ZestHydration Electrolyte Powder - Variety Pack - Mix w/Water - 42 Travel Packets - Low Sugar Supplement - Recovery, Energy, & Focus Drink - IV Pillars of Liquid Rehydration incl Salt & Potassium

I was a bit alarmed when I saw one of the three packages had a whopping 250 mg per serving. That's way more than I usually take at one time, and I wasn't sure how this would work out while I drank it on my morning runs.It turns out that I absolutely love the 250 mg caffeine on my runs in the morning. I chronically have mild hypothyroidism, and some mornings my heart rate (and running) is a little sluggish to get moving faster. I love that I can feel these kick in. From the first run, I knew the 250 mg ones were helping me to not only wake up, but run faster.I'm currently working my way through the blueberry pineapple (only a measly 100mg caffeine per serving), I put two in my water bottle and it continues to boost my runs.This isn't my only caffeine source (I learned that once I returned to full time work after much, much more severe hypothyroidism, with mild hypothyroidism I still sometimes get afternoon fatigue, and consuming a ton of caffeine can help prevent that), so I will look forward to working my way through the non-caffeinated pack as well.I run every day and lose a lot of electrolytes through sweat, and while technically I should be able to replace all those electrolytes through diet alone, I never do, and get headaches and cramps if I don't take supplemental electrolytes. These are great and I really love them.

I'll start with the biggest issue for any product like this - where there are dozens of options - flavor. These each taste above average with the lemon-lime being my favorite. If it tastes good, then you will use it more often to deliver the benefits you are after. That would be the next big topic - effectiveness. The only one I can speak to with conviction is the Energy & Hydration. Simply put, no more leg cramps and feeling like garbage after my weekly football game. I've tried a bunch of different things, but this seems to be a good mixture to replenish. The other flavors' benefits are hard to quantify, but I *feel* like they work as expected :)From what I've seen, this is a pretty good value unless you run across a similar product on sale. If you are not flavor or mineral specific - there are plenty to choose from. If you find one that works, it's worth a little premium if necessary.

So when I didn't see a full list of ingredients listed in the product description here, I followed up by trying to find a list directly from Zest Tea. Unfortunately, such a list isn't published anywhere, so I took a chance and ordered this variety pack anyway. I should have known better. When ingredients aren't listed, it typically means there are issues, and in the case of this product, this is definitely the case. The product description here that this product is "low-sugar" is absolutely false, because "pure cane sugar" is listed as the first ingredient by volume for all three varieties: "energy & hydration", "focus & hydration" and "recovery & hydration". Instead of trying any of these varieties, I've decided to use my current energy (pun intended) to focus on immediate disposal. Sugar of any kind is counterproductive in a product such as this, and simply not needed. Attached are the ingredient lists from each of the three packages. If inclusion of pure cane sugar isn't enough to dissuade use of this product, be aware that "dextrose" is listed as the second ingredient by volume for all three, and sucralose is listed as the tenth ingredient for "energy & hydration" and the twelfth ingredient for "focus & hydration". Curiously, "recovery & hydration" doesn't list sucralose, but instead lists "steviol glycosides". While this is better than use of a toxic artificial sweetener, it still contains pure cane sugar as the first ingredient.

42 tubes of powder = $1.07 eachMade in the USAI do wish that the ad contained a full disclosure of the ingredient listing. One of the other reviews did post this.You get 14 each of 3 kindsThey arrived in a smallish brown box, almost medium sized, inside were 3 foil pack's with zip locks.These foil bags are pretty big and the foil tubes are also larger than most. Maybe it is the amount of sugar in each mix.Zest is a hydration Mix - 3 different levelsFocus - Pineapple blueberry - 100mg of caffeine, Alpha-gpc, and L-theanineEnergy - Blackberry Lemonade - 250mg of coffeine, L-theanin, ElectrolytesI can't drink caffeine.Recovery - Lemon Lime - Sodium, Potassuim, ChlorideI tried this one, mixed fairly well ... I poured it in and let it sit for almost 10 minutes before tasting, just gave it a bit of a stirThe taste is very lemon lime and then has a bitter under taste that I associate with alternate sugars or artificial flavors. But I'm not seeing one listed on the ingredient list. So I'm not sure why I'm tasting this bitter flavor.Price is not too bad, considering that this is a sport product.

I enjoy drinking this cold and only drink one of these a day preferably in the morning as a substitute to coffee to change this up a bit. As a fan of propel this wasn’t bad flavor in comparison to it. The lemon version reminded me of lemon head candies. It just has extras with the vitamins and stuff. Easy tear packets and it only make the water cloudy. Would be something I’d consider again in future.

Comes well packaged with single-serving pouches that are easy to tear open. Convenient to take with you on the go.Sugar is the main ingredient and it’s sweet and tasty. I probably could have done with less sugar but I imagine that is part of the energy boost. Says the caffeine level is similar to a cup of coffee, which is reasonable but hard to tell. I can’t comment on the electrolytes other than I can taste a bit of salt in there like other electrolyte drinks.The expiration date is 2 years out, but since it’s dry and sealed I assume it would last much longer.It mixes in fairly quickly but leaves some unmixed granules behind. You probably won’t notice in a water bottle but I did in a glass. It mixes up clear which I appreciate (no artificial coloring).