So Bom Dia, the people who bring you many different pricey but tasty acai drinks (and yes, I know it’s really açaÃ, but you know what I’m saying–and acai is easier to type), now has a couple of flavors designated as “all natural energy.” That puts them squarely in our jurisdiction, so here goes.
Acai Energy: Transcend is the one in the green and is an “all natural juice blend.” And it’s 100% juice so that’s something. Yes, if you haven’t figured out that you need to check the percentage of what’s actually juice on the juices you buy, well, now you know. It’s got among its ingredients: acai juice, green tea, guarana, apple juice, raspberry juice, “natural flavors,” merlot grape juice, taurine, Vitamin C (100% RDA), mangosteen puree, L-Theanine (an amino acid, apparently), and B6 and B12 (300% RDA for each of those), along with 25% RDA of Vitamin K, and something called yumberry juice.
Now you know how you see some information about a product and think: okay, you’re just making shit up now? Yeah. Yumberries. Seriously? Apparently so. The somewhat reliable Wikipedia lists yumberry as an known alias of Myrica rubra. Which sounds so much like a Lucasian alien bounty hunter name–wasn’t that the lizard guy? Anyway. If your name was myrica rubra you’d stick with yumberry too. Although I have this sick desire for yumberries to taste horrible, just for the sheer irony of it. Imagine that lesson when you were a little kid: “Have a yumberry!” “Blech! This tastes like poo!” “Just preparing you for the rest of your life there, Junior.”
What the hell was I talking about? Oh yes. The drink.
[ad#longpost]I don’t know how much green tea or yumberry I’m getting out of it, but I do taste the acai, the apple, the grape, and maybe a bit of the raspberry. It’s a very pleasant juice drink. How is for energy? Good question. I don’t know how much caffeine/guarana we’ve got going on in here–but it’s not enough to let me feel any substantial effect from it. Bear in mind who’s writing this review: I have the caffeine tolerance of the state of Idaho. So I can tell you it’s not going to give a normal person a buzz, I don’t think. At least not a large one.
Acai Energy: Conquer is the other one. The orange one. I figure if we can’t transcend into some serious buzz, let’s conquer and overthrow shit, yes? Also 100% juice. And it’s got a lot of the same ingredients as Transcend, except black tea and yerba mate instead of green tea, then put pomegranate juice instead of raspberries, and add gojiberry juice as well. This has a greatly different taste than Transcend, which reminds me of other Bom Dia products. I’m not sure what it is, frankly. I can taste the pomegranate, and the grape, but I think everything else may be piling on with the yerba mate, which is a very strong flavored substance. I spring a little bit in with my coffee and the whole pot has the taste. That’s not to say it’s unpleasant; it’s just distinct. Okay, yes, if you drink just straight up really strong mate tea, then that’s unpleasant. It’s like liquid cardboard if the concentration is too high. But we’re not talking cardboard here with this drink. It’s pleasant, just different and hard to pin down.
Actually, the more I drink of this–I’m fairly certain that is the mate, crouching down behind all the other fruit juices.
Anyway, of the two, I think Conquer is your best bet if you’re looking for an actual boost. It seemed to have the most effect–possible due to the inclusion of mate? Uncertain. Again, don’t know what the caffeine/guarana content is here. But it works. I felt much more awake and aware after consuming this, doing so after giving Transcend enough time to transcend its way out of my system so I’m not just having some sort of cumulative effect with the two of them.
And yes, just on their own, they might seem expensive, but energy drinks are kind of insane just on their own. So a healthy alternative costing a bit more is not unheard of.
Hey, just tried the Conquer. It is mighty tasty! I don’t know if this is a packaging change but I noticed the bottle now says 76mg of caffeine. Hope that helps.