Muud Original

Coming back from a brief break of caffeine, I decided I needed to review something that'll give me enough boost for a good few hours. With this energy from coffee, I plan to see if I find jitteriness, focus, or just plain energy for exercising. I'll discuss this when I finish up the last paragraph, however. Like Jeff mentioned with the espresso Muud, we thought we were all finished up reviewing coffee energy drinks, until I came across the line of Muuds outside of town. Having never heard of Muud, I must think they make other energy drink, aside from coffee, but apparently they only make coffee. I notice a few differences between this and another coffee energy drink, there is not a bit of caffeine listed in the ingredients list, and it has much more sugar (28g per serving). Seeing this much sugar startles me a bit, having perhaps a flavor of coffee that's too sweet, and not robust enough, much like the Java Monsters. Because of the can design, I might think otherwise, perhaps being mean, and robust just like a real coffee would be. There are 3 shots of espresso per can in the Muud, knowing that makes me want to crack it open and receive this kick.

As soon as I open this can of Muud Original, I dive my nose in and determine a scent just like the Full Throttle Coffee, line, being nicely robust with equal sweetness. Like almost all coffees, there's a simple light brown, with a nice, thick consistency to it and obviously no carbonation. I was a bit thrown off taking a few sips of the Muud, seeming like nothing I've ever tasted before. When you first sip at this drink, it tastes like a thick, almost gelatinous basic coffee flavor, and then a wave of overpowering sweetness shortly following. A few more ounces into the drink, there is a sense of bitterness, just like drinking a real coffee without the cream added in. Although you may think the sweetness counteract the bitterness, it oddly does not. It does taste like it's a bit 'overdone', in terms of being sweetened, and being well tasting for a coffee. It is hard to drink more than half of the can without having a stomach ache, you know, the kind you get from too much sugar. In terms of gumminess, there's no up front gumminess, but there's a bit lingering from the sucrose. Chugging a few ounces, I found some roughness in the back of my throat, the sort of which is found from the coffee's strong flavor. Overall, my expectations were too high for Muud, and to me, it really is nothing more than an over sweetened can of coffee.

In one can of Muud Original, there are pretty simple, yet important ingredients, which read as following: coffee, milk, sucrose, water, cellulose gel, sodium phosphate, natural flavors, cellulose gum, and carrageenan. Seeing sucrose as the proprietary sweetener is definitely reassuring, but too much ruins the whole drink, no matter the sweetener. Like just about all coffee energy drinks have milk, to give it that consistency and the milky, creamy flavor, and just a bit of sweetness too. I can't say I'm too familiar with all the cellulose gel and cellulose gum ingredients, but I do know they are found in all coffee drinks, whether it's coffee energy or just coffee. Per can, there's an insane 300 calories and a crazy 56g of sugar. Let's make some conversions here...for 300 calories you can have a 16 Monster and a half of a Monster. I'd rather have that than a can of sweet coffee. Usually, coffees have very little real sugar added into it, but this Muud is literally sweetened like any other energy drink, even more than a Monster. Knowing this, I think I'm going to stick with my method of drinking half the can, and saving the rest for a later date, maybe morning. I recommend this method for drinks with an overpowering amount of calories, and/or sugar. All in all, if I were craving coffee, and I had the choice between this and, let's say, any of the Java Monsters, I'd definitely go for a Java Monster.

Taste: 7 - Way to sweet for a coffee, and just no real coffee flavor is present
Kick: 7.7 - It's hard to find a kick, especially nursing the drink over a long period of time
Overall: 7.4 - I know these are rare, but don't get fooled by the rarity, any Java Monster or Full Throttle Coffee beats it a long shot

Reviewed by: Chan

Muud Dyn-O-Muud

Just when we thought we'd covered every single coffee energy drink left out there, we find a whole new line, Muud. Muud isn't advertised as an energy drink, but when the can says there is the equivalent of 4 shots of espresso per can, you know you've got something powerful in front of you. I've looked up the average amount of caffeine in one shot of espresso, and one site says there are about 77mg of caffeine per 1.5oz shot. That means there are 51mg in every ounce, which I think is the more traditional serving. If there really are 4 shots of espresso in here, that would mean there are roughly 205mg of caffeine per can; quite a hefty dose, when compared to Monster's 142mg per can and Red Bull's 81mg per 8oz can. The thing to remember, however, is that this is not a purposeful energy drink, but, as it mentions on the can, an "all natural premium coffee drink." What that means is that there won't be any other energy ingredients but caffeine. I take that as a sign that results may vary, in terms of energy given.

Immediately after I popped the can open, I noticed a very nice, rich, and robust coffee bean smell dominating with a small hint of milkiness. Unlike pretty much every single coffee energy drink, this drink has some serious coffee flavor, which right off the bat, gets me excited because I've been seeking a drink like this for a long time. Since I can already tell this isn't going to be a watered down, overly-sweetened kid's drink, I'm predicting that the color will be much darker, as a result of less milk and sweetener. I slowly poured it out and, to be expected, I saw a color exactly like coffee with a bit of cream in it, rather than light brown or tan. Taking a small sip, this drink is silky-smooth, starts off with a small bit of sweetness, tastes very milky, and then ends in very good, robust coffee and a rich nutty, bitter aftertaste. Lurking somewhere in the middle is a vague yet decadent mocha flavor. I have never been a fan of lightly sweetened coffee, but this is making one out of me; it's so good. To a non-coffee lover, this may seem not sweet enough until you warm up maybe a quarter of the way through. Honestly, before this drink, I haven't liked bittersweet or semisweet coffee. Now, I understand what makes it so good. It isn't necessarily the sweetness that makes it addictive; it's the contrast between sweetness, nuttiness, bitterness, and robustness of the coffee. Already, it's over and I'm trying to see if I feel the equivalent of 4 shots of espresso.

Because Muud is simply a coffee drink and not a purposeful energy drink, its ingredients list is relatively short. From beginning to end, the list is as follows: coffee, milk, water, sugar (Sucrose), natural flavors, cellulose gel, cellulose gum, disodium phosphate, postassium hydroxine, and carrageenan. The first four ingredients are pretty obvious, although I would rather not see water, becuase it makes me think this is diluted. The last ingredients look like thickeners, emulsifiers and preservatives, including carrageenan, which is a seaweed used to thicken products. On kick, Muud does well depending on your caffine tolerance. The amount of caffeine in it is likely less than or equal to the amount in a small cup of Starbucks. If you're somebody who regularly has coffee, this might have no effect. On the other hand, for someone who has a low caffeine intake, this will do a good job of getting you wired for a good hour or two. Even for someone like myself, who has a bit of a tolerance for caffeine from drinking energy drinks, having this at 7PM kept me up all night. Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone, because of its wonderfully rich coffee taste and high energy yield for a non-energy drink.

Taste: 9.4 - Rated superb by me, a non-coffee drinker
Kick: 7.5 - Quality caffeine kick
Overall: 8.6 - I would love another one of these

Reviewed by: Jeff