After getting home from my mom’s wedding I came down with a cold within a couple of days. Alex came down with the cold too. And then we passed it off to Kevin. We’ve been a fun household lately, a whole choir of hacking coughs. My voice is wrecked from all the coughing (sound like I have a 3-pack-a-day habit or I’m Tara Reid) and I’m pretty sure I’ve fractured a rib from all the coughing. (Okay, I don’t KNOW that I’m fractured. I do know that I am physically injured and am debating if I need an MD or a chiropractor or somebody to help re-set my rib cage into proper position! Honestly, I am injured from coughing!)

Anyway, all that is to say that I had tried one PepPod that was sent to me for review before the wedding and had been planning on writing about them, but the sickness held me up but it also allowed me to develop a deeper appreciation for these little gems.

Truthfully I thought, “I’m being sent some little tablet that dissolves in water and provides vitamins/caffeine… alright, I’ll try it. But I’ve tried those things before. They’re available at the drugstore.” Right?

So the first time I tried it, I dropped it into a cup of cold water and thought it was fairly tasty but not really memorable. But then I got sick and decided to try it in hot water. YES!

The flavor is a citrus with a hint of vanilla, but when it’s hot that little hit of vanilla really comes through in a nice way… it is delicious.  And my toddler thinks watching the fizzing action is awesome and deserves applause.

The tablet effervesces in liquid to dissolve into a drink that contains vitamins, plant-sourced/bioavailable minerals, electrolytes, herbs and 80mg of caffeine.

The packaging said “Morning Noon Night” on it, about which my first thought was that they are crazy. I want to go to sleep at night, not drink caffeine! But then I remembered that I’m a 35-year-old senior citizen who would probably go to bed at 8:00pm each night if I was left on my own! For others who like to party hard this can be mixed into adult beverages… and it can be used as a hangover remedy for partying too hard.

For a more athletic set (not to say the two have to be mutually exclusive)… this could be used as an early morning wake-up to get out for a long run, it could be used as a energizer during a long run, or to replenish some sodium and potassium from exercise without a lot of calories. It’s not a sugar-laden product, so it wouldn’t be used as a carbohydrate-replacement during exercise.

The downside?

It costs $45 for a box of 30 tablets, which seems steep to me. I guess if you compare it to the cost of standard energy drinks it’s comparable, but that initial price is a bit of sticker shock. You can order it on their website: www.PepPod.com.