My mornings don’t truly begin until I have coffee. By 11 am, I’m ready for that second cup. Lately, it’s been three cups before noon. Coffee is my survival tool for the week—kickstarting my day with caffeine. I’m not alone, of course: a survey from the National Coffee Association found that 64 percent of Americans drink at least one cup of joe a day. So when the team at Proper Wild sent me their energy drinks to review, I was happy to see how it stood up to my beloved coffee.
According to Proper Wild, it provides “clean, all-day energy,” thanks to a combination of caffeine and L-theanine, an amino acid found in green tea leaves. Studies show that the two combined can reduce jitters (one of the only bad things about coffee) and provide heightened and lasting focus. Also, there are no jitters.
An Alternative to Coffee
“We started Proper Wild because my co-founders and I were big coffee drinkers but coffee was failing us! While I personally like the taste of coffee, it really doesn’t do anything for me anymore and it always made me super jittery and would even sometimes hurt my stomach,” CEO Vincent Bradley tells LIVEKINDLY.
Part of what compels me to have that second (or third) cup of coffee is the flavor. But too much coffee can make me jittery.
Energy drinks aren’t usually my thing. For one, they usually come with a lot of sugar (a can of Monster Energy drink has 27 grams of sugar, which I absolutely don’t need at 7:30 am). Plus, there’s still a crash.
“When we looked at alternatives to coffee and tea, the energy drink and shot market really scared us. The ingredients in most of those products are just awful. We also didn’t want to start taking nootropics (pills) for energy,” Bradley adds.
The company sought out an energy shot that was to take on-the-go. But, options were limited to drinks with “ingredients that scare the hell out of me and make me feel awful” or “fresh juice shots which need to be refrigerated, are expensive and most importantly don’t really do anything,” says Bradley.
Proper Wild energy drinks come in three flavors: Blackberry, Ginger, and Peach Mango. Each energy drink comes in a 2.5-ounce bottle, so I don’t have to make space in my bag for a reusable coffee mug. It also means I don’t have to set up my French press in the morning—so yay, more sleep. One bottle contains the caffeine equivalent of two cups of coffee, which is my daily average.
The Ingredients
A bottle of Proper Wild has only five grams of sugar—probably less sugar than the marshmallow syrup I sweeten my coffee with—and no artificial sweeteners. Just real fruit juice. It’s also free from preservatives. Proper Wild is made up of a team of “engineers, designers, athletes, and foodies based in New York City that really care about what we put into our bodies.”
“We wanted to make an energy shot with clean & transparent ingredients that actually work, without compromising your health,” says Bradley. “That’s why we only use clean, plant-based ingredients backed by science, no preservatives, no artificial sweeteners, and are super transparent on our labels about what you’re actually putting into your body.”
Better Than Coffee
Instead of coffee, I downed a Ginger energy shot 15 minutes before it was time to start work. In terms of flavor, it had a distinct ginger taste, but it went down smooth—there was none of the powerful spiciness that comes with a ginger shot from the health food store.
Like with coffee, it didn’t take long for it to kick in before I was ready to boot up my laptop and start my workday. Another added bonus: coffee can sometimes be acidic and there was none of that with Proper Wild.
After a productive Saturday afternoon , I drank the Ginger flavor before a late evening Dungeons & Dragons game. And wouldn’t you know it: I played my very best flamboyant tiefling bard. I was awake and alert for hours but it felt natural, almost like I had superpowers Maybe I did.
To learn more about Proper Wild, visit the website.
This is a sponsored post.
