it's no secret i love my morning coffee. it's the only way i can start my day, it's not safe to be around me until there's been some coffee, and all my colleagues know to not bother conversing with me until that first mouthful has made it into the blood stream. it's just not worth it. so when i was contacted by the folks at alibi, asking if i'd like to try their healthy alternative to the morning coffee, well... i was dubious. especially as the new formula is completely caffeine free, and i'm pretty sure that between the four shots i take in my coffee and the three cans of diet coke i consume per day, i'm pretty much addicted to the stuff.i read their brief; made with real fruit juice, nothing artificial, no unnatural stimulants, mineral and herbal extracts and a total of 19 nutrients in every can - it sounded good... in theory. the brief continued; pioneers of the natural immunity defence ingredient - wellmune beta glucan, supported by over $300m US dollars research... apparently alibi is the only european health drink to have incorporated this ingredient. unsure whether to be perturbed by this, i decided to give it a go. i mean, addicted or not, caffeine is not good for you, and if there is a healthier (and cheaper) alternative out there, then i'm prepared to give it a go.
i signed up for the #givemeanalibi challenge, and sure enough, the following week a carton of the stuff turned up at work. 24 cans; 12 sparkling pomegranate, 12 sparkling citrus. i chucked a couple in the fridge at work, quite sure that boyfriend was not going to help me carry it home after the solid wood chest of drawers i'd had him help me with a few days earlier, and - having already had a coffee that day, waited until the following day to crack my first one open.
firstly, it doesn't have that 'energy drink' smell, which is a nice change. a colleague at work has a red bull every morning, and the smell makes me gag. it reminds me of boozy nights out. me no likey. but alibi smells like... well, the flavour it is. the citrus is lemon-limey, and the pomegranate is pommeny... not a word, but you know what i mean...
drinking it at 9am was not pleasant. i like coffee for lots of reasons; it's my morning beverage. i don't necessarily drink it for the caffeine i drink it because i love it. i did not love drinking alibi in the morning. i also noticed that it made my teeth feel funny; almost coated in sugar (regular coke does this to me too) - but as the drink is sugar free, it couldn't be that. a quick tweet to @alibi suggested i keep my alibi hit for lunch, and replace the diet coke. good thinking, i thought. so, the following day i tried that instead.
i'll admit, it did increase my energy levels throughout the afternoon, but by the third day, i'd introduced DC back and moved the alibi to the afternoon when i *should* drink water. which i don't. ever. so, for the next couple of weeks, i'd pop a couple of cans in the fridge in the morning, then share them out after lunch; there was no way i was ever going to drink 24 cans by myself (unless it was DC, then, gone in a week).
then, the strangest thing happened on the 14th day; i woke up with a head cold, and a bad one at that. what started as the odd sneeze at work, had snowballed in hours to a fully congested head cold, and no amount of vitamins and minerals could save me. my concern; if i have been consuming 19 nutrients daily, and 100% of my daily requirements of vitamin C and D, then how on this good land did i get a cold?
priced between £1.40 and £2 depending on where you buy them (waitrose, holland & barratt or whistlestop stores), i'd still be more inclined to buy these over red bull or some of the other alternatives out there. would i willingly choose to drink this over my favoured coffee or diet coke? hell.no.thank you to alibi energy drinks for letting me get involved in the #givemeanalibi challenge; sadly though, i've failed you. or maybe rather, you've failed me. #sickfo'lyfe
are you an energy drinker? have you tried the new alibi formula?
