Verve!

A Fair & Honest Energy Drink Review

Verve! Retail Package Description

Verve's can is an orange and black/gray art deco affair. The can spends some effort on a circled "e" logo-type thing, it's in the "Vemma" name at the top of the can, and sits slightly concealed behind the "Verve" text on the front of the can. The front also reads, "The insanely healthy energy drink", "a radically different dietary supplement", and "8.3 fl oz (245ml)". For some reason, the can makes me think of Half-Life.

Caffeine Addict's Verve! Review

Starting with Verve, I'm taking a new, more formulated approach to fairly evaluating energy drinks. I'll drink the same drink, three days in a row, allowing for different sleep/weather/workloads/etc. variables to come into play, and give me a more thorough understanding of what the drink is doing.

On day one, I had a normal 7-8 hours of sleep, woke up with an unhealthy attitude about the work, and was pretty hungry. I enjoyed Verve with a green pepper/onion/garlic omelet. I found that taste acceptable, but was displeased with "bottom of the can taint" that the Stig described. I really feel like the combination of food and Verve set me on the track of getting a great deal done on day one. I motored through a lot of work, stayed positive, and felt pretty good.

Day two was more challenging, 4.5 hours of sleep, followed by a 1 hour drive. I enjoyed Verve with a couple of pieces of toast in the car. I tried let the taste grow on me, but it just wouldn't...until I hit an uneven place in the road, then it grew right on my shirt. Much to my surprise, Verve soaked in to my mint green dress shirt and dried to a hue and luminosity not unlike orange highlighter. Washing only lightened the stain down to a light tan, so now it looks more like the track marks/Preparation H residue on the inside of my freshly laundered underwear. One Burma Bibas Dress Shirt to the Goodwill, and one very costly lesson learned. The drink's tastes and consistency were not growing on me, but I managed to power through what was slated to be a pretty crappy day.

Day three was mostly a repeat of day one. I had a lot to do, got ample sleep, and felt Verve helped me get my day started.

I think Verve is a great breakfast drink, it's sort of breakfast juicy, with regards to flavor. If you don't mind pulp, you'll probably not even notice the rancid grit at the bottom of the can (yes, I jostled the can lightly before opening it, everything still settles back to the bottom). It's got a reasonable amount of carbohydrates to get you going, without wrecking your entire diet plan. The sad truth, it's just overpriced. I don't see a way of getting this shipped to your house for less than $3/can (which is what we're going to say we paid for it), and while I felt an improvement over days I don't drink an energy drink at all, and perhaps even more than my usual energy drink regiment, I didn't feel $9 better than no energy drinks, and I didn't feel $4.50 better than drinking a Bawls for breakfast.

On a final note, this drink doesn't list a sodium content, so I just entered 100 for that value. If I ever find out the real sodium content, I'll provide it, otherwise, your guess is as good as mine.

Energy Junkie's Verve! Review

OK, so for years now, Quixtar IBOs have inundated our comments section, touting that XS "finally" offered the huddled masses (who were purportedly waiting with bated breath for Amway to release a Double X Monster-killer energy drink) a "healthy" energy drink. XS crushed the market with a 'rocket powered lift', which was really a paltry smattering of caffeine, amino acids, some herbs, and a ton of 2 B-Vitamins. [crickets chirping] Well, Quixtar pyramid players should crap their pants now, here's a drink that offers something other than empty promises.

Unfortunately, what it also offers is a price tag that makes XS look like a Kmart Bluelight Special. Cases of 12 weigh in at a gargantuan $35. That's nearly $3/each, before taxes and shipping. Their website does offer a free membership, which they claim brings the ordering price down. I've signed up for enough "free/no commitement" offers to genuinely not care if either of the aforementioned claims are true. Even if you want to become a member, you apparently have to buy something a regular price first. But for those Amwayers that like potential revenue streams, you may be interested in Verve's "Business Builder Packages".

The drink itself is indeed "insanely healthy". I do feel like it offers everything it claims in the way of nutrition. Relatively energizing, and full of stuff my body probably doesn't get enough of most mornings.

Verve even tastes pretty good. I'm not much of a fan of juices out of aluminum, but Verve tastes pretty good. There is one notably repugnant aspect to this drink, I hate orange juice pulp, and at the bottom of every can of Verve, you'll find a unpleasant gritty, lip skin and sawdust consistency foulness. After a couple of cans, I just tried to throw that part away, but at $3 a can, you're throwing away 50 cents worth of drink, and who's to say that all the vitamins and goodies aren't in that mealy abomination?

Ultimately, a good drink, that I would like to be able to buy for $2 (or less) at my local convenience store. While I appreciate that this drink has a great deal more to offer than your standard Red Bull or Full Throttle, it also costs about 3 times as much per fl oz. I'm not highfalutin enough to drink 36 cents/ounce energy drink.