New Grape Xtend Tastes TERRIBLE!

[uforce]

All this negative feedback on here...... That accounts to say 50 people, which I don't think it is that high but may seem that way. Given the units bb.com has sold alone, which is in the 10's of thousands since it's debut, if the taste were the "worst thing ever" there would be 1000 threads with complaints. At least 500 unique people would be complaining on this board, weekly. Full respect is given to someone that says it isn't good, but when someone posts that they like it, it is ignored.*

When the variety pack comes out, try it for yourself. Just remember 5 guys posting 20 times is still just 5 guys. .

very good points, sir. i'm not hating on scivation at all. sipping on old xtend as i type this.

i think i'll just go back to lurking these threads until I can say I've used the new version.

[allieninja]

When the variety pack comes out, try it for yourself.

Very excited that Scivation decided to take my advice and do this

oyeah, excited for it to come out too. Can't wait to try out all the flavors.

[shiarua]

How can I go about getting a sample pack of the new Xtend flavors?

I recently picked up a 90 serving tub of Watermelon and thoroughly dislike the flavor. I have tried various degrees of powder to water ratios.

Xtend has been my go to BCAA Inta-workout supplement since I started lifting. I'd like to say I can stick with it but I just cant if I dont enjoy drinking it.

[Mike McCandless]

Variety packs are 8 weeks away. If you want to help us change the flavor, then we need more feedback than "it sucks" "I don't like it" "it's the worst thing ever". That isn't feedback that informs us of anything. If you want to give real feedback to help, then get specific about what you don't like. You'll learn during that process it is MUCH harder to give feedback than you think.

[ShayZ]

Negged OP for thinking BB should refund his return shipping just because he didnt like the flavor. GTFO lol.

[Mike McCandless]

I will point out again, if you prefer the old flavor, start dumping splenda into it. Eventually you'll get the oversweet flavor the previous version had.

[metalman]

The undeniable fact is, many people are complaining vehemently against the new flavor. With the old formula you would hardly find any complaints, neither in the review section nor in the forums here (and not in other forums like supplementreviews, either). Basically taste was never an issue. If you work yourself through the review section you can definitely see that. And sales figures don't really say much, the question is: will people order the new flavor again, or will the switch to a new product?

I am one of the few who didn't like the old Xtend, apart from orange, because it was too sweet for me. Now many people complain about a sickly-sweet flavour of the new formula, compared to the old one. At the same time, you are telling us, the new formula is less sweet than the old one (but a product can't be sweeter for some people and less sweet for others, taste-buds aren't that different). You are also saying more people were complaining about the old formula than about the new one. Seems a bit stubborn to me, since you won't find any threads like this one on the old flavor. All this doesn't make me want to try the new Xtend... Maybe the Scivation officials have blinkers on, but if they took them off the would definitely see the tendency. I hope they will because xtend was a great product.

[shiarua]

Variety packs are 8 weeks away. If you want to help us change the flavor, then we need more feedback than "it sucks" "I don't like it" "it's the worst thing ever". That isn't feedback that informs us of anything. If you want to give real feedback to help, then get specific about what you don't like. You'll learn during that process it is MUCH harder to give feedback than you think.

I'm not sure what you are looking for specifically. I honestly think you should try to make your product taste like flavored water (vitamin water, propel) or go back to the old flavors. The new flavor (at least Watermelon) is very bland. It doesn't taste horrible, but it just isn't nearly as good as the previous Watermelon flavor.

If you have any specific questions that I can answer, let me know.

[Mike McCandless]

The undeniable fact is, many people are complaining vehemently against the new flavor. With the old formula you would hardly find any complaints, neither in the review section nor in the forums here (and not in other forums like supplementreviews, either). Basically taste was never an issue. If you work yourself through the review section you can definitely see that. And sales figures don't really say much, the question is: will people order the new flavor again, or will the switch to a new product?

I am one of the few who didn't like the old Xtend, apart from orange, because it was too sweet for me. Now many people complain about a sickly-sweet flavour of the new formula, compared to the old one. At the same time, you are telling us, the new formula is less sweet than the old one (but a product can't be sweeter for some people and less sweet for others, taste-buds aren't that different). You are also saying more people were complaining about the old formula than about the new one. Seems a bit stubborn to me, since you won't find any threads like this one on the old flavor. All this doesn't make me want to try the new Xtend... Maybe the Scivation officials have blinkers on, but if they took them off the would definitely see the tendency. I hope they will because xtend was a great product.

The problem is that most people don't understand flavoring and don't know how to convey issues with flavoring. The proof is what you have to do to get the product to taste similar to the old flavoring. If someone says it is too sweet and you're telling them to put extra splenda in it to get it to taste like the old, then something must be up right? That's my point. I already gave an example of some of the things that had to be done due to a LEGAL perspective. We actually make our products to fully comply with the law, something a lot of people don't do. There are companies lying to bb.com saying their bcaa product is prop 65 compliant when it isn't. They're just hoping bb.com doesn't check for themselves. We're too big to take that risk.

Think of the example I gave with blue raz. A product that was around 1280g of total powder, but went to 1180, by added over 100g of electrolytes. That means 1/4lb of flavoring and coloring was removed. If you desire to take in that level of colorings and flavorings, simply add in the splenda as noted.

A final note, count the number of people that have said they liked the flavor vs disliking it. Just on this VERY board. Those that like the flavor tend to post that once, the people that dislike, seem to want to post 10 times. Why is our ******** not loaded with negative reviews? Why are we not getting emails to the company with huge complaints about the flavor? I can't reiterate enough, it's a statistical issue for us. There will be some that will NOT like the new flavor and I understand that. Right now, the number of units sold to just this board and the total number of taste complaint is still WELL under 1% of the total volume. How many people make a thread on this forum saying they love the flavor of any product? Go through the first 3 pages and tell me how many threads you see. The only time someone posts something, as a starting thread, is when they say they hate something.

Wait for the variety pack, try it yourself and be unbias with it. Please go through my posts to see the things I've addressed. Funny how people will complain at the top of their lungs about the taste, but nobody busts other companies on using unproven/unresearched variations on bcaa's and don't use bonded citrulline malate. I'd also love to see some people who are claiming to use Ajin amino's, actually prove it. Doesn't it seem odd that some companies that claim to us Ajin amino's have never used the Ajin symbol in their ads or labels? If it was such a great selling point, why wouldn't you parade it all over your product? Hmmm....

[yourname2221]

There are companies lying to bb.com saying their bcaa product is prop 65 compliant when it isn't. They're just hoping bb.com doesn't check for themselves.

they are prolly just waiting for the legal action like with the ph's. they will continue to profit off of it till told other wise.

A final note, count the number of people that have said they liked the flavor vs disliking it. Just on this VERY board. Those that like the flavor tend to post that once, the people that dislike, seem to want to post 10 times. Why is our ******** not loaded with negative reviews? Why are we not getting emails to the company with huge complaints about the flavor? I can't reiterate enough, it's a statistical issue for us. There will be some that will NOT like the new flavor and I understand that. Right now, the number of units sold to just this board and the total number of taste complaint is still WELL under 1% of the total volume.

Well look at all the the rest of the top 5 products around you, xplode, jack3d, ON whey, Opti men (rly) no one posts **** about these which means that the large majority of people who do buy them dont post here.

How many people make a thread on this forum saying they love the flavor of any product?

have u never seen a controlled labs thread?

[Mike McCandless]

My board time is limited. I usually come on, look at the first 2-3 pages, answer what I can and then have to move on. I'm far from the message board "vet" like I used to be. Wish there was time for it. I got in from Dallas last night and responded on here once I got settled.

[Murderfox]

New > old imo. I don't understand why people prefer the old over the new, but to each their own though. And this is why there are so many companies out there with so many different options for consumers.. if you don't like one, get another. No reason to spend so much time nitpicking such irrelevant things (that likely will not change) when you could be doing something productive in your life. Looks like the new Xtend is here to stay so either deal with it or go with another company's product, there are plenty to please everyone.

[Mike McCandless]

There is also plenty of old xtend being sold at a deep discount right now. Consumers have more than enough time to stock up on their old favorites.

[metalman]

Yeah, you've got a point here. I, for my part will try out the variety pack If it becomes available in Europe, maybe I am one of those who prefers the new flavor to the old one, who knows However, all the complaints have discouraged me from getting a large tub of the new version anytime soon. I know that xtend is high-quality and if the taste is somehow bearable I will stick to it.

[Daycrawler]

The problem is that most people don't understand flavoring and don't know how to convey issues with flavoring. The proof is what you have to do to get the product to taste similar to the old flavoring. If someone says it is too sweet and you're telling them to put extra splenda in it to get it to taste like the old, then something must be up right? That's my point. I already gave an example of some of the things that had to be done due to a LEGAL perspective. We actually make our products to fully comply with the law, something a lot of people don't do. There are companies lying to bb.com saying their bcaa product is prop 65 compliant when it isn't. They're just hoping bb.com doesn't check for themselves. We're too big to take that risk.

Think of the example I gave with blue raz. A product that was around 1280g of total powder, but went to 1180, by added over 100g of electrolytes. That means 1/4lb of flavoring and coloring was removed. If you desire to take in that level of colorings and flavorings, simply add in the splenda as noted.

A final note, count the number of people that have said they liked the flavor vs disliking it. Just on this VERY board. Those that like the flavor tend to post that once, the people that dislike, seem to want to post 10 times. Why is our ******** not loaded with negative reviews? Why are we not getting emails to the company with huge complaints about the flavor? I can't reiterate enough, it's a statistical issue for us. There will be some that will NOT like the new flavor and I understand that. Right now, the number of units sold to just this board and the total number of taste complaint is still WELL under 1% of the total volume. How many people make a thread on this forum saying they love the flavor of any product? Go through the first 3 pages and tell me how many threads you see. The only time someone posts something, as a starting thread, is when they say they hate something.

Wait for the variety pack, try it yourself and be unbias with it. Please go through my posts to see the things I've addressed. Funny how people will complain at the top of their lungs about the taste, but nobody busts other companies on using unproven/unresearched variations on bcaa's and don't use bonded citrulline malate. I'd also love to see some people who are claiming to use Ajin amino's, actually prove it. Doesn't it seem odd that some companies that claim to us Ajin amino's have never used the Ajin symbol in their ads or labels? If it was such a great selling point, why wouldn't you parade it all over your product? Hmmm....

This.

It's purely stats. Even if 80% of the board believes this product tastes terrible, that's only 80% of at most 10% of the overall customer base that SciVation has. So to retool the entire flavoring process probably wouldn't justify the chance of losing that "10%" of customer base. Even if they didn't retool the flavoring only a few percentage, maybe 4-5% at most would end up switching to another BCAA product.

Most wouldn't because of the fact that Xtend can be found for $45 and compared with the ingredients in Xtend vs. the ingredients in ICE, RecoverPro etc. It's clear for me at least, that the additions of Cit-Mal+Electrolyte blends makes it a better overall product.

Perhaps if there were some more specific comments about the flavoring other then it sucks, the process could be tweaked a little bit to produce a more desirable taste...

My two cents.

[uforce]

be careful with the sales figures..........i'm sure there was tons of new xtend purchased out of love for the old xtend. the question is..........how many will be repeat customers of the new version.

[Mike McCandless]

Of course that's always the question. From the live sampling I've personally been apart of, where we put both side by side, it isn't even close. We're doing a lot more live sampling in stores than we have in the past. We also did a huge sampling drive at the vitamin shoppe expo last month. I personally ran the sampling program at the event so I could gather feedback on it. With ANY change, I don't care what it was, you're going to lose some customers. There are a lot of choices out there, no doubt about it. Now that leucine is twice as much as it used to be, I'll be curious how many of these 4:1:1 and 8:1:1 stay that way. The ONLY reason they were made that way is because it allowed them a cheaper entry point into the market. Now that isn't the case. I can't wait to do some more testing over the coming months. Certain raws have gotten VERY expensive I believe in order to maintain price point a lot of companies will alter their formula. Since a lot of companies use prop blends, the consumer would never know. Of course, these formula's using 4:1:1 and 8:1:1 ratio's are violating a few FTC laws as well, but that's another story for another day . Just like the guys using blended CM vs bonded, but claiming the research off bonded on their product. Can't go and claim research of 2:1:1, then go alter the formula to 4:1:1 and 8:1:1 and make the same claims. Don't believe me? Go ask muscletech and look through all the legal documents involving them. Very scary stuff. That's why I keep hammering the point home. Why hasn't someone done research showing these 4:1:1 and 8:1:1 products are superior to a 2:1:1? It's simple, because they AREN'T. All these companies would have to do is skip ONE month of advertising in order to prove their idea was better than the previous 20 years of research.

Then again, we wouldn't want to confuse consumers with science . Broscience FTW!!

[metalman]

We know citrulline is great, but I don't get why there is (still) only 1g of it per serving.

[Daycrawler]

We know citrulline is great, but I don't get why there is (still) only 1g of it per serving.

It's not meant to be the sole source of it. That's why. Most people use 2 scoops so 2g intra. With Hemavol+bulk cit-mal I approach 5.5g already, so I have no need for more then 1-2g intra...

[prohibit]

I'd also love to see some people who are claiming to use Ajin amino's, actually prove it. Doesn't it seem odd that some companies that claim to us Ajin amino's have never used the Ajin symbol in their ads or labels? If it was such a great selling point, why wouldn't you parade it all over your product? Hmmm....

hey XF ice, whats up?

[Mike McCandless]

We know citrulline is great, but I don't get why there is (still) only 1g of it per serving.

With the cost of CM going up drastically, adding 1 more gram would have added around 5 bucks to the end user cost. Given the price point, would have been a tough mood. Especially when primaforce and other brands off CM in bulk powder so you can add as you wish. A lot of pre workout drinks have CM in them as well.

[JP83]

Not sure if this question has been answered yet but why does the new version of Xtend have a more "thicker" heavy taste to it? Is that due to the new form of CM?

[Mike McCandless]

Not sure if this question has been answered yet but why does the new version of Xtend have a more "thicker" heavy taste to it? Is that due to the new form of CM?

It's a subjective response. The electrolytes can have that affect. The correct bonded form of CM doesn't change the consistency that much. One thing it could be, is foam. The "foam" on bcaa's drinks is mostly leucine. It ends up sticking to the side of the container and not going into solution. With the new version, you're getting full dilution. Just mix up some bcaa's formula's and look at all the stuff on the side. It all starts with the foam.

[JP83]

It's a subjective response. The electrolytes can have that affect. The correct bonded form of CM doesn't change the consistency that much. One thing it could be, is foam. The "foam" on bcaa's drinks is mostly leucine. It ends up sticking to the side of the container and not going into solution. With the new version, you're getting full dilution. Just mix up some bcaa's formula's and look at all the stuff on the side. It all starts with the foam.

Ya it's one of the first things i noticed after i took my first sip a few weeks back. I think the jury is still out on whether i'll personally still keep Xtend as my number 1 intra. I am really looking forward to the stick packs and trying each flavor out during the course of a full weeks workout. I can certainly get over something not tasting the best but more importantly it's how my body will respond. For example, when i took 2 scoops of the new version during my workout, i felt that the heavier consistency made me want to take more trips to the water fountain rather than my blender bottle. I know i wasn't dehydrated so that wasn't the case. So in other words i want to be able to enjoy the product as i'm drinking it and not just have to grin and bear it. If it's making me more thirsty and affecting my workouts due to that then obviously it would be a deal breaker.

[Mike McCandless]

Ya it's one of the first things i noticed after i took my first sip a few weeks back. I think the jury is still out on whether i'll personally still keep Xtend as my number 1 intra. I am really looking forward to the stick packs and trying each flavor out during the course of a full weeks workout. I can certainly get over something not tasting the best but more importantly it's how my body will respond. For example, when i took 2 scoops of the new version during my workout, i felt that the heavier consistency made me want to take more trips to the water fountain rather than my blender bottle. I know i wasn't dehydrated so that wasn't the case. So in other words i want to be able to enjoy the product as i'm drinking it and not just have to grin and bear it. If it's making me more thirsty and affecting my workouts due to that then obviously it would be a deal breaker.

Do this, use it consistently and through the whole bottle. If you're keeping everything the same, you'll see improved results. It's not the consistency that is making your want more water. It's how the product is working. I can't speak to it 100% and I don't want to misspeak. I'll get Dr. Lockwood to answer this one for me. He went through a lengthy explanation for this, most of which was over my head lol. He ties into the electrolytes and how they're being used in the body. How on a cellular level, this is such a great thing. Your body is forcing you to take in more water because it's being used. Rarely will your body give you a signal that isn't warranted. Think blood sugar response, water responses, etc. It doesn't give a response like that for giggles. It may take me some time to get the proper answer as Dr. Lockwood gives very complete answers to any question. I believe he address's in the new xtend write up, which should be done shortly. Sorry this isn't answering your question as you want. I'm simply not going to speak beyond my limit here. I'm not the science guy, I'm the business guy lol

[VitaSineFinibus]

Even though theres alot of people saying that the taste has become an issue for the new version of Xtend, I'm still gonna give it a try. I mean Xtend is a staple and I hope that people are just jumping on the bandwagon of it tasting bad, otherwise it's gonna be a huge disappointment.

[JP83]

Do this, use it consistently and through the whole bottle. If you're keeping everything the same, you'll see improved results. It's not the consistency that is making your want more water. It's how the product is working. I can't speak to it 100% and I don't want to misspeak. I'll get Dr. Lockwood to answer this one for me. He went through a lengthy explanation for this, most of which was over my head lol. He ties into the electrolytes and how they're being used in the body. How on a cellular level, this is such a great thing. Your body is forcing you to take in more water because it's being used. Rarely will your body give you a signal that isn't warranted. Think blood sugar response, water responses, etc. It doesn't give a response like that for giggles. It may take me some time to get the proper answer as Dr. Lockwood gives very complete answers to any question. I believe he address's in the new xtend write up, which should be done shortly. Sorry this isn't answering your question as you want. I'm simply not going to speak beyond my limit here. I'm not the science guy, I'm the business guy lol

Haha so the business reply is to keep drinking it but the effects i'm feeling is science. Interesting I'm a very loyal customer Mike to your company (just ask Bob) so i want to try and experiment alot more than i would with another brand. If i went somewhere to eat and it was crap service i wouldn't go back but if a really good friend of mine owned the place i would still go back there and eat. That's how i am. If i like something or someone i keep it or them around. So in this case i'm just waiting patiently for the stick packs, new revamped webiste, new upcoming products, ect. I don't want to pull a "Spaz" and just write you guys off, especially since this new version is better made with better ingredients.

[Mike McCandless]

If there was no science to back it up I wouldn't have offered to post the science. I just want to correctly state the science vs brosciencing.

[JP83]

If there was no science to back it up I wouldn't have offered to post the science. I just want to correctly state the science vs brosciencing.

I know i was just busting your chops.

[MeanChad]

Just had a Scivation rep PM me and all I can say is Scivation has the best reps on these boards.*