Foosh Power Mints > Reviews (1)

Background Info
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I first came across these mints when there was a small trial pack attached to a magazine that a friend of mine had. He didn't want them, so I was turned into the "test dummy". Not that I mind, as I'm usually the first person in our group of friends to try new foods out, although I tend to find the most disgusting ones!

Foosh mints have been designed to give a fresh taste and provide power to the people! The rather audacious boast is that 1 mint is equal to 1 coffee...let's see if they can live up to that!!

The Appearance
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The Foosh Power Mint (to give it's full name), is the same size in diameter as the centre circle of a normal CD, and about half of that again in depth. It's definately a chunky mint, it feels quite "manly" to hold, although I'm sure a woman would be able to grip it too! It's a white mint, with a few specs of blue running through it. The surface is quite textured and not smooth as you would expect on rival mints such as Polos. In fact, it actually reminds you somewhat of a tiny moon, complete with lunar landing sites! The mint has an etched logo which is similar to the kind of circles you'd find on nucleur power plant logos (scary!).

The Taste
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It was with great trepidation that this mint entered my mouth. The first feeling was definately a rather powerful minty taste (which is good considering it's actually a mint...). If I'm honest, it was a lot more powerful than I expected. After the first minute or so, the taste dies down slightly and it really starts to remind you of those great minty tastes from the dentist. Sorry to anyone who has rather a lot of fillings every year, I hope I haven't just scared you or made you foam at the mouth! The surface of the mint is very rough to the tongue, and you'll definitely find yourself swishing the mint around your mouth more than you would with the average Polo or Trebor Extra Strong mint.

As you wear the mint down, the temptation to crunch grows on you, until you can't take it anymore. From here there are obviously two accepted methods of reducing the mint down in size. The first one, which is widely regarded as the finest technique (by top mint connoisseurs from around the globe), is to gently nibble around the mint, much like you would with a Jaffa Cake. The idea is to nibble around and keep moving the mint until you're left with a very small piece which can be crunched and swallowed. The second method, which is favoured by the larger and faster eaters amongst us is the "Hippo Crunch". This method just involves ramming the mint between your teeth until the pieces are small enough to be washed away down the throat. I'm sure you'll agree that this method is rather a waste of a good mint.

Once the mint has gone, there's a slightly bizarre after-taste. It's almost a chalky after-taste...it reminds me of the Rennie's tablets that I used to steal from my Granddad when I went to stay with him 15 years ago. It's not a great aftertaste and I found myself wanting to get a drink or have another mint to mask it.

The aftertaste is definately the first disappointment I experienced with the mints, but it's also one of the biggest problems, as no-one wants to eat a mint that is going to taste great for five minutes and then make them feel like they've been licking a blackboard.

Packaging
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The mints come in a rather attractive blue packet (see the image at the top of the page). The Foosh Power Mints text is prominent across the packet, as is their boast that one mint is equal to a cup of coffee. Foosh mints are sold in packets of 12. The mints come in foil blister packaging, with 6 on either side and a perforation down the middle. So you can divide your purchase into two lots of 6 mints if you find them easier to carry around like that. The packaging isn't particularly big, but with bags and pockets getting smaller every day, it's always handy to know that you can get the size down to smaller than a credit card (in width/length). The back of the packet contains all of the informative text about the product, and you really do need to have great eyesight, glasses or a microscope to read some of the text here. This is another let down with the product as letting people know what they're eating and any information about the product should be far clearer. However, I spent a long time getting this information off of the packet for you dear reader!

Nutritional Information
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Ingredients: sorbitol, caffeine, natural peppermint extract, taurine, ginseng, vitamins (niacinamide, pantothenic acid, pyridoxine hydrochloride, thiamin mononitrate, cyanocobalamin), magnesium stearate, salt, sweetners (sucralose, ascesulfame-K, aspartame), colour (e133).

Serving size - 1 mint = 1.8g. 5 Calories per mint.

100g of this product gives:
Energy - 1166kJ/277 kCal
Protein - 0g
Carbohydrate - 11g (of which Sugars 0g)
Fat - 0g (of which Saturates 0g)
Fibre - 0g
Sodium 0.4g

Vitamins Per Mint:

Thiamin (Vitamin B1) - 0.15mg (11% RDA)
Niacin (Vitamin B3) - 2.0mg (11% RDA)
Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5) - 1.0mg (17% RDA)
Vitamin B6 - 0.4mg (20% RDA)
Vitamin B12 - 4.5µg (450% RDA)

I was a little concerned that one tablet contained 4.5x the recommended amount of Vitamin B12 per day, so I did some quick research on the Internet. According to the two websites I looked at, Vitamin B12 has very low toxicity and high intakes of the vitamin are said to not be dangerous.

There was one health warning on the product, which is fairly similar to other mints and some energy products: "Excessive consumption may produce laxative effects".

As a side note, that health warning gives some great mental images...well to me anyway. I've got an image of someone who has eaten 12 mints sitting on a toilet, full of energy and shouting at themselves to hurry up! heh :-D

Availability & Prices
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I've not seen these mints in any shops in the UK yet. The best way I've seen of buying them is from their UK website, www.foosh.co.uk. The mints are £1.99 per pack of 12. When you consider that there are 100mg of caffeine in 1 mint, and 80mg of caffeine in a single can of Red Bull, this does seem like a good deal.

The Foosh website only appear to accept payment via Paypal at the moment. Although you don't need to have an account to purchase, it is useful as you won't have to sit and type in all your address details. Also Paypal accounts are useful for many other online services such as eBay.

There are 3 pricing options from the online store:

1 Pack (12 mints) + £1 postage = £2.99 or 25p per mint.

3 Packs (36 mints) + £1 postage = £6.97 or 19p per mint

12 Packs (144 mints) + £1 postage = £20.99 or 15p per mint.

If you're just starting out, I'd recommend 3 packs. You save a few pennies, and if you don't like them, you can always pass them on to your friends and you're not really losing much money.

Delivery times for these items seems to be 2-3 business days. I placed an order on a Thursday lunchtime, and the mints arrived the following Tuesday morning.

Contact Information
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By Phone: +44 (0)1270 254445
By Fax: +44 (0)1270 254433

Postal Address:

Foosh™ (Europe) Limited
Electra House
Electra Way
Crewe Business Park
Crewe
Cheshire
CW1 6GL

Overall
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Although the manufacturers of these mints claim that one mint is the equivalent of one cup of coffee, I personally was not convinced. I've been a long-time fan of Red Bull, since long before it turned into the 'vodka-redbull' phase. No matter how many mints I tried 2...3...4... I just couldn't get the same buzz and effect that I get from a can or two of red bull. I'm not sure this is because the red bull acts faster due to being a liquid? I'm sure someone extremely scientific can let me know in the comments section.

However, when giving these mints to other people to try, so that I could get a fair representation of their effects...other people definately appeared to get more of a buzz from them. For the price and the fact you're getting 100mg of caffeine for 25p or less, I'd say it was a great deal...but the chalky aftertaste is definately a sacrifice that you have to make to enjoy Foosh mints.

I would purchase these mints again, but only if I found that Red Bull was not available to me. It may be more expensive, but I am a web designer and often find that because I spend long hours sitting in front of a computer, I need something to really pick me up and shake me by the neck when going through a long day.

If you're not addicted to Red Bull, give these mints a try! I'm sure someone will appreciate them more than me :)