Muscle Milk Refuel

Product Type:Functional: Energy Shot; Container: 3 FL OZ
BevNET Review: Positioned as a hybrid energy and protein shot (“protein power shot”), this product delivers 100mg of caffeine and 5g of protein per container. It uses a sugar and acesulfame potassium (zero calorie sweetener) sweetened formula that’s been enhanced with whey protein, taurine, green tea, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals. There’s definitely some kick to the product, thanks to the caffeine, while the flavor of the product is sweet and fruity. The raspberry flavor is enjoyable but candy like flavor that’s quite addictive as you start to drink it. There’s a slightly bitter note of the whey protein, but the sweet and tart flavors make it disappear quickly. The packaging is a well done adaptation of the Muscle Milk brand, with “Refuel” being a good name for a product that is designed to reenergize you. However, the container is a bit too red, which makes it a bit too hard to read the product’s flavor name (also in red with a small font and thin white outline). In addition, we’d like to see a larger font size as well as a better visual tie between the protein and caffeine content (perhaps on one line). Text tweaks aside, this is still a very well executed and positioned product. Definitely a must try product.

Product Type:Functional: Energy Shot; Container: 3 FL OZ
BevNET Review: The Fruit Sour variety of Muscle Milk’s Refuel shot has an almost orange Creamsicle thing going on, but with more sweet and bitter flavor notes in the mix. While flavor is often secondary to function when it comes to shots, they’ve managed to create a formulation that’s extremely drinkable, thanks in part to the use of crystalline fructose and ace-k as the blend of sweeteners. From a functional point of view, they’ve 100mg of caffeine, 5g of protein, taurine, green tea extract, amino acids, and vitamins to create a “protein power shot.” It’s a nice use of the Muscle Milk brand, staying true to its roots but capitalizing on the energy shot category at the same time. The squat looking 3 oz. package gives the product the feeling of substance, while an aggressive looking design makes the product feel like something that’s designed for the active person. However, they’ve crammed a lot of stuff on the front panel, with a bevy of text elements that seem slightly disjointed. Simplifying this layout would be helpful, especially in terms of quickly figuring out the functional benefits and flavor. Regardless, this is a very enjoyable effort on the part of Muscle Milk that will likely bring new consumers into the shot category.

Product Type:Functional: Energy Shot; Container: 3 FL OZ
BevNET Review: Being a maker of performance oriented products, it makes a lot of sense for Muscle Milk to extend its brand into the rapidly growing shot category. Branded as “Refuel”, this line of shots delivers 100mg of caffeine and 5g of protein per container, positioning it as both an energy shot and a protein shot. The first flavor that we sampled was this was, “Tropix”, which is a pina colada flavored product. Sweetened with crystalline fructose and ace-k, the product has a very tart note to it, thanks to the whey protein and the pina colada flavoring. It’s definitely a drinkable flavor, especially when compared against the countless other sugar free shots that are on the market today. From a functional point of view, 100mg of caffeine makes it on par with many of the other drinks in the category, while the addition of protein sets it apart. Then, of course, there’s the Muscle Milk branding, which will undoubtedly give this product a boost of credibility. They’ve done a pretty good job with the packaging, taking a 3 oz. bottle and turning it into something that feels like an extension of the Muscle Milk brand. However, they’ve opted to go with very small text, which makes some portions of the label difficult to read, including the flavor name. Eliminating some of the text elements and making the remaining items larger would improve the product. Overall, we’d like to see a few changes to the presentation of the text, but we still think that Muscle Milk has done a superb job in positioning and executing this product.