Runs on Coffee Nirvana.

Okay, I haven't done a ton of product reviews here, but I do want to start sharing when I find something awesome. I recently discovered something new that I am really excited to share. I may have found recovery nirvana, at least for this Runs on Coffee gal. Many of you may recall that I am a huge fan of chocolate milk as a recovery drink (go, Team Refuel!); however, my chocolate milk recovery often has to fight with my urge to have an immediate cup of coffee after my run. The coffee often wins, leaving my much needed protein recharge for probably later than it should be, or sometimes even passed over completely. I admit it, sometimes I skimp on the recovery nutrition, but not because I mean to! If I skip it, it is often because I wanted coffee more. (Okay, and sometimes it's because my kids drank all the milk in the house. Gah!)

Recently I picked up some sample packs of a new protein drink called "Click." It is an espresso-based protein drink that can be prepared hot, iced or blended. A serving only has 120 calories, but boasts 15 grams of protein and only 6 grams of sugar. It IS caffeinated (about a double shot of espresso) and has 23 vitamins and minerals. Click's protein is derived from cow's milk and soy, and has no artificial coloring or flavoring. It comes in two flavors: Mocha and Vanilla Latte (oh, and a Decaf Mocha, too.)

When I returned from my long run the other morning, I picked up the Mocha to give it a try. I don't know about you, but when I come in from a long run, I am pretty impatient. I want my coffee immediately and don't want to wait. The thought of mixing up a protein shake seemed a little bit daunting. Even though I had a bunch of recipes for making all kinds of fancy-schmancy drinks with Click, I decided (a) I should try just the basic prep for the first go, to see what it was like, and (b) I wanted to do whatever was quickest. (I was was so quick, in fact, that I forgot to snap the product photo before ripping into the packet. Oops.) Since my blender happened to already be out, I decided to go for the ice-blended version. Preparation was SUPER easy. Some ice and water in the blender with the powder, and boom, I had a blended frapp in under two minutes. One serving made a huge tall glass. The powder blended really smoothly with no lumps or chunks. Then came the taste test.

If you are a regular follower of this blog, you know how much I love my coffee. Heck, even if you're not a regular reader, the title of the Blog should've been a pretty big clue! While blended fraps are not my regular go to, this drink was absolutely DELISH. Amazing. It does have a strong coffee taste, which is super awesome for me, but if you don't like strong coffee you might want to add some sweetener or a little milk to the mix. The mocha flavor is not too sweet, either (a major downfall of the 'bux mochas, which are much too sweet, if you ask me.) Did I mention it made a giant serving??

Two more fabulous observations post consumption. This drink totally sated my desire for coffee. It tasted like coffee, it fulfilled my coffee compulsion. Gone was the need to make coffee AND a recovery drink. On top of that, I have been known to come in from a long run, drink coffee, and want to dump the entire contents of my fridge into my mouth within a few hours. I get HUNGRY. After drinking the Click concoction, my tummy was satisified for hours and it kept me happy all the way through to lunch. Nice.

This morning, we were running a tad late, so I decided to try a hot Click drink for my breakfast/coffee combo. I maybe liked the frap version slightly better, but only slightly. It still blended great (you blend, THEN heat, but I didn't feel it was that much trouble to pop it in the microwave for a minute) and tasted delicious. Again, it satisfied me on both the breakfast AND coffee fronts and I was not hungry at all until lunchtime.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!

I will totally be clicking over to the Click website to order a canister, pronto. Yum. Want to try some Click awesomeness for yourself? I raved to the company about how much I loved the Mocha, and they offered to send a free canister of Click (in the flavor of the winner's choice) AND a blender bottle for me to giveaway!

I'm using Rafflecopter for entries, so enter away! (Sorry, Click currently only ships to US addresses, so you must be a US resident to enter.) If you just can't wait to try it, click over to this Click page and check out their BOGO sampler!

Do you use protein powder supplements? What is your go-to recovery drink or meal post run?



a Rafflecopter giveaway