Thursday, April 23, 2009

Energy Drink Product Review + Recipe


Energy drinks are everywhere these days! In the gas station in Castro Valley where I frequently fill up after karate, they have about 4 refrigerator cases full of different flavors, sizes, and varieties.

Being a mom of 4, a wife, a teacher, and a full-time workout nut is tiring. Sometimes I drink energy drinks to give me a boost during the day. I don't drink the ones with sugar in them. I hate "wasting" calories on drinks - I would rather spend my WW points on food. That automatically cuts the selection of energy drinks available to me by about 80%.

Unfortunately, the 20% that are left for the most part don't taste so good. I choke them down because I want the functional ingredients in them. The only one I think I really enjoy the flavor of is Go Girl.

Imagine my delight when I was shopping in my local grocery outlet (AKA rainbow market) and stumbled upon a club soda-flavored energy drink. Club soda has no calories, and virtually no flavor. My mind reeled at the possibilities for mixing this thing and having an endless choice of flavors of energy drink that I wouldn't have to choke down!

The drink is called JetSet. It comes in 5 flavors: the club soda, original, diet original, ginger ale, and tonic water. I only saw the club soda flavor. I think they were 6 for $1.00 or some ridiculous price. I should have bought more than the 6 I got. Maybe I'll go back and see if they have any more.

The company that makes these energy drinks is in San Francisco. Supposedly they sell their drinks at Safeway, Vons, and BevMo! I'll have to check my local stores and see if they have any of the other flavors. Their website is at www.drinkjetset.com.

The club soda tastes like regular club soda. I was surprised that it didn't have a "vitaminy" taste like some of the energy drinks out there. If you put me in a blind taste test, I wouldn't be able to distinguish between this product and another club soda. It comes in a 10.5 ounce can (perfect serving size for mixing) and contains 120 mg of caffeine (about the same as a cup of coffee and more than an 8-ounce Red Bull), along with B vitamins, taurine, ginseng, and guarana.

The mixing possibilities with this drink are endless. I tried mixing this with half of an OceanSpray Cranergy drink (cranberry pomegranet, yum), half a cup of Minute Maid fruit punch (again, yum), and a couple of different flavors of Crystal Light (pink lemonade was especially tasty). The Jetset website has a bunch of recipe and serving ideas as well (including cocktails).

My favorite though, was this sparkling ginger limeade that I whipped up in an empty water bottle and took with me on a 2nd grade field trip (I didn't have time to make coffee, but I needed SOMETHING to deal with all those 7- and 8-year-olds!)

--Sparkling Energy Ginger Limeade--

-2 small limes
-1" piece of fresh ginger
-2 sweetener packets (I used Equal but you can use Splenda or Truvia)
-1 can Jetset Club Soda Energy Drink

Juice the limes. Peel and grate just the outer soft part of the ginger (the core is tough and stringy). Combine the lime juice, ginger, and sweetener in a tall glass; stir to combine. Carefully pour in club soda and stir. May be shaken and served in a cocktail glass over ice. Or give it a "kick" with a shot of vodka if you don't have to drive anywhere!

Nutritionals: 22 calories, 0 fat, 0 fiber, 0 protein, 80mg sodium

WW points: 0

2 comments:

  1. Yum!!!!! What (if any) are the sweeteners/ingredients? I am going to have to stock up if I can drink them!!!!

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  2. Ingredients for the Club Soda flavor (the rest of the flavors' ingredients and nutritional info are on their website): carbonated water, citric acid, Taurine, Caffeine, Mineral Blend (Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium chloride, Sodium citrate), Inositol, Guarana, Ginseng, Niacinamide, Pyridoxine HCL, Calcium pantothenate, Vitamin B12.

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