On a routine trip to 7-Eleven, I stumbled onto a large display of Sumseeds which are caffeinated sunflower seeds.

Smiling ex-Padre Tony Gwynn smiled up at me from the display of seeds, urging me to try these. I had never considered flavored sunflower seeds, let alone caffeinated seeds, yet here they were. The flavors were 'original' (which I assume means salted), salt and pepper, honey BBQ, and dill pickle (!?!?).

I picked up the original, checked out, and headed home to investigate.

Not resting on the marketing force of Tony Gywnn alone, look at the rationale against energy drinks!

According to the Sumseeds web site, in a single package of sunflower seeds there is:

140mg - caffeine
96mg - taurine
53mg - lysine
40mg - ginseng

That's almost double the caffeine found in a can of Red Bull.

How do they taste? Well, they taste exactly like regular sunflower seeds. Once I started in on the package, I ate about half in a half hour. I didn't notice any kind of buzz or other stimulating effect. All I notice was the typical salt action on my tongue and cheeks due to holding seeds in my mouth.

Sumseeds tasted fine and if you are a caffeine hound, you'll probably enjoy them. I enjoyed them and started buying regular sunflower seeds to eat.

Posted by michael at August 24, 2008 02:33 PM