From Berkeley With Love

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this here – which, considering the number and variety of things I have mentioned, is kind of shocking – but back in college I went through a phase when I was a hardcore spy fiction fan. I tore through Ian Fleming and John Le Carre novels like they were comic books, and spent many hours combing the library shelves for anything with a hint of espionage to it.

(I also happened to be an enormous Get Smart fan, although I’m pretty certain that has less to do with my spy jones and more to do with the fact that I’m completely juvenile. But that’s neither here nor there.)

So when an unmarked envelope arrived unexpectedly at my house a couple of weeks ago, and was then opened to expose a nondescript white plastic tube concealed inside, I have to admit that I got a little bit of a spy charge out of it. I imagined that it was something mysterious and secret meant for my eyes only … and as luck would have it, I wasn’t too far off.


Along with the plain white tube were two letters, which included the following excerpts:

The tube in this package contains a new product …

There are only 26 tubes like it in the world.

You have been chosen to test this product …

If you wish to mention it on your blog, we ask that you wait …

Thanks for your attention and discretion.

Pretty much all it was missing was the part where the letter would self-destruct in 30 seconds. If these folks were intending to trip my spy sensors, the result was clearly a mission accomplished.



The second letter spelled out the details for me: the new product is GU Brew electrolyte tablets, which are electrolyte tablets that will be available to consumers in April. In the meantime, I get to test my sample vial of orange flavor to see how they work. Once the tablets are officially released, they will be available in two additional flavors: peach tea (which sounds delicious) and lemon lime.

I’ll hold off on the details about my experience with this product before posting a standard review closer to the release date. Of course, since this is the Berkeley-based GU company we’re talking about, and because I've had something of a partnership with them over the last year or two, I decided to request a favor to see if I could offer a product giveaway contest in conjunction with the post. (Just think of me as the Spy Who Loves You). And because they’re completely awesome, they said yes - which means there might be something in all this for you at some point as well.

All spy metaphors aside, I’m actually quite intrigued to try these tablets. I’ve used similar products before, and while I like the theory of dissolving electrolyte tablets, in practice I ended up giving away a lot of my Nuun tabs because they just weren’t practical for me to use on a regular basis (more specifically, they kept leaking out of my water bottles, which was a major annoyance.) I’m hoping that GU’s product will be better – and by the time April rolls around, I should have a pretty good idea of whether or not they are.

In the meantime, I’ve chosen to accept this mission like a loyal agent, so I’m headed back into the field to do some information gathering. If I don’t mention this subject again for a while, rest assured that I’ll have plenty of intelligence for you when I come back in from the cold.

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