Behold The Next Caffeine-Delivery System: Chewing Gum
Written: Jan 12 '08 (Updated Jan 12 '08)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: lots of B vitamins, sugar-"free," rich in caffeine
Cons: expensive, not long-lasting, too sweet by half
The Bottom Line: Quicker and more convenient than a cup of espresso, Mad Croc Energy Gum may be the answer to an all-nighter studying for that Western Civ final. Definitely not for children.
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| scmrak's Full Review: Mad - Croc Spiked Spearmint |
Clearly, those in the energy industry were wracking their taurine-lashed brains looking for a new way to deliver their product to post-allnighter college students when one of them reached underneath his chair and found a wad of ABC gum. At least that seems to be the epiphany necessary for creating something as silly as Mad Croc Energy Gum, of which I have recently tried one of the four flavors, spiked spearmint.
Simply put, Mad Croc's caffeine-delivery system is a new take on an old product; chewing gum. Except this is subtly different from the gum that built the Chicago Cubs: it's infused with a whopping dose of caffeine and a jolt of the mysterious amino acid (kinda) that, if little else, is essential to the health of your pet cat. According to the makers, each Chiclet-shaped piece of Mad Croc contains forty milligrams of caffeine. That's more than the 34mg in a 12-ounce Coke and about the same as six ounces of coffee (which is about what's in a tall latte). Two pieces have the same amount of caffeine as an energy drink like Red Bull or Full Throttle. It's also fortified with lots of B vitamins, which have long been a folk remedy for hangovers, you know; and a boatload of yummy stuff like carnuba wax (the same wax that makes your car shiny), calcium silicate (known to us geology types as feldspar), and red and green food coloring. Mmm-mmm-mmm! Tasty!
The gum pieces are much the size and shape of classic Chiclets, though a bilious neon green - perhaps fitting, since that taurine is a major component of bile. Unlike Chiclets, though, it has no hard shell. It's decidedly sweet, in keeping with being mostly sorbitol (the "nutritive sweetener" used in sugar-free gum, which also acts as a laxative...), and certainly minty. The gum also contains sucralose (Splenda®). Chewing quickly turns it into the typical cud-like wad of chewing gum. The texture is somewhat different from most gums: it's slightly grainy, enough so that a co-worker with whom I shared a piece commented that it's lousy for blowing bubbles. It quickly turns into a pale green wad, which loses sweetness and flavor in about thirty or forty-five minutes. It sticks somewhat to dental work, if that's a concern
As a caffeine-delivery system, the gum is more effective than a liquid: the buzz hits in ten or fifteen minutes, and is quite sharp. There's also, however, a bit of a "crash"; much more so than one notices with liquid caffeine-delivery systems. I can see where this might be useful if one is drifting off and the movie's only half over, but that's about it.
Thoughts:
• Clearly a product aimed at those who think Red Bull and its like are tasty beverages.
• Low in calories (10 calories for two pieces) and almost nauseatingly sweet.
• High caffeine load makes this gum completely unsuitable for children.
• Almost ridiculously expensive compared to other gum - more than three dollars for five two-piece "doses."
• Good source of the B Vitamins, but then so are Flintstone chewable vitamins, not to mention real food.
Recommendations: if "energy drinks" are your thing and you're a fan of chewing gum, have at it. If you're a parent of adolescent kids, this stuff is not for them - even the manufacturers admit it, with the warning on the package "Not Recommended for Children." For grownups, however, it's terribly sweet and doesn't last very long. And since you can't blow decent bubbles with it, what's the point?
Mad Croc Energy Gum: available in spiked spearmint, power peppermint ("Why two mint flavors?" I wonder), cinnamon kick, and slammin citrus. Oh, my...
Recommended:
No
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