I'm blue da ba de da ba da" (Powerade Berry and Tropical Fruits)

Member Name: Lunar_see

Product:	Powerade Berry and Tropical Fruits
Date:	21/08/09 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Refreshes, rehydrates, the colour, the bottle design

Disadvantages: Taste isnt that great, my own preference to water

I am a big fan of sporty types of drink; I find they rehydrate me much better than most things after a good work out session in the gym. My local gym has recently had a lot of offers on for new products they are thinking of introducing into the cafe section and they range from health shakes and flavoured teas to health bars and sports drinks and the one that drew my attention was Powerade because with that bright blue colour it immediately catches your eye as you browse and it looks interesting.
With a closer inspection of my bottle of Powerade I noticed that this product was made by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd and is a world wide brand which has been around since 1988, so with that borne in mind I was hoping that this would be quite a decent product, although I have to admit I am not a fan of fizzy drinks and Coca Cola is never on my list of priorities whenever I am buying soft drinks, the sugar content along is enough to have me breaking out in sweats with the thought of rotting teeth and a mouth full of fillings.

As a drink Powerade has been marketed and sold as an isotonic sports drink made for athletes, it has been produced scientifically with fast acting carbohydrates which the body needs during prolonged sporting activities whilst helping to replace fluids and electrolytes which help to improve performance and provide hydration and the term isotonic refers to the fact that the absorption rate us much faster when helping to replace fluids. Its two main ingredients also happen to be both potassium and sodium which makes sense because work out, you sweat and it is sweat that reduces the amount of salt in your body, this then leads to a reduction in the amount of sodium and potassium in your body so a drink such as this one really helps to rehydrate your body of all the water, salt, sodium and potassium that you may have lost whilst exercising. So it sounds like a drink you absolutely need when like me you spend two hours in the gym three times a week either pounding the treadmill, at a spinning or body combat class, all of which test your fitness levels to the maximum. Also contained within Powerade you are likely to find glucose and this helps the body to absorb water whilst providing energy in the form of carbohydrates, vitamin B6 which some people take in an every day tablet form to combat stress and energy levels and the fat content? In a 500ml bottle there are 120 calories which is a lot more than I had originally expected but there is 0% fat content.

Now I had never seen or come across Powerade before until I saw it within my gym and although it was the blue coloured one which caught my eye, it is also available in three other flavours - starting with 'Powerade' Berry and Tropical Fruits Flavour, 'Powerade' Cherry Flavour and 'Powerade' Orange Flavour and then there is Powerade Aqua+ for extra rehydration. Each 500ml bottle retails between the prices of 79p and £1.09 which is the most expensive that I have seen it and as well as being sold singularly, they are also available in multi-four packs in supermarkets such as Asda and Tesco and they cost in the region of £2.80. SO if you like it enough to buy it as a multi-pack it is more cost effective to do so.

This particular bottle of Powerade is a clear plastic bottle which allows you to see the drink through the bottle hence why the bright ice blue colour catches your attention almost immediately and the sole reason that I chose it regardless of its flavour. Featured on the bottle of Powerade bottle is the Powerade logo which looks like a fancy question mark sign and a label which features a picture of a runner on it to signify its connection to sport. Also featured on the label are the Olympic rings symbols because this drink is one of the official sports drinks for the Olympic Games. The bottle is has been designed to fit securely into your hand making it easy to carry for sports and it has a drink spout to drink from which is easy use with just one tug. I personally prefer bottles which feature a drinking spout because when I am running on the treadmill or sitting on a spinning bike, it makes it much easier to grab a drink without having to slow down from what I am doing or worry that I am going to splash everyone with water as I try to manoeuvre my mouth around the bottle.

So the important bit, the taste. The first thing I would say about the taste is that it is fruit based and it tastes much better having been chilled than it does when it gets warm because this makes it much more refreshing, however this drink for me didn't have an overall strong Berry flavour that I was expecting it to have, whereas drinks such as Lucozade sport have a really strong and sometimes bitter aftertaste, this is quite watery but definitely sweeter and as I am giving my honest opinion it does quench your thirst but it does have to be ice cold and super chilled to make it taste nice and that is the best description I can give to it 'nice' and refreshing and similar to Mr Frosty Ice pops that I used to buy as a child from the freezer shop up the road on a hot summers day. I think part of my issue with the product is that I expected it to be more like Lucozade and a bit fizzy with a strong overriding taste and because I never got that, I felt quite disappointed with it and given its bright blue colour I was hoping to love it for its taste as much as that.

So for me I like it because I find it refreshing when cold and as an alternative to water but given the choice I would choose water every time whilst in the gym but might on an occasion choose this drink for a change and to add a little colour to my work-out and as an energy drink it does refresh and rehydrate you really well, but in my opinion not as well as water and for that reason water is my preference. However, if you haven't tried it, then I would recommend you do just because the colour is so brilliant if nothing else.

Summary: A sports energy drink without the fizz