Ah Nevada. It seems like of all the states which do energy drinks- Nevada is king. It is silly how many of them actually do. The latest product I am reviewing, EQ Labs, is supposedly very popular in Las Vegas Valley. EQ Labs makes an effervescent tablet that provides an makes any beverage and energy drink.They are growing by leaps and bounds, it seems, by finally getting their product in 7 Elevens and their website.
That is how they came to my attention – as EQ gave away 1000 packs of energy tablets to the first 1000 people. Pretty risky maneuver, giving away that much product. But – if the product is good enough – it might pay off for them if they can get their name out the re and people hooked on their stuff.
As for the tablets themselves, I found there is some very good points, and some big problems with it too. EQ works as an energy boost – providing a good boost, a very easy to transport package and a very cool idea. My issues are with the mechanics of the tablet itself. Because of their citric acid-baking soda carbonation, the thing tastes like an alka seltzer – and makes whatever liquid you put this into have a very unpleasant foamy head to it – like a glass of beer.

Taste:5
Certainly nothing to write home about. While this does not taste bad it does not taste good. I think they were trying to model a Red Bull flavor, it also has nuances of vanilla. Of course all of those flavors were obscured by the baking soda/alka-seltzer taste – giving off very small fizzy carbonation – nothing like the carbonation found in sodas. I have had much worse mixes, but I have had so much better too. And while I really like how the drink is completely dissolved in a glass of water, leaving no residue trace a the bottom of the glass, getting through the foam at the top was pretty gross. This had the same dissolvable quality of Bull Tonik – where you could drop this in any hot or cold liquid and it will get dissolved easily, the film at the rim was undesirable enough to turn many of my taste subjects away from sampling.

Packaging: 9
EQ uses a 3-inch tubes of six tablets – like Zenergize tablets, which hold 8 tablets or Bull Tonik which holds 20. I really like these tubes – as they hold up to lots of wear and dear – and are fairly indestructible while keeping the tablets fresh and dry.
Like most mixes, powders and tablets I have tried, these need to be dropped in water – and taste horrible by themselves. There is even a little strip at the top of the package stating that these tablets “NOT edible”. The package itself is something I have seen a number of times before, and hold up decently. They also list the caffeine, taurine and the rest on the tube – which is a definite plus. As for the printing and the art, this is also top notch. The logo and art really work well, and overall art is serviceable.
My only small issue is the big tablet size, needing to be split in half to drop in. Not a big deal, but unlike peppods which were small enough to plop into the opening of a water bottle without having to get your hands dirty.

Nutrition/Buzz:8
The buzz in each tablet isn’t bad – with 80mg in each one. While not a powerhouse of energy, 2 tablets dropped in an 8 ounce drink will keep you movin pretty well. Besides caffeine, this has the other common energy drink ingredients – taurine, Vitamin B complex, and Ginkgo Biloba. I found that one of these tablets were not really enough to get me pumped – but 2 of them did a very decent job of waking me right up.

In terms of health, though, this has lots of chemicals in it, from the aspartame and Acesulfame and sorbitol needed to sweeten things up. While not like this is horrible, but is on par in terms of chemical ingredients as Diet Coke – down to the fake food coloring.