Amp Elevate

Ahh, Amp. One of the sweetest, most familiar energy drinks on the market. Today, I decided to check out the new Amp Elevate, and I was pretty excited. As you might know, Amp came out with three new products about a month ago. Amp thought it was time make another product, so they came out with the Relaunch (Orange), Traction (Grape), and Elevate (Berry). I think the Elevate caught my eye because of its unique blue color. Unlike many other can designs, this one has a dark glossy blue, with dark streaks going up and down the can. At the bottom of the can, I notice the phrase "Blast Of Mixed Berry", so I'm assuming a variety of berry, apple, and possible some original lemon-lime Amp taste. I've always been fond of Amp's products, so I know this one will be pretty good. Here it goes.

After some can-opening trouble, I finally get a scent. Imagine the original Amp flavor-lemon, lime, and some orange-with a mixture of berries added in. The Elevate comes out of the can a pomegranate red color, with some purple hues here and there. This Amp has the same base flavor as all the other Amp products, original Amp. If you mix that with a combination of sweet mixed berries (blueberry, raspberry, boysenberry) and grape, you get a nice, smooth flavor. Right as it hits my mouth, I get a quick sensation of bitter alcohol like taste, maybe margarita mix or something. Then comes the aftertaste. The aftertaste is quite different than Amp's other flavors because it's unusually bitter. It's actually almost nasty, with makes me wanting more just to get rid of it. I guess you could say it's bland, with artificial sugary grape mixed in with the bitterness. I like the general flavor; it has a pretty mellow flavor, and is easy to drink and enjoy. However, the berry flavor tastes a bit generic, but it doesn't bug me too much because there's multiple flavors to help the main taste. Like most other Amps, the Elevate packs an intense carbonation, so be careful trying to take big sips. It's also pretty gummy (no surprise) because of the amount of high fructose corn syrup in the drink. I'm not a big fan of mixed berry in an energy drink, but I'm a pretty big fan of Amp itself. This one had a great flavor going into your mouth, the rest is all downhill.

Now for the ingredients. Amp uses HFCS in all their prodcuts, except the Sugar Free, which wasn't too bad at all. Next, I see only natural flavors; good to know because I thought I could taste some artificialness in it. No surpirse here, but I see sodium hexametaphosphate, an ingredient used in cosmetics. It's also got guarana seed, maltodextrin, gum arabic, ginseng, calcium, niacinamide, and brominated vegetable oil. Per can, you get about 220 calories, which isn't too bad, considering all the flavor. You also get about 58g of sugar, pretty much average, and not bad for Amp. Amp doesn't use much taurine in their products, but then again, it's not even proven to anything, in terms of giving you energy. But it has 296mg per can. 160mg of caffeine is what you get for drinking a whole can of this beast, not bad...not bad at all. Overall, I thought that this drink was only good when it hit your mouth. Three seconds later, it grossed me out.

Taste: 7.4 - Not a bad drink, but the aftertaste is dreadful
Kick: 8 - Amps are a great supplier of energy
Overall: 7.7 - I'll give it to Amp this time, it wasn't bad

Reviewed by: Chan