Global Game Jammers review "Health Potions"

The active ingredient is caffeine, and there's a lot of it: ~~250mg~~ 160mg, about twice the amount as a cup of coffee or a can of Red Bull. It's sweet and gloopy. A fruity cinnamon flavor subsides to a curiously rubbery aftertaste.

One oddity is the 1600% RDA dose of B6, Pyridoxine. This is standard vitamin fare, but that high concentration is used by some to trigger vivid dreams. Which is strange, because this isn't something you'd knock back before bed-time.

It wired me and made me fey for a whole day, but that's because I had two at once.

Product Page [Manapotions]

12 Comments

grimc

#1 – 5:15 PM February 3, 2009

Okay, it tastes nasty. Does it work?

The site is asking $7 for a two pack with $8 shipping and handling. The '5-hour Energy' stuff works well. A little cheaper at $3 per, and available at most convenience stores.

It's a nice, smart marketing gimmick, but price and availability is going to kill it.

Rob Beschizza

#2 – 5:57 PM February 3, 2009

Yeah, it's pricey. I've updated the post with my thoughts, Mr. Fast Poster: it works, but it's not something you'd sit and drink.

grimc

#3 – 6:20 PM February 3, 2009

With that much caffeine, I'll stick with the 5-hour.

I already have my comment ready for your next post, so go ahead and put it up.

Anonymous Anonymous

#4 – 7:02 PM February 3, 2009

As a basic liquid stimulant, that seems atrociously overpriced. 250mg is a lot for a beverage; but amounts to only 1.25 no-doz, 14.65cents each, in bottles of 60, with generic equivalents even cheaper. Plus, with those, you can either take them straight, or dissolve them in a beverage that isn't made of distasteful flavors and compressed diabetes.

dotAaron

#5 – 9:01 PM February 3, 2009

Actually, it's only got 160 mg of caffeine, hence the +160 to HP. That's about half of a Starbucks Grande drip coffee (according to energyfiend). Also it's roughly equivalent to the 5-Hour caffeine content (same info source).

Also, I like the taste, but then again...I am one of the guys that made it :-) And if you're wondering: no, I don't like the way balloons taste.

The Lizardman

#6 – 10:28 PM February 3, 2009

The massive B6 dose is something that is becoming a new standard of sorts and not surprising due to marketing is its reporting a high effectiveness along with a big placebo effect. I'm a big proponent of if it works for you then that is good enough but the 5 hour stuff and others touting the vitamin energy boost may as well just be sugar water with great marketing.

Anonymous Anonymous

#7 – 12:26 AM February 4, 2009

Fey for a whole day? What limey jargon is this rigamarole?

dan_coop

#8 – 3:54 AM February 4, 2009

Just take 100mg of Provigil!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/my-experiment-with-smart_b_156954.html

Agies

#9 – 6:18 AM February 4, 2009

I have vivid memories of downing a caffeine pill with a bottle of Coke and literally twitching. I for one am sticking to coffee.

Jesse Raub

#10 – 8:53 AM February 4, 2009