VEGEMITE ENERGY, OR PERHAPS JUST A 'BRAIN TONIQ'?
8. RUNA Clean Energy
This drink contains organic Amazonian guayusa (yes, that's a new one on me two), which RUNA says is a natural source of caffeine as well as theobromine, the primary alkaloid found in cocoa or chocolate.
"When combined, these two stimulants provide clean, balanced energy without any jolted buzz," RUNA claims.
The company, founded by entrepreneurs Tyler Gage and and Dan MacCombie, has created the world's first supply chain for guayusa, supporting more than 2,000 farmers in Ecuador. They’ve crafted their proposition around the benefits of the guayusa leaf, which has been used for years as a source of energy by indigenous peoples of the upper Amazon.
“It’s a super leaf. It’s a member of the holly tree family, and its native to the Ecuadorian Amazon. It’s not technically tea; anything that’s defined as tea comes from a genus called Camellia sinensis. Guayusa is its own genus,” Gage told our sister site NutraIngredients-USA when RUNA Clean Energy launched last April.