Nos Energy Drink

Oh snap! Is it? It is! The one and only, Nos! Nos has taken the form of and energy drink, and I've got it! The can's slick and simple with a similar design to the Nos nitros oxide bottles, with a blue background and some information in orange. I love the simplicity and the warning on the side that reads, "CAUTION: POWERFUL" Of course, it's just the regular "Not recommended for children, pregnant women... " warning, but it adds style to the drink, I must say. Around the top of the can there are listed the energy ingredients in similar fashion to the Monster line of drinks. From this list you learn that there is Taurine, Ginseng, Caffeine, Taurine again, and L-Carnitine. I just can't wait to get the flavor.

I opened the can and found a pungent and intense grapefruit taste. I suppose it suits the drink, with a sour bite. The color is an opaque bright yellow, the color of grapefruit. And, as you may have guessed by now, the taste is definitely grapefruit, but it's surprisingly not as tangy as I expected. Oh, and I find some subtle undertones of pineapple and mango. It's like a bolder and slightly sweeter version of Squirt without the bitterness. It's good, but not addicting, like a Monster Java or many other drinks I've had. Typing up this review, I wondered just how much sugar is in this drink, and I found it to be 26g, a little less than most sodas out there. It's not as carbonated as a soda, so it goes down easier and tastes much better. A sip of the Nos starts out with an inviting and sweet grapefruit, followed by a fulfilling carbonation that makes your tongue tingle, and then nothing. The flavor disappears after about 10 seconds in your mouth, like many energy drinks. Overall on the taste, this one is decent, just barely making it as a winner in my book.

Oh my. At first, I was confused about the amount of the energy blend in the drink, but then I realized that there is actually less of the energy blend in the Nos than in a Monster. There's still the standard 1000mg per serving of Taurine, but there are less energy supplements overall than in a Monster. The Nos's 1480mg of the blend, compared to the Monster's 2500mg seems weak. So I guess this drink could be said to be more of a novelty, providing no more power than a Monster. It saddens me, but nonetheless, I still should receive some kind of boost. And I do; I'm more alert, I'm more awake... I could get up at anytime and join a game of football, and I'd play my best. I believe the Nos is not a failure, after all, but simply a less powerful energy drink than most things out there. It's a little disappointing, yet the bold flavor almost makes up for it.

Taste: 7 - It gets better as you drink it
Kick: 6 - A decent kick
Overall: 7 - Overall, a novelty, but also quite tasty

Reviewed by: Jeff

Hey, all! This is Chan, and after many months, I thought I'd finally grab a NOS and touch up Jeff's review on it, sort of like a double review. I'll make this one a brief paragraph regarding my thoughts on this drink. Unlike Jeff's NOS, mine is shaped in a 22 ounce bottle, with a NOS-resembling twist-off cap. Once I picked this one up, I immediately looked at the energy ingredients to see 343mg of caffeine, which means if this one were a 16 ounce can (Or bottle) it would have 250mg of hard hitting caffeine, resulting in some major energy. as soon as I twist off the cap, I get a potent tropical fruit aroma, consisting of grapefruit, pineapple, passionfruit, and some mango. Out of the bottle, NOS shows a Sunny D color, but carbonated, like the Monster M-80. Just as I suspected, NOS gives the same taste as the smell, reminding me of a tropical place, such as Hawaii, or the Bahamas. There's definitely some noticeable grapefruit and mango, with some fade away flavor of pineapple and peach. Most energy drink fans will relate this drink to the M-80, but it doesn't compete, because for one, the M-80 is 80% juice, and two, the M-80 uses sucrose and glucose giving it that crisp taste. It's pretty lightly carbonated, allowing a chuggable taste, but resulting in a stomach ache. Since it has HFCS, I was expecting it to be really gummy, but surprisingly, there's only minor gumminess lingering around. Overall, I really sweet drink, in terms of the many fruits thrown into it, but it could have used a better sweetener, because it got a bit dull towards the end of the bottle. I'll make this ingredients listing brief: per 22 ounce bottle, you get an amazing 2750mg of taurine, 550mg of L-Carnitine, 343mg of caffeine, 274mg of inositol, and 13mg of ginseng. It's got some HFCS, passionfruit with other natural flavors, sodium hexametaphosphate, and ester gum. Per bottle, you get 260 calories, 57g of sugar and 1.48g of energy blend.

Taste: 7.8 - It's got a pretty mean taste, but there are too many better energy drink with this sort of flavor
Kick: 9 - With 343mg of caffeine you're sure to be wired (OR 250 if you have 16 ounces)
Overall: 8.4 -Sure it's a novelty, but also an interesting one to try

Reviewed by: Chan