THE SCIENCE OF FIRST CLASS

Energy you can actually account for.

One strip. Three active ingredients. No mystery blend—and no pretending the science says more than it does.

Caffeine: the part doing the immediate lifting

Caffeine is a central nervous system stimulant with evidence for acute effects on alertness and attention in healthy adults.* A 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis found that caffeine acutely improved attention through reaction time and accuracy across the included studies.

One randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover study used the same 50 mg caffeine dose found in one FIRST CLASS strip. In that study, caffeine improved subjective alertness at 60 minutes and attention-switching accuracy at 90 minutes. That is ingredient-level evidence—not a guarantee that every person will feel the same effect or experience the same timing.

Read the 2025 caffeine and attention review
Read the 50 mg caffeine trial

L-theanine: promising pairing, honest limits

L-theanine occurs naturally in tea and has been studied with caffeine during attention-demanding tasks. In small randomized trials, combinations containing roughly 40–50 mg caffeine and 97–100 mg L-theanine improved certain measures of attention or task switching compared with placebo.

Important context: FIRST CLASS contains 30 mg L-theanine—less than the L-theanine doses used in those cited trials. Those results should not be treated as proof that this finished formula produces the same outcomes. We include the research so you can see both the rationale for the pairing and the limits of what can responsibly be claimed.

Read the 40 mg caffeine + 97 mg L-theanine trial
Read the sustained-attention trial

Vitamin B12: support, not hype

FIRST CLASS uses methylcobalamin, one of the metabolically active forms of vitamin B12. B12 supports normal blood-cell formation, nervous-system health, and cellular metabolism.* It is not a stimulant.

The honest part: according to the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements, B12 supplements have not been shown to increase energy or endurance in people who already get enough B12. Think of it as nutritional support—not the ingredient responsible for the strip’s immediate caffeine effect.

Read the NIH vitamin B12 fact sheet

Why a strip?

Because a commute, flight, workout, or long day does not always come with a cupholder. Each FIRST CLASS strip is individually packaged, portable, and pre-measured. Place one strip in your mouth and allow it to dissolve; always follow the finished product label.

What we do not claim: We do not claim that FIRST CLASS has been clinically proven to absorb faster than coffee or other caffeinated formats. The finished product has not undergone a product-specific pharmacokinetic or clinical efficacy study.

Know your caffeine

One strip contains 50 mg caffeine. Count caffeine from every source—coffee, tea, soda, energy drinks, pre-workout products, medication, and other supplements. The FDA cites 400 mg per day as an amount not generally associated with negative effects for most adults, but that is not a recommended target and individual sensitivity varies widely.

Caffeine can cause unwanted effects including insomnia, jitters, anxiety, upset stomach, headache, or increased heart rate. Talk with a healthcare professional about caffeine use if you are pregnant, trying to become pregnant, breastfeeding, taking medication, or managing a medical condition. Keep out of reach of children.

Read the FDA caffeine guidance

What the research does—and does not—prove

• Published studies on individual ingredients can explain why a formula was built.
• They do not automatically prove that the finished product produces identical results.
• Study populations, doses, delivery formats, endpoints, and timing differ.
• Individual response to caffeine varies.
• FIRST CLASS has not been clinically tested as a finished formula.

References

1. Owen GN, et al. The combined effects of L-theanine and caffeine on cognitive performance and mood. Nutr Neurosci. 2008.
2. Einöther SJL, et al. L-theanine and caffeine improve task switching but not intersensory attention or subjective alertness. Appetite. 2010.
3. Foxe JJ, et al. Assessing the effects of caffeine and theanine on the maintenance of vigilance during a sustained attention task. Neuropharmacology. 2012.
4. NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin B12 Fact Sheet for Health Professionals.
5. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Spilling the Beans: How Much Caffeine Is Too Much?

Research last reviewed August 22, 2026.