact tat out of the entire bag I encountered not one bad seed or imperfection. Usually, a bag of regular sunflower seeds takes me a while to chew through, what with all the spitting and using popping open and chewing… I just flew through this bag, though. In about 5-10 minutes the entire bag was completely empty and I was left licking the little salt powder left from the corners.
While not one of their more unique flavors ( and they have a couple of those) this is a very decent sunflower seed.