Austin Recreation
Austin company keeps it organic
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Leave it to Austin to contribute an organic contender to the ever-expanding energy drink lineup.
Sweetened with blue agave nectar from Mexico instead of processed sugar or high fructose corn syrup, Syzmo comes in three flavors — original, prickly pear and passion.
Related: Energy drinks are all the buzz
"We're putting healthy sugars back into carbonated soft drinks," says Jeff O'Neal, president of Austin-based The Organic Beverage Co., which started making Syzmo in 2005. The drink gets its name from "seísmo," the Spanish word for earthquake.
The other thing that sets Syzmo apart? It's the only certified Glycemic Index Tested carbonated beverage. The drink's low glycemic index means it is more slowly digested and absorbed by the body, according to the manufacturer.
Syzmo, though, still has calories — 96 in an 8-ounce serving. And a can contains 12 ounces, or 11/2 single servings. (Who stops at two-thirds of a can?)
O'Neal notes that Syzmo's nectar-sweetened recipe is packed with other organic ingredients, such as the fruit of the coffee plant (not just the bean), guarana extract, green tea extract and yerba mate extract. It has about 80 mg of caffeine, the same as a standard cup of coffee.
"Some people like to drink coffee. Some people like to drink soda," says O'Neal, 38, a University of Texas graduate. "We've re-created coffee in the form of a soda."
It's available locally at H-E-B and Whole Foods.
"Austin is on the edge of a lot of trends, and organic products and beverages are right there," O'Neal says. "It's flat-out cool, the Syzmo drink."
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