Energy drinks have been causing a sensation in the beverage industry for a number of years, but never literally ... until now. Advanced Nutrient Science, Largo, Fla., has developed Xtreme Shock, a dietary supplement drink designed to produce an energizing tingling sensation to accompany its caffeine boost.

The product was developed by company President David McCabe, who incorporated Endosine Carnosine Metabolite as the product’s defining ingredient.

McCabe says endosine commonly is used in the sports supplement industry, but until now has never been used in the ready-to-drink beverage market — in fact, he has exclusive rights to the ingredient in RTD beverages.

“Body builders have been using it for years,” he says. “It reduces lactic acid build-up so you can go longer and be stronger and not cramp. Not only that, but this ingredient gives you a tingling feeling in your body.”

McCabe says this unique aspect of his product has created a new category within the beverage industry called the “energy sensation” category. The product uses the tagline “Feel the Rush in 15 Minutes.”

“Within 15 minutes you will feel this drink; it’s almost like a shock drink,” McCabe says. “You feel it in your head, your fingertips, your feet, you feel it in your arms ... It’s a cool feeling, nothing where it’s dangerous or anything like that.”

The product is not the only beverage to use sensation ingredients as a consumer pull — Brain Twist Beverages last year debuted a line of drinks designed to create warming and cooling sensations, for example. But it is among the first to use the concept in an energy format. In addition to endosine, Xtreme Shock contains 200 mg. of caffeine, glycerol, Octopalean Norsynephrine HCL, Evothin Evodiamine, L-tyrsoine, L-carnitine, Citrus Naringinine extract and synephrine HCL. With all of those stimulating ingredients,  McCabe says the company has set 18 to 35 as its age demographic.

“We don’t want to sell to anybody under 18,” he says.

The product is low in calories, with 20 calories per 12-ounce bottle and contains no carbohydrates. It is sweetened with a blend of sucralose and ace-k, and is available in Grape and Fruit Punch flavors. Unlike most energy drinks, Xtreme Shock is packaged in 12-ounce PET rather than 8- or 16-ounce cans.

McCabe got his start in the business during the early 1990s, when he formed a company called Worldwide Sport Nutrition. His offerings were mostly limited to traditional weight-loss and weight-gain products, but he tapped into what was then an emerging category of low-carbohydrate products. He launched the Pure Protein Bar, which went on to become popular with consumers of sports nutrition products as well as mainstream products.

He sold the company in 1995, but didn’t lose the product development itch. He does all of the product development for his current company, which carries a number of other supplement-type beverages such as Protein Ice, Nitric Pump, Fast Gain XXL, Quick Loss fat burning drinks, TrimFast, Hoodia Splash and Thermo Hydroxadrine drinks.

But it’s Xtreme Shock, which was introduced in March of this year, that he believes has the potential to be his biggest product. Marketing so far has focused on the trade and word of mouth among consumers. McCabe says he is gaining distribution through beer wholesalers in many markets throughout the country, and is targeting convenience accounts as well as health food stores, gyms and health clubs. With the energy drink market still growing by leaps and bounds, McCabe hopes his crossover product and the newly emerging “sensation” drink category are going to be the next big buzz in beverages. BI