Kronik Low-Carb

I decided that it's been too long to have not reviewed Kronik's sibling, Kronik Low-Carb. After much thought, I knew it was time to review it, rather than a few other good ones I had in mind for today. I got this drink at Circle K, along with the regular Kronik; I'm sure you'll find a Kronik or two if you go to your local Circle K, they're everywhere. An energy drink sounds perfect today, just because I spent the first half of the day preparing for my upcoming trip, so let's describe this one briefly. The can design is fairly new being a section of blue barbed wire in front of a bright, gleaming silver background. 'Low-Carb' is stamped crooked onto the metallic can and spray painted black with abstract markings out and around it. I see the word 'Kronik in large sloppy letters and filled in blue, making it look pretty cool looking and rugged. I take a glance to the bottom right of the can where it says "Sweetened With Splenda"; whatever, at least they went out and said it is, unlike other companies that try to sneak it in their drinks. Just like most other sugar free energy drinks, this one may suppress my appetite, and it literally says that on the way bottom of the can. Okay, let's see how this compares to the Kronik as well as other sugar free drinks.

I crack open the can eager and extremely excited to smell a strong cotton candy aroma with an equal amount of grapefruit and pineapple. The color of this aromatic energy drink is a lively blue color, I'd say the same blue color they used on the can. At first, I'm a bit hesitant to take a sip because sugar free energy drinks seem to disappoint me, but this one is actually a whole lot better than I was expecting it to be. Unlike the scent, there's no cotton candy flavor to it at all, but a nice smooth grapefruit taste backed up by a bit of pineapple and possibly some lemon-lime flavor in the background. The flavor in general is great, tastes exactly like the original and the Splenda is masked incredibly. There's no artificial aftertaste whatsoever, one thing I noticed in this greatly masked sugar free energy drink. I'm sorry for this ramble but you know, If I was given a glass of Kronik and a glass of Kronik Low Carb, I'd think they gave me two of the same drink. The foamy head I witnessed earlier lied to me, insisting on a heavily carbonated drink, this one isn't heavily carbonated but lightly for pure enjoyment. I only found gumminess when I experimented by taking a few large sips at a time, but now after taking my time sipping it, I found no gumminess. You can choose how you drink it, but be aware of the gumminess following. Overall, this has to be one of the best sugar free energy drink I've ever tried, ranking up to number one with the Rockstar Zero Carb.

The ingredients is where it really gets interesting. It has carbonated water, taurine, citric acid, natural flavors, sodium citrate, glucosamine, caffeine, glucuronolactone, ascorbic acid, L-Tyrosine, ginger root extract, grape seed extract, licorice root extract, guarana, ginseng, milk thistle, ginkgo biloba, and Sucralose. Wow. I believe I did taste a bit of ginger root extract, it's minor but there's still just a bit in the background. The combination of grape seed, licorice root, milk thistle, and ginkgo biloba produces a real masterful energy drink, in terms of delivering some massive focus and energy. I also notice caffeine is pretty high up the list, I wonder how much is in one of these. Per can, you get 20 calories and only 2g of carbs (NO sugar, just carbohydrates). Energy content per can goes something like this: taurine is 2,000mg, glucosamine is 200mg, glucuronolactone is 150mg, L-Tyrosine is 100mg, ginger root is 100mg, grape seed is 100mg, licorice root is 100mg, guarana is 100mg, ginseng is 100mg, inositol is 50mg, milk thistle is 50mg, ginkgo biloba is 50mg, and L-Carnitine is 20mg. Hm, I wonder why they won't reveal the caffeine content, oh well. All in all, an insane energy drink, I loved every drop of it, and I know you will too. Get yourself a pair of Kroniks now.

Taste: 8.8 - A crisper and not-so-artificial version of the regular Kronik
Kick: 9 - Wow, the energy drink is set up with all the licorice root, milk thistle, grape seed, and ginkgo to produce one great kick
Overall: 8.9 - I'm interested in get a few more of these; they're great for something to drink when you don't want all those calories and all that sugar

Reviewed by: Chan

BooKoo Citrus

I took a glance at the many energy drinks in my fridge and decided which would fit the 150th review. I thought I'd go with the BooKoo Citrus, an instant classic. BooKoo came to my mind because I like their energy drinks, and citrus is an amazing flavor for an energy drink. I got this drink at a Big! Lots along with the other few BooKoos about a month ago, but I just never bothered to pick it up and review it. In fact, this is the first time I've seen it since I bought it. Well, this time, no excuses, I'm reviewing it now, and I probably will like it. I'm fond of BooKoos can designs being the same throughout all their products, besides the BooKoo Burners. This can has the word 'BooKoo' in a fiery orange color, outlined in a blood red hue. The flames behind the logo are the same blood red colors, but helps compliment the dark and deep orange color inside 'BooKoo'. 'Citrus' is printed in small lettering, filled with just a plain white color and outlined in yet again a blood red color. Below 'BooKoo' is 'Energy' printed wide vertically across the can in the same filling and outline, pretty cool for a can design. Okay, let's get this party for the 150th review started and crack open this fire-born energy drink!

After a few minutes of struggling to open the can, I pry it open with my teeth. It opens and I go in to smell a scent similar to the Squirt, almost exactly, I thought. It pours gently out of the can and I notice a color particularly odd, nearly clear with a tad bit of yellow and orange, not much though. BooKoo does a very nice job of creating a citrus flavor entirely different than your average Rip It Citrus X flavor. The flavor is more like the CRUNK!!! Citrus due to the noticeable amount of lemon-lime, rather than pure orange, but much less intense than the CRUNK!!! Citrus. BooKoo tends to make flavors that seem to dance on your tongue, involving a crazy good taste just before you swallow it. It's also not too sweet, having only 27g of sugar per serving, which is really what most Citrus energy drinks screw up on. The overall flavor is an in-your-face lemon-lime, and a background of minor orange and berry. The aftertaste is a bit boring being just a mild flavor of artificial orange and lemon-lime, not bad, but not exciting either. I'm surprised that this BooKoo really isn't that gummy, compared to all the other BooKoos that are, I mean they all have the same sweetener, but this one just isn't as gummy. Whatever, I can live with that. One of the only differences between this and the Squirt is that obviously the Squirt is more carbonated, resulting in a disappointing taste. Overall, the BooKoo Citrus beat the Squirt in flavor, but was no match for the CRUNK!!! Citrus, in terms of a real lemony and orangy flavor.

The ingredients contained in this energy drink are carbonated water, sucrose, HFCS, citric acid, sodium citrate, potassium benzoate, caramel color, natural flavor, caffeine, glucuronolactone, and inositol. Wow, that's cool, a really basic energy drink ingredients list. Not many energy drinks I've encountered contain sucrose and HFCS, but this one turned out okay, not too sweet at all. The caramel color didn't help much give any color, mostly just clear, no caramel or amber color to it at all. Per can, you get an average 220 calories, and a nice 54g of sugar. Wow, BooKoo Citrus has the same amount of sugar as a Monster? Sweet. I don't recall the other BooKoo having that low of an amount of sugar and calories, but this one outplays them in terms of nutrition. The amount of energy in the ingredients like caffeine is undisclosed, but the taurine count is 2,000mg per can. The kick is mega good for this BooKoo, way better than the Wild Berry and the Zero Carb, for that I'm impressed. But listen to this: Well, for the 150th review, I gave you the BooKoo Citrus, not the best choice, but I was interested to try it.

Taste: 7.6 - Towards the end of the can, it got a bit boring and somewhat tasteless
Kick: 8.6 - I really did enjoy the nice buzz after the drink was finished
Overall: 7.8 - Whatever, I'd stick with the Crunk Citrus and the Rip It Citrus X

Reviewed by: Chan

Playboy

Ha. Simple as that, ha. You can't go anywhere without seeing your favorite company making an energy drink. A 7-11 outside of town payed off when I spotted the Playboy and the Playboy Sugar Free; I knew immediately I couldn't hold up on grabbing a couple of these. It's not priority to review this one now, but my buddy really wanted me to check it out and tell me what he thought of it. I also for a fact that this wouldn't just be any energy drink, but one with impulsing ingredients such as Horny Goat Weed, Damiana Leaf, and Schisandra extract, exciting. It's been awhile since I've reviewed an 8.4 ounce can, so I for me, it's looking kind of small; I really wish I had this in 16 ounces. It's early afternoon and I'm in dire need of some massive energy, I hope this one can deliver what I need, in terms of some jitteriness, or perhaps even focus. The flavor, I'm predicting, is going be a Monster Clone, or possibly a citrus flavor, hinting at the Bunny outlined in a orange-yellow color. Words are surrounding the bunny like stimulate, inspire, vitalize, rush, exhilarate, ignite, and intense in hard to read dark gray font. I'm going to wrap this one up and crack this small can open.

As I'm looking forward to the scent of the energy drink, I need a second to calm down. Okay, it's opened up and was a bit upset with the strong Deton 8 and Monster scent, with just a bit of Red Bull aroma mixed in. The color is an expectant golden amber and light brown, with just a bit of fizziness. The flavor is actually smooth and creamy Monster flavor with a lot of satisfying herbaceous flavor mixed in with it as well. If you can imagine the flavor of the Joker and mixing in some herbs like the Horny Goat Weed, you got the playboy flavor. The flavor also reminds of the Red Bull as well, but much more flavor, nearly ranking up there with the Monster and the Joker in the Best Taste List. The aftertaste is a bit like heavy whipping cream, you know milky and sweet. It's carbonation is about the same as the Monster's carbonation, light yet perfect for the flavor that goes along with it. I'm wondering why it's not gummy, so I take a peek at the ingredients list to see a pleasant sucrose and glucose, very nicely sweetened. However the true test of sweeteners is if it has Sucralose or not, and this one does, too bad. Oh well, it's an insane energy drink for a Monster Clone, perhaps one of the best I've reviewed yet. This just goes to show even the companies like Playboy sure know how to make a darn tasty energy drink.

The ingredients list show carbonated water, sucrose, glucose, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium citrate, caramel color, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, sucralose, and yellow 5. The Proprietary Blend is caffeine, taurine, Horny Goat weed, Panax Ginseng, Guarana, Damiana, Glucuronolactione, inositol, L-Carnitine, Schisandra Extract. Per can, you get 120 calories 30g of sugar. It's sure not a Monster Clone if it has 30g of sugar per serving, way to sweet to be one as well as 120 calories. Well, I guess it's sweet because of that creamy and sweet aftertaste. The individual energy ingredient count is undisclosed, but all together, there's 1.6 of energy ingredients in all, you know the caffeine and taurine and all that. I guess the ingredients are pretty weak, that disappoints me, that probably means I'm not going to get the energy kick I need right now. I take that back, after revisiting this paragraph 10 minutes later, the kick is really good. Overall, Playboy put the best twist on their Monster Clone I've ever tried, I'd definitely buy this one again, and I recommend you do to!

Taste: 8.6 - An insane twist on a Red Bull/Monster Clone, perhaps one of the best
Kick: 8.5 - The kick was pretty explosive, with 1.6g of many energy ingredients
Overall: 8.6 - Hey, if you can find one of these, go ahead, don't be afraid to pick one up

Reviewed by: Chan

Venom Black Mamba

You wouldn't believe how long I've held on to this drink. I've stowed it away for about 2 months and I think Jeff motivated me to finally take it out of my fridge and review it. I really respect Venom, their can design is mean and their low carb energy drink is brutal and tasty. I believe Venom Black Mamba will definitely be a winner in my book; and now that I think about it, I'm really excited to twist it open and check it out. Venom has an awesome can design being a fierce red snake eye with a dagger pupil and a black, scaly body. Venom is printed in a white sharp font with a blood red outline. The V and the M are stretched down to form a fang looking vicious and complimenting the cool red eye. I'm really thirsty right now, so I hope this is a refreshing Monster-like energy drink. I'm just about ready to find out how this beast will impress me, sorry for the short paragraph.

I twist it off with that crackling noise and get a extraordinarily sweet Monster Clone; also smelling pretty refreshing. The color is predictable having an golden amber color with a slightly brown tint and minimal carbonation. Venom kills at making an insane Monster clone taste, but really too sweet to be exactly like the Monster or Deton 8. The taste is hard to describe, I guess it could be citrus/grape/apple with a lot of noticeable natural sugar like glucose and sucrose. A Monster clone is one sweetened with sucrose, glucose, and sucralose (Optional), not a dull HFCS. I really wasn't expecting this much sweetness from Venom, but wow, it hits you, just about as sweet as an Amp. Although that may be a problem for some people, it's an insanely tasty Monster clone for everyone else. The carbonation compliments the original flavor having barely any, which is great. I'm regretting chugging it because I wished I had enjoyed it more, but hey it was refreshing and I was thirsty. As for gumminess, I was a bit disappointed to have this drink backed up with gumminess, although it's not even sweetened high fructose corn syrup. Overall, it's another amazing Monster Clone that anyone would enjoy. I advise you go up and get yourself one.

The ingredients are basic yet interesting having carbonated water sucrose, glucose, citric acid, maltodextrin, taurine, sodium citrate, glucuronolactone, natural and artificial flavors, ginseng, caffeine, guarana, and sucralose. Venom improved the flavor of their Monster Clone drink by sweetening it with sucrose and glucose, rather than HFCS. Sucralose, however, is a bit noticeable in Venom, but not as much as you'd think it should be. One thing about the Venom Black Mamba is that there's too much sugar, or just too sweet for most people like Jeff and I. Per 16.9 ounce can, you get 240 calories, 56g of sugar, and 2g of protein. Although it's only got a bit more sugar than a Monster, it really is like 5 times sweeter; not great. The calorie count is 40 more than a Monster, delivering more sweetness and more energy from calories. It has 400mg of ginseng and an energy blend of a powerful 6,000mg. Even though it doesn't have much caffeine (160mg), the guarana and ginseng donate a killer kick that got me hyper for a good 2-3 hours. All in all, Venom doesn't joke around when it comes to making a mean energy drink, but the Low Carb definitely out tasted this one.

Taste: 8 - Nice Monster clone, very tasty and refreshing
Kick: 8.7 - The kick was pretty dynamic and dominent
Overall: 8.3 - I would stick with the Low Carb Venom if I had to purchase one again

Reviewed by: Chan

Go Girl

As energy drink companies rise with power and money, something has to be done for girls to enjoy an energy drink. Go Girl comes to the rescue creating an energy drink specially targeted for women, having less than 5 calories and virtually no sugar. I've heard of this drink before and now I'm seeing it everywhere, so I finally grab one at a local Von's supermarket and give it a shot. Go Girl is canned in 12 ounces, but a seemingly tall and thin 12 ounces, unlike Red Bull and Amp's 12 ounce cans. Go Girl's bright and hot pink colors shimmer, standing out in the crowd of Monsters, Rockstars, and Full Throttles, attracting women audiences to purchase one. The retro font used to model the lettering is reminding me of a 50's canned beverage, you know all bulgy and older looking. The fact that it's printed slanting upward makes leads me to believe more that this drink looks like it's made from 50 or so years ago. It uses another shade of pink to color in the lettering of 'Girl' and 'Sugar Free Energy Drink', but it uses just plain white for 'Go'. I snickered when I read the term 'Beautiful Energy' at the top of the can, because that sounded pretty odd, I thought. Well, let's crack this female energy drink open and review its taste.

The can opens up and pink foam goes all over the can revealing a strawberry aroma that actually smells pretty good, no artificialness. There's also a sweet overlay of some cherry as well reminding me of the NOS and the Archer Farms Tropical Fruit. It gleams out of the cup a fluorescent a cherry red color, much darker than the can color, which I would have expected it to be pink. The flavor is not bad at all, a whole lot more than I expected from Go Girl. It enters the mouth a warm, refreshing cherry flavor and sets in with an artificial strawberry flavor. As you take more sips, you'll start to notice more of an artificial flavor in general and a sweeter aftertaste, sort of like those Fruit Loops Cereal. However, that aftertaste during the first few sips is nearly horrendous tasting like pure Splenda mixed with HFCS and artificial berry. As I'm nearing the halfway point in this drink, the flavor becomes more recognizable as a lighter and sugar free version of the Amp Overdrive. The cherry sticks out more and the strawberry starts to diminish, forming a smooth cherry flavor, with little artificialness. The can notes light carbonation, and trust me, this is pretty light, like if you leave a soda out for about an hour. It's not gummy at all, but has some pretty mean aftertaste making up for the gumminess. Overall, it really isn't bad for a sugar free energy drink; not bad at all.

The ingredients list show carbonated water, citric acid, taurine, malic acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium hexametaphosphate, Garcinia Cambogia, caffeine, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, sucralose, sodium citrate, gum arabic, glucuronolactone, inositol, magnesium oxide, and vitamin B12. First off, it's been awhile since I've seen sodium hexametaphosphate in an energy drink, and frankly I haven't noticed the difference in taste, alto ugh it's found in cosmetics. An unknown ingredient was listed: garcinia Cambogia, it's basically a mild herbal appetite suppressant. Sure, if you're a women and drink this, you can't eat for a few days. Is that the point they're trying to get across? Who knows, but I'm starting to get a bit worried. It's sweetened with only sucralose, which is pretty noticeable in this energy drink. I thought that if it would have had acesulfame potassium, it would even out the artificialness of the Splenda. Per can, you only get less than 5 calories and no sugar. the taurine count 1200mg per 12 ounces, and the Garnicia Cambogia count is 300mg. Inositol and caffeine are both 150mg, which would even out to 200 if it were a 16 ounce can. After this drink, my stomach is a bit upset and I have an artificial Splenda taste in my mouth, but hey, it's not bad for a sugar free energy drink; any girl will be ready to go after this one.

**Woah! the Garnicia Cambogia really worked! My appetite was taken away for at least 2 days; incredible!

Taste: 7.4 - It's artificial, but the cherry kicker was what topped this one off as a good drink
Kick: 7.5 - No guarana? Oh well there's 150mg of caffeine sure to get me jittery
Overall: 7.4 - I'll leave it to girls to buy this one, I'm not interested in getting more

Reviewed by: Chan

Jetset Club Soda

Jetset sure does come out with some odd energy drink flavors. A local Bevmo came in handy as I picked up a few Jetsets to review, and today the lucky Jetset is the Club Soda. I've been so curious to try the Jetsets ever since I heard about them about a half a year ago and right now I'm extremely pumped up and ready to crack it open. Jetset does a nice job in can designs by having shades of blue spiraling back and behind the logo which is vertically streched across the can in a casual font. Club Soda is printed below it in a simple bubble-like white font while Energy is stenciled in a lighter blue shade and in all lowercase letters. I like how Jetset put random clocks on the top of the can like the times from San Fransisco, Dubai, Ibiza, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Buenas Aires, Miami, Tokyo, London, Las Vegas, Rio, New York, Chicago, and Rome. Jetset separates themselves in can size because they use an odd 10.5 ounce can, which is pretty cool. I remember back about a month ago when I reviewed the Jetset Original, I was deeply disappointed in the lame artificial Red Bull taste and did not recommend it. Well, we still have quite a few Jetsets to come, there's plenty of time for them to be redeemed. In the meantime, let's crack this one open and check it out.

I crack it open with joy and dive my nose in to get no scent whatsoever, but a heck of a lot of bubbles and fizzing. The color isn't surprising being just clear, like carbonated water, but a lot more fizziness and a large foamy head. The flavor let me down, tasting nearly bland, just water and carbonation with just a little bit of classic Monster flavor. The sweet Monster flavor attacks the taste buds instantly after taking a sip, but then a swarm of bitterness rises and takes over, resulting in a bland can of carbonated club soda. I understand that this is a mixer for alcoholic beverages, but as an energy drink, this is a piece of junk, literally. The aftertaste is really nothing but minor bitterness, nothing drastic. It's heavily carbonated, which makes it extremely hard to sip more than a quarter of an ounce at a time. In fact, I noticed those little gas bubbles jumping a few inches out of the drink and into the air, that's a first in energy drinks. It's not gummy because it doesn't really use any sweetener, not even sucralose or acesulfame potassium, nothing. Overall, if you don't plan to mix this drink with anything, or in other words, just drink it straight out of the can like me, just don't buy it. Trust me, with the $2.00 you use on this, you're better off with a Monster flavor.

It has basic ingredients listed from the top: carbonated water, citric acid, taurine, caffeine, mineral blend (sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, sodium citrate), inositol, guarana, ginseng, niacin, pyridoxine HCL, calcium pantothenate, and vitamin B12. I wish it were sweetened just a bit more, although I know it's club soda, it really could have used more of a zing. Per can, you don't get any calories, nor do you get fat, sugar, carbs, nor protein. At least it wasn't loaded with calories because that would have been pretty big waste, for no flavor. Taurine is a standard 1000mg (1300mg per can) per serving, inositol is 50mg(65-70mg), ginseng, is 25mg(35-40mg), caffeine is a whopping 120mg(130-135mg), and gurana is only 25mg(35-40). The kick is pretty good so far, especially with that guarana and caffeine amount in that can, not bad at all. This is one of the first times I've reviewed a drink where the kick is better than the taste. Hey, that's how it goes I guess. All in all, if you're not a drinker, you'd better stay away from one of these and just head for a Monster, seriously.

Taste: 3 - Eh, way bland; it's pretty hard to find a flavor buried under all that bitterness too
Kick: 7 - the kick is pretty good; I like the amount of caffeine they put in one of these
Overall: 5 - Forget about this one, Jetset really needs to improve their drinks if they want to be classified as a good energy drink company...

Reviewed by: Chan

No Fear Motherload

Ah, yes, I really did need to get this energy drink. I've been hearing so much talk about it and just couldn't resist. I had just a bit of trouble locating one to take home and review, but I finally found one at a local Gas Station, no problem. I've been waiting awhile to review it, only because it was pretty far back, on the line of energy drinks to review. I'm guessing a lemon-lime flavor, hinting at the can color and the tab, being lime-green. I'm not positive, but I'm getting thoughts that this is just a regular No Fear, just with three times the daily amount of vitamins. Well, I want to find out soon enough, and I will. The can design is pretty neat looking having a skull with black wings outlined in that same lime-green hue. No Fear is also printed in that trademark font, outlined in that green color as well as "Super Energy." Now I don't know about you, but I have seen so many energy drink companies label their can with terms like "Super Energy" or "High Energy Boost" yet they don't deliver that needed energy it promises. I hope No Fear can live up to their phrase and deliver an awesome kick and taste. I'm ready to be Motherloaded, let's go!

I popped open the bright lime-green tab to get a nice peach, grapefruit, lime, and an intense guava aroma, just like a stronger version of the Kronik. It comes out a translucent yellow-orange color, a bit darker than the Kronik, and more tropical. The flavor is extremely tasty having a sweet guava flavor with an intense grapefruit and a light lime/peach flavor. It tastes like the Kronik, but way more tropical and with an in-your-face flavor that begs you to down it. Obviously, this is way better than the Kronik, I think; it's more potent and frankly is crisper, although it contains HFCS. As much as I enjoyed the Kronik, this drink for sure tops it, with a tropical flavor, and much less carbonation. I'm really looking forward to the upcoming boost, because it has three times as many vitamins you are supposed to get daily. Like I said earlier, the carbonation is really light, perhaps the lightest I've had in quite a few energy drinks. I'm also pretty surprised to get no gumminess, which I'd believe I would due to the intense flavors and the high fructose corn syrup combination. Overall, I really liked No Fear's twist on their energy drink, as well as their sweet energy blend put into the drink, and the amount they put in. All I can say to No Fear is great job.

It has carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, taurine, caffeine, inositol, gum arabic, Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, ginseng, guarana, and caramel color. First off, the high fructose corn syrup is okay in this energy beverage because it's not really that dull and contains not that much gumminess, allowing an enjoyable drinking time. Next, the Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin once again helps knock out that intensive gumminess found in most other energy drinks. I'm pretty surprised that this energy drink contains caramel color, only because I found a yellow-orange color, rather than a golden amber color. Per can, it's got 260 calories and a psychotic 68g of sugar. It seems like energy drinks nowadays are filled with more and more sugar, although it's not necessary. The calorie amount isn't great either, but whatever, I think it's worth it. Why is this drink called the Motherload? The answer: 300% daily value of vitamins B6, B12, and C, pretty insane huh? It has 360mg of Vitamin C, 12mg of Vitamin B6, and 36mcg of Vitmin B12. After everything, I was thoroughly impressed with the No Fear Motherload, perhaps the best No Fear, and the best guava-grapefruit combination I've ever tried. One thing to know: this drink went pretty fast, I advise you get two!

Taste: 9 - An awesome tropical blend, reminding me of vacationing in a tropic area
Kick: 8 - The kick is okay, but I really enjoy the extra vitamin boost
Overall: 8.5 - It's a great energy drink, also real good for you

Reviewed by: Chan

BooKoo Wild Berry Zero Carb

The only zero carb BooKoo Chan and I have reviewed is that 24oz BooKoo Zero Carb. It turns out that one was a little old and we would probably re-review it if it hadn't been discontinued. Well, there still are some Zero Carb BooKoos, and I've got one now, the BooKoo Wild Berry Zero Carb. Just like many others, we found this at a nearby Big! Lots, in their enregy drink aisle, for 60 cents, a bargain for an energy drink. Now, I'm not a fan of diet or zero carb energy drinks, but I'm confident that BooKoo will do a good job handling the artificial sweeteners in this drink, like they seemed to have done with the BooKoo Zero Carb. I love BooKoo's awesome can design that just looks perfect. The words Boo+Koo go vertically across the front of the can with a wild tribal flame design behind them. Hopefully this is as good as the regular Wild Berry.

This Wild Berry Zero Carb seems to be less pungent than the regular Wild Berry, with a sort of subdued yet rich strawberry/raspberry. The stuff comes out of the can an almost clear rosy purple-pink. I remember this vaguely from the regular Wild Berry. Because this is cold, the artificial sweeteners aren't getting in the way too much, but I do notice a minor metallic aftertaste. Going in the mouth, first you taste simple raspberry and then some sourness that you can tell is meant to cover up some bitterness. Finally, toward the end the strawberry comes in strongly after the bitterness fades away. The aftertaste that is left is some strawberry and a little bit of sweet sucralose that is a bit irritating. You could call this blue raspberry/strawberry/grape, but I'm not talking about concord grape that you so often taste in grape soda. I think it's more like red grapes that you buy at a grocery store with a more neutral taste. This definitely does not taste natural; there's artificial, yet rich berry/strawberry and the artificial sweetness does that. The carbonation is more than average, and the gumminess does get in the way soon. As this is warming up, the artificial sweeteners are much more noticable and it tastes almost unpleasantly sweet. I'm guessing BooKoo meant for this to be served on ice because this is sweeter than I'd like it to be. It's also getting old fast and I don't think it would on ice. Overall, this is decent, but not really exceptional. I suppose if you're going to have this, it would be a good idea to have it on ice.

Although the taste wasn't exactly favorable, the BooKoo kick is pretty insane. After slamming this thing down, I had huge energy that started out with an awesome boost that gradually dwindled and left me in a state of hightened alertness, probably from the Caffeine. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep, but that's what you pay for drinking this after noon or so. The energy ingredients in this consist of Caffeine, Glucuronolactone, Inositol, Taurine and B Vitamins. What's puzzling is how such a short list of energy ingredients can provide so much power. I can't tell how much of what is in here, except for the Taurine, 2000mg of which are present in the whole can.The only explanation I can come up with for the awesome boost this gave is that maybe there is a large amount of Caffeine. And come to think of it, the energy was a sort of jittery energy that kept me awake all night. Now, in terms of sweeteners, this drink uses Sucralose and Acesulfame Potassium. Neither of which gets me too excited, especially Sucralose, which I have come to dislike. But these artificial sweeteners weren't handled too badly; there wasn't a terribly bad artificial sweetness. The only complaint I have with this drink is that it was a tiny bit artificial and way too sweet. If you have this, it's got to go on ice.

Taste: 7.5 - Good strawberry/raspberry but too sweet and pretty artificial
Kick: 8.4 - Great kick for so few energy ingredients
Overall: 7.7 - Good choice for a zero cal beverage

Reviewed by: Jeff

Inked Chikara

7-11 has their own energy drink, called Inked. I hadn't known about it, but Chan found it and picked one up for me. I haven't seriously checked 7-11 for energy drinks, but seeing the kind of variety they have stocked, I'm looking there more often. Inked comes in an odd size, being 12oz, but shorter than other 12ozers and taller than a soda can. This looks like a quality beverage, judging from the professional-looking can design, although it's flavored artificially and is sweetened with HFCS. To gauge how sweet a drink's going to be, I'll look at the Nutrition Facts for the amount of sugar per 8oz. This is 12oz, so 46g sizes down to nearly 31g, which sounds like a lot, compared to Monster's 27 and Amp's 29. I don't know what's been going on, but a lot of these budget drinks are loaded with tons of sugar. Too much sugar makes the drink gummy and boring sooner. What an energy drink company will sometimes do to counteract this is add an emulsifier, that binds the ingredients together, like glycerol ester of wood rosin. Inked seems to use gum acacia and ester gum. I'll see how this goes.

I popped open the can expecting a sour grapefruit, but instead, it's a weaker and sweeter grapefruit smell. Actually, it smells pretty rich. I know it's artificial, but it smells very much like orange and grapefruit and maybe blood orange, with a tiny bit of bitter rind mixed in. There's a certain richness in there that makes me think of the Jolt Blue Raspberry, how it seemed a little bit like cotton candy. The color is bright chartruce-yellow, like lemon Gatorade and it's slightly opaque, rather than totally clear. The carbonation is moderate and doesn't get in the way too much. Tasting it, the same grapefruit-blood orange flavor comes through with less bitterness and more sourness coming from the citric acid. I can taste just a little of that irritating sour bitterness that you commonly get from other grapefruit drinks, like Squirt, but it's very little. Despite the 31g of sugar, this doesn't taste too sweet, and with the carbonation, it's almost not sweet enough, which definitely isn't good. I don't feel any troublesome gumminess accumulating; the very small amount of gumminess this leaves behind is easily manageable. I'd call this a simple budget grapefruit taste that's not half bad, although I'd probably prefer orange juice over this.

On ingredients, Inked doesn't do too bad. This is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, or HFCS, which gave a dull sweetness instead of the bright kind you'd get with cane sugar. Right away, you see taurine in the ingredients after HFCS, which could mean that there's a lot in here, though there's no sure way of knowing because the can doesn't list the amounts. Then, there's citric acid, D-glucuronolactone, sodium citrate, natural and artificial flavor, caffeine, potassium benzoate, gum acacia, inositol, ester gum, and vitamins B3, B5, B6, and B12. I see most of the usual energy ingredients except for ginseng and guarana. I'm convinced now that those two energy ingredients are more expensive than most other ones because they were not in the Loop, another budget energy drink. The kick this gave was not phenomenal, but just all right. I would call this a pretty basic grapefruit-flavored energy drink; nothing too special.

Taste: 7.8 - Better-than-average natural/artificial grapefruit taste
Kick: 6.7 - Nothing too special, probably from the absence of guarana and ginseng
Overall: 7.4 - Just a basic grapefruit energy drink

Reviewed by: Jeff

Freek Maniac Sugar Free

I knew it was something big when I found the last Freek at yet another Big! Lots a few miles down. The blue color got me excited as I yanked it out from the back of the shelf, and I knew exactly what kind of Freek it was, the Maniac. My only problem is the fact that it's sugar free, but that's all right I guess. I'm pretty excited to review it because Freek seems to be the new trendy energy drink, yet the Freek Rage really brought my liking for Freek down a lot. I think it may be better because it won't be as sweet as the Freek Pyscho and the Freek Rage. Freek may just do good on this drink; I'm really excited to pop it open and see how well they did. The can is pretty cool having the 'Freekman' on the can with dark and freaky blue eyes staring you down like an eagle wanting some food. Freek is sloppily carved into the can in the same blue font, which is really cool looking but doesn't get e too excited because of 'Sugar Free' note right below it. Maniac is printed in a slightly larger white font, also sloppily, but pretty neat. Okay, let's open it up.

It opens up in a loud manner and immediately donates a familiar blueberry and passionfruit aroma. It comes out of the can a bright lime green color, which I couldn't have expected because the theme is blue. Well, whatever, bottom's up. The taste is just okay having a noticeable blueberry taste with a slight hint of passionfruit and lime. It reminds me a lot of the Jones Energy , but not as strong and more of a refreshing blueberry flavor. It's surprisingly thick in the mouth and going down the throat, although it's sweetened with sucralose and acesulfame potassium. The aftertaste is a bit crude tasting like sucralose or artificial sweetener, not appetizing, nor tasty. The carbonation compliments the blueberry flavors pretty nicely, though it tingles a lot. It's not gummy but the artificial sweetener takes over about half way through the drink and leaves a terrible aftertaste, too bad. Overall, this drink had a quite refreshing blueberry and lime blend, but the artificial sweetener really did kill the drink, bumping the overall rating to just okay. So far, Freek has been all talk, nothing great.

The ingredients show carbonated water, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, sucralose, natural flavor, acesulfame potassium, maltodextrin, yellow 5, salt, calcium disodium, phosphoric acid, and potassium citrate. The sucralose really disappointed me in this drink, although I know some other drinks can mask it really well. Another odd act was the idea to put phosphoric acid, found in sodas, but I didn't find it hard to drink it due to the carbonation. Per can, don't get any calories, nor sugar, pretty sweet! The taurine count is a usual 2000mg, caffeine is a whopping 204mg, inositol is 200mg, guarana is only 16mg, and ginseng is only 8mg. The problem with these energy ingredients is that although the caffeine content is high, the guarana and ginseng content is low, preventing an awesome kick. All in all, I wouldn't buy one of these again, it was too artificial and frankly had a pretty lame taste; I could say easily that you wouldn't miss anything if you didn't pick up a Maniac Sugar Free.

Taste: 6.4 - This is going to be way too artificial for most energy drink fans
Kick: 7.8 - A decent buzz, mostly from all that caffeine
Overall: 6.9 - Freek has definitely let me down thus far...

Reviewed by: Chan

Loop

I can usually tell when a given energy drink is a 'budget drink,' and this seems to be the case with the Loop. Usually what tells me an energy drink is a budget drink are the colors on the can, the graphics, and the ingredients. A cheap energy drink will sometimes feature many colors that may or may not work together and some inexpensive and weaker ingredients. I see this with the Loop. This is an energy drink exclusive to Kmart, and it looks the part. The ingredients also look pretty sub-standard, as I see HFCS as a sweetener and very few energy ingredients. These kind of energy drinks are usually not the ones you seek out, nor the ones that Chan and I get too excited about reviewing, but sometimes they can actually be pretty good. An example of a pretty good and inexpensive line of drinks is Rip It. With great flavors like the Citrus X and Atomic Pom, Rip It is an energy drink company that is quality, yet manages to keep the price down. I'm hoping I find that this is also true with the Loop.

I was thinking Loop would be a Monster clone or just a plain bubble-gum energy drink, but I was a little bit surprised to taste that sort of vitaminy plain apple taste, a lot like a Red Bull. I forgot to smell before I tasted it and it was odd that it smelled like cinnamon and grape, just like a weak Monster. I don't know what to call this. I can't adequately describe it, not because it's weird, just because it doesn't have a very distinct flavor. I guess the best way I have to describe it is watered-down Monster, with the sweetener replaced with HFCS, and some sour Vitamin C. Actually, now I think it tastes a little bit like white grape. The color further confuses me, being a very colorful and saturated amber-chartruce, which doesn't go with anything I can think of. Well, maybe lemon-lime. After tasting it, this starts to taste like a little bit of also weak lemon-lime. I could spend days on end trying to find out what this drink tastes like, but I'm going to cut this short and say it tastes like white grape and sweet lemon-lime, but you probably won't have the same idea about it. If I didn't have to pin down a flavor, I'd call this plain sweet and sour.

On kick, Loop does about as well as I'd expect it to. The energy ingredients in here include taurine, D-glucuronolactone, caffeine, inositol, vitamin B3, B5, B6, and B12. None of the amounts are listed, and the commonly seen energy ingredients ginseng and guarana are absent, which tells me they might be left out because they're more expensive than the others. Per serving there are a whopping 31g of sugar, which means a massive 62 per can. That's more than I'm comfortable with and it saddens me to see so much sugar in there without it having any positive effect on the drink. I wish the makers of this drink could've managed to make this drink sweet but also low in sugar without artificial sweeteners. In terms of energy given, Loop gave me less than what a major energy drink would do, with seemingly no boost to start and then a tame and mild alertness that I probably could have gotten from a Coke. The side of the can mentions a 100% money back guarantee, but I bet it's just a marketing tool, meaning nothing. I probably couldn't get my money back for this sorry and weak energy drink.

Taste: 6.3 - Very bland but also sort of refreshing
Kick: 4.5 - Less than mediocre boost that just doesn't cut it
Overall: 5.5 - I would pass on this one

Reviewed by: Jeff

Blox Orange Rush

After yet another day of hard work, I wanted to settle down for the evening and do a review. I went over to the energy drink fridge to see what fit my craving for tonight, the Blox Orange Rush went my way. Now, I found this drink at Big! Lots quite awhile ago, and it was the only one there, so I assumed it's going to get old and expired any day now. Before it got too expired, I actually wanted to get a good taste and a good review of this energy drink. The can design is really what bores me, just a man made of large blue boxes, most likely jogging; kind of lame, huh? I think Blox did have an earlier can design which I don't know what it looked like, but I'm pretty sure it's better than the current. Behind the lame figure lies a nice fiery orange color with a font that looks like it came out in the 70's or 80's. I like how Blox added more listed ingredients to the top and bottom of can, unlike most energy drinks; it catches the consumers eye and tells them they're getting more than just taurine, ginseng, guarana, and caffeine. Lastly, Blox notes and promises a high vitamin and energy boost, that really gets me hyped up and anxious to open it. As a matter of a fact, it is time to open it.

It cracks open in two audible sounds and reveals an herbacious orange aroma, just like the FRS Orange, but there's definitely more flavors in this one. The color seems to be the same as all other orange energy drinks, a translucent yellow-orange, with a foamy head. When I tasted it, I was relieved to find no herbs in the flavor at all, but a smooth orange flavor, with a lot of noticeable mango. The reason why I've ben putting off this drink is because people have said a lot of bad things about it, but honestly, it's amazing. This is the only energy drink I've tried that has just an orange-mango twist on it, and I guarantee you'll love it from the first sip. I'm thinking that I'm in for a whole lot of sugar, so I can't help but take a look at the sugar amount. I was nothing but surprised to only see 24g per serving, what a deal! Blox Orange Rush specialized this drink to get rid of any aftertaste lingering, not even leftover orange nor mango. Blox also created this drink to flow pretty nicely down the throat, although there is a lot of carbonation. When it goes down, the feel reminds me of just drinking plain juice, I'm really impressed. It's not gummy at all, although I find it has corn syrup; but hey, I didn't find it that dull either, but then again, not as crisp as a Monster. Overall, I was thoroughly impressed with this Blox and am looking forward to finding the other three flavors to review. I just wish I savored this drink more, every drop is gone and I showed no mercy to the tangy orange energy drink.

The ingredients list is really cool, just like a classic energy drink would have. First off, there's no sucralose, nor acesulfame potassium, that right there shows the originality of Blox. It has carbonated water, corn syrup, citric acid, taurine, sodium benzoate, calcium carbonate, L-Glucotamine, magnesium carbonate, dextrose, caffeine, gum arabic, tocopherol, acetate, ascorbic acid, Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, inositol, sucrose acetate isobutyrate, natural flavors, and beta carotene. I like the corn syrup/dextrose/sucrose acetate combination to sweeten this drink, allowing a less dull taste from dextrose and sucrose. The Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin also helps out with the gumminess, ridding it from the cause, corn syrup. Beta Carotene is in this mix to give it that smooth translucent orange color, but there's just a bit of it. Per can, you get roughly 200 calories and 48g of sugar; that is insanely good, less sugar than a Monster but 5 times sweeter! It has a lot of vitamins, including Vitamin C, Vitamin B1+B6+B12, and Vitamin E, all serving a good purpose in the human body. The vitamin C is needed for normal immune system function, Vitamin B converts carbohydrates into energy, needed for cellular growth, and Vitamin E reduces risks of heart diseases as well as protecting the skin from environmental factors. I don't see where Blox gets "High Energy Boost" from because 152mg of caffeine is just average, nothing to get you too jittery. All in all, this ranks up there with the Sobe Essential Energy Orange, Rip It Citrus X, and Sobe Adrenaline Rush; trust us here on Canned Reviews, it's good.

Taste: 8.7 - Good luck finding an orange energy drink to top this orange-mango flavor
Kick: 8 - Kick is pretty decent, nothing to write home about
Overall: 8.5 - I really enjoyed this above average energy drink, and I'm sure you will too

Reviewed by: Chan

...Lost Five-O

...Lost is an energy drink I haven't gotten to know. I didn't think much of the original ...Lost; it was just a Monster clone, like Ace and Joker. This variety of ...Lost looks pretty tasty, though, and I can't wait to bust open. I need the energy today especially, because I'm going to rearranging and moving stuff around all day. The end result and how long it takes to get there is going to determine this drink's kick. I know that this is going to be very similar to a Monster, ingredient-wise. Per serving, you get 2500mg of the same energy blend and 1000mg of Taurine. But the difference between this and a Monster is going to be the taste. This thing comprises of 50% apple, orange, pear, peach, tangerine, pineapple, and white grape juices. I'm thinking this is going to be an unbelievable roller coaster of taste.

I cracked this thing open and some wispy vapor rose from the opening. The liquid comes out a cloudy, thicker-than-normal peachy tangerine color. Its smell makes me think of sour white grape and pineapple. This isn't your run-of-the-mill juice drink, this has an awesome sweet, sour, earthy pear/peach taste that is pretty addicting. It reminds me quite a lot of the Jugo, probably because of the white grape and orange. I'm not so sure I can taste every juice distinctly, but there definitely is some apple, orange, and peach in the background. The carbonation complements the juice, in my mind. Compared to the BooKoo Jugo, this drink is way smoother and tastes very sweet, which helps carry along all the rich fruit flavors. Honestly, this is such an amazing drink, I strongly wish to just step away and chug this baby. As this goes into your mouth, first you taste sweet orange/tangerine and peach. It then evolves into a puckeringly sour pineapple and orange. Swallowing it, I can taste the earthy and smooth white grape. This is one drink that's gonna go fast, even in a 24oz size.

The ingredients of the ...Lost look mighty strong. ...Lost's energy ingredients include 1000mg per serving of taurine, and 2500mg per serving of the energy blend, which includes caffeine, glucose, ginseng, inositol, guarana, L-carnitine, and maltodextrin. Because this is a juice drink, you would think that this would be sweetened by pure sucrose and the sugars in the fruit juices, but that isn't the case here. For some odd reason, ...Lost decided to sweeten this with glucose, but also sucralose and acesulfame potassium. That could explain why this tastes sweet with only 16g of true sugars per serving listed in the Nutrition Facts. While drinking this, I didn't think it tasted artificial, so I guess the artificial aftertaste of the artificial sweeteners was masked somehow. It wouldn't be easy to pull off a fruity drink partially sweetened with sucralose and "ace-k" without an aftertaste, which tells you that this drink was made with care. That figures. This drink may say "...Lost", but it's really a drink made by Monster. Monster is the only company I can count on to pull this kind of thing off and they did. Overall, I'd advise you to pick this up whenever you get the chance.

Taste: 9.5 - Irresistible sour and sweet tangerine/white grape/peach
Kick: 8 - An incredible Monster kick
Overall: 9.4 - Awesome juice drink

Reviewed by: Jeff

Well Big! Lots pays off again, 24 ounces of ...Lost Five-0 for only a buck! Some Big! Lots have a lot of energy drinks we need, and some have different kinds we need and don't need. Obviously, the Big! Lots 30 miles away was the one we needed to go to. I'll try to make this quite brief on my part on the double review because I know Jeff really wanted to review it; On second thought, I think I'll just do a standard review. This drink has a cool background being random spray paintings and fences with brick walls. It's got a cool ...Lost logo with an orange and black planet and Five-0 Energy + Juice printed under it. I'm seeing 50% juice which will probably give it a nice naturally sweet flavor, aside from the sucralose. I think that this Five-0 will wow me, it looks so good with 50% juice and all those natural tropical fruits; I can't wait to crack this bad boy open.

I opened up the can without a problem and immediately swooped in to find a nice peachy Monster aroma, a lot like the Kronik, but not as dull. It comes out of the can a nice orangy peach tangerine color, with a lot of apple giving it a creamy darker hue. The taste of the Five-0 is really smooth having a primary flavor of apple, peach, pineapple, and a secondary flavor of orange, pear, tangerine, and white grape. The flavor really is exceptional, all because the sweetener is really natural, coming mostly from the fruits. However, I glance at the ingredients and find sucralose, that really is too bad, though it's not that noticeable. Jeff and I have been noticing, sadly, sucralose (Splenda) is getting into every energy drink, including Monster. The aftertaste is really nothing, just a tie up of all the great tropical flavors in one great sip or so. ...Lost really makes their great by putting little carbonation, which is set just right to make this Juice Energy Drink really substantial. I notice just a bit of gumminess, which I think is from all the fruits and part from the sucralose. Overall, the great flavors will boost you miles away and into the tropical beaches of Hawaii and the Bahamas.

As for ingredients, ...Lost Five-0 has carbonated water, fruit juice concentrates which are: apple, orange, pear, peach, tangerine, pineapple, and white grape; now that's a lot of fruit. It's also got some glucose to help sweeten it, taurine, natural and artificial flavor, glucoronolactone, sodium citrate, potassium sorbate, ginseng, caffeine, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, beta carotene, and guarana. I'm a bit disappointed in ...Lost's idea to put sucralose and acesulfame potassium, I'm sure it would taste a lot better without it. If you're wondering why there's beta carotene in here, I'll tell you that it helps give it that smooth bright tropical color. Per can, you only get 210 calories and 48g of sugar. Remember, this is a 24 ounce drink, so 210 is pretty darn good, being just 10 calories more than a Monster, and only 6g of sugar less than a Monster. To me, this is a low calorie drink, if it were made in an 8 ounce can, and if I were drinking a 16 ounce can. Besides taurine, the single ingredient count is undisclosed, but all together, there's 7500mg per 24 ounces, average, but I'm cool with that. All in all, I was really surprised ...Lost could make such a good juice-like energy drink, ranking up there with the Monster M-80; we know it's that good because Monster helped make ...Lost.



Taste: 8.5 - A nice smooth blend of tropical flavors; quite earthy as well
Kick: 8.6 - The kick was good, I used the energy by doing some renovating
Overall: 8.5 - I would definitely look for this drink more often and probably get it again

Reviewed by: Chan

Jolt Blue Raspberry

I've had the opportunity to review this drink for a long time now, but something always comes up. I was originally panning to review this drink last week, but I found the Red Jak and couldn't resist. I then wanted to review it a few days ago, but I just didn't have the time. So today, I cleared part of my day and decided to review this drink, no exceptions. This is my first Jolt review, I'll also be reviewing the Jolt Ultra as well, expect that one to be good. Jolt makes their drinks in 16 ounces and 24 ounces, both sizes having their own line of drinks. For example, they have the Jolt Blue and the Jolt Blue Raspberry as well as the Jolt Cola and the Jolt Power Cola; odd but hey, energy drinks are energy drinks. This Jolt looks the same as all the other ones, 75% black and 25% the color of the drink, this one being blue for raspberry. You may say this drink looks the same as the Jolt Blue, but here's where you're wrong, it says 'Blue Raspberry' under 'Jolt', rather than 'Blue'. Jeff noted the blue raspberry taste in his Jolt Blue, so I'm expecting a better version of blue raspberry, deeper, more flavor, smoother. I've heard that this is a lot better than the Jolt Blue, I trust it is, but I want to find out right now if it is or not. Here it goes...

I peel off the plastic which comes off in one piece and twist off the cap. It makes a nice loud pop then revealing an irresistible pure blue raspberry aroma, almost to die for. The color is a plasma blue color, looking like crystal with just a little bit of fizziness. The taste is even better than the scent having an insane cotton candy and blue raspberry mix, reminding me of carnivals and Jolly Ranchers. As I take more sips, I start to notice a familiar flavor, Pop Rocks. I don't know why, but that neat Pop Rocks flavor just came to my head once I took a sip of the 24 ounce Behemoth, maybe because Pop Rocks make a deep blue raspberry flavor the same way Jolt Does. I haven't found my way through many blue raspberry energy drinks thus far, but as of now, this has to be my favorite blue raspberry energy drinks. However, the reality is, I know of many blue raspberry energy drinks I need to review, all having the potential to be better. Jolt isn't afraid to put a lot of carbonation in their energy drinks, that's why I'm downgrading Jolt Blue Raspberry. The carbonation in this drink seems to be heavy and delivers a burning sensation going down the throat, and just a bit going into the mouth. I have to say, for having HFCS, this Jolt allows no gumminess and actually has a crisp flavors, rather than a dull flavor, found in the Kronik and the BooKoo Berry, which if you recall separated those from the Best Taste List. Overall, the Jolt Blue Raspberry was one of the best HFCS energy drinks I've had in a long time, outtasting the Kronik, BooKoo Berry, and the Freek line. The one thing that bugged me was the amount of carbonation, thus separating it from the drinks on Best Taste List.

The ingredients list shows carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, taurine, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate, caffeine, sodium citrate, gum arabic, Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, guarana, ginseng, and niacin. Jolt does a good job of masking the HFCS in this drink because it's a fairly fresh and sweet drink, not really a lot of dullness. A few ingredients over is Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, which helps Jolt rid the gumminess and rid the dullness caused by the HFCS. It's always great to have that when you see HFCS. Per 24 ounce can, you get 360 calories and 90 grams of sugar (You're better off splitting this guy with someone!). If it were 16 ounces, you'd get a fairly decent amount of sugar, more than a Monster, but not as much as the Jeff Gordon or the Max Velocity. The calorie count is also not bad, but just watch out, any more than 24 ounces can be dangerously bad for you, way too much sugar. The kick is pretty insane, having a lot of caffeine and guarana, although the amount is undisclosed. If a 16 ounce Jolt has 220mg of caffeine, how much does this one have? 330, incredible. The kick is massive, being a 24 ounce can, but not worthy of the Best Kick list, because it's 24 ounces, not 16. In general, I was very pleased with this energy drink, and I'm sure you will too, just be aware of your sugar intake and caffeine intake with this Blue Raspberry Behemoth.

Taste: 9 - I was amazed by the fresh Blue Raspberry flavor, and the lack of gumminess is really what will impress you
Kick: 9.2 - The kick is insane, being a 24 ounce can with a lot of sugar and caffeine, DO NOT drink if you are sensitive to caffeine. Fair warning.
Overall: 9.1 - I would buy it again, but now I know to split it with someone

Reviewed by: Chan

Ace

Ace is one of those energy drinks found at the dollar store, at least where I live. Chan and I have seen it there, but we never bothered to pick it up. Well, we decided it was time we finally did and that we review it once and for all. The can design isn't a bad one, looking like a 1940's or 50's housewife in a sultry pose and an army green outfit. Behind her are two cards that look like Aces and behind them is an olive background with rivets and bullet holes. This can is really a work of art, portraying the style of the 40's and 50's and the war-era. I cannot commend Ace enough for this detailed and beautiful can. Looking at the can, it's not very easy to imagine what sort of flavor this will have to offer. I'm not sure what was "the" drink of the 40s and 50s. Perhaps orange juice or maybe apple juice; I don't know. This can does look suspiciously similar to a Monster can, in terms of layout, so I'm going to expect that classic energy drink flavor. We'll see.

I was expecting Ace to be a Monster clone, and it seemed to smell that way. Comparing it to Monster, there's a whole lot more citrus and lemon and less grape. It's like a slightly toned-down Monster, to put it simply. The color looks very close to a Monster, but just a little yellower. There are basically the same flavors, but also a strong apple and a weaker cinnamon. Sipping it, there are the same flavors, but they seem much stronger. I'm going to say that this tastes like apple/cinnamon/grape/citrus, an incredibly unique and tart taste, just like a Monster. Even slightly below room temperature, this is a very refreshing, smooth, and tasty beverage. The gumminess is less than moderate and the carbonation is light and complements the bite of the flavor. I wasn't a great fan of this the first time I tried it, but that time, it was expired. I'm telling you, this is one drink you're going to like if you're into Monster. Like Chan says so often, this is one of those drinks I just want to drink and not review.

I found out that this in fact was made by Monster, as it says on the can that it comes from Corona, California, the origin of Monster. The ingredients are also very similar; this drink has Carbonated Water, Sucrose, Glucose, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Taurine, Sodium Citrate, Grape Skin Extract, Panax Ginseng, Caffeine, Sorbic Acid, Glucuronolactone, Benzoic Acid, Niacinamide, Sodium Chloride, Pyridoxine HCL, Pantothenic Acid, Sucralose, Inositol, Guarana Seed Extract, Riboflavin, Maltodextrin, Cyanocobalamin. These energy ingredients look a lot like a Monster. In the Energy Blend, there are 2200mg of Glucose, Caffeine, Guarana, Inositol, Glucuronolactone, and Maltodextrin. That's 300mg less than in Monsters. That makes sense, too; the kick I felt from this thing was great, but only almost as good as a Monster. Still, it's worth paying just a dollar (or even 60 cents, if you can find it at a Big Lots) for a Monster-quality drink.

Taste: 8 - Nice cousin to Monster
Kick: 7.5 - Kick akin to Monster's
Overall: 8 - Great value for the price

Reviewed by: Jeff

Full Throttle Coffee Mocha

I have the last of Full Throttle Coffee series and I hope this final one will close up the show nicely. The Full Throttle Coffee Caramel was really warm and comfortable, the Full Throttle Coffee Vanilla really woke me up with an intense sweet vanilla cream flavor, and I'm predicting a nice sweet blend of chocolaty coffee that'll really impress me. This can is my favorite, not because of the cool cork background, but the nice chocolate-brown color in front of the Full Throttle logo. I'm a bit upset at the fact that I see 48g of sugar, even more than all the other two Full Throttle Coffee energy drinks. If I thought that the Full Throttle Vanilla was sweet, I think I'm in for an insane mocha flavor, possibly too sweet for my liking. It's a Saturday afternoon and I'm extremely in need for energy because my eyes are droopy and I have a headache, so I'm really looking forward to opening up one of these coffees and waiting for the great energy soon to follow. Excuse this short paragraph, but I'm ready for the next paragraph, so here it goes...

I open up the can and find out that this mocha energy drink has an extremely strong aroma of chocolate and Arabica Columbian Coffee. It comes out of the can an unusual darker brown color, as if someone mixed some chocolate in it. My first thought on this drink is "Wow, that truly is a mocha flavor!" It tastes as if someone dropped a chocolate bar into a can of pure Columbian coffee and some mixed hazelnuts and pecans. I can describe this as the Monster Java Loca Moca and Nut Up mixed with some really robust coffee. I automatically think that this drink makes the Best Taste List; I've never a coffee energy drink as robust and sweet and chocolaty before. Another thought popped into my head. I think of this drink as a liquid Hershey's bar. A quick ingredients check reveals cocoa, which is what chocolate is made from. It's not gummy at all, due to the cream to balance it out, a good thing for energy coffees. Overall, this is one of the best coffee energy drinks I've tried, making the Best Taste List and replacing the Monster Java Nut Up.

The Full Throttle Coffee Mocha has a few more ingredients than their sibling coffee energy drink having coffee, skim milk, water, sugar, cream, cellulose gel, natural flavors, taurine, cocoa, caramel color, sodium bicarbonate, cellulose gum, ginseng, carrageenan, niacin, carnitine, caffeine, and guarana. Each 15 fl oz serving contains 1,134mg of taurine, 168mg of ginseng, 27mg of carnitine, and 1.3mg of guarana. It also only has a weak 131mg of caffeine, sure to give me energy for about an hour, that's it. Per can, you get a killer 270 calories and 48g of sugar. I'd have to say, this is the first energy drink with that many calories, and the first coffee energy drink to have that much sugar. As amazing as it tastes, I wouldn't buy this product again, it's too sugary, and frankly just a waste of calories. The Loca Moca didn't stand a chance to this insane coffee blend, and the Rockstar Roasted Mocha was nowhere near as great as this one. If you like sugary drinks and don't care about your intake, you'd love this drink to death, but if your concious about your weight, you want to be as far away from these Full Throttle coffees as you can. All in all, I loved the great blend of chocolate, Columbian Coffee, and mixed nuts (Hazlenut, pecan, almond), but probably the last time I'll try it.

Taste: 9.5 - Once again the best chocolaty, nutty coffee energy drink I've ever tried
Kick: 8 - The kick was just okay, especially when it only has 1.3mg of guarana, and 131mg of caffeine...
Overall: 9- Great drink, too sugary and too fattening for most people though...

Reviewed by: Chan

M-150

Energy shots haven't been much of a priority on Canned Reviews, but I just decided to run over to 7-11 and go grab the energy drinks I needed to review, including the M-150. I've seen a lot of energy shots out nowadays, but this one is pretty different than most of them. It's in a 6.2 ounce glass bottle and has a cool twist-off cap, as well as a race car themed background. The red background color is probably supposed to symbolize leather seating because it has a pattern seen on many seats and gas gauge pointing to a lightning bolt symbol. So far, I'm expecting a pretty good kick, although I don't know how much caffeine is in here and how long it's even going to last. M-150 is printed in a fiery red-orange color with some interesting facts about the drink like "Non-Carbonated Energy Drink" and "Single Shot." Other than that, this drink has a pretty basic glass bottle design, which I like. By the way, M-150 is a unique single shot size of non-carbonated energy drink. Just the right amount to effectively boost your strength and energy levels, free from fizz. Less is More, to quote M-150. I don't know what to expect from M-150, maybe a cranberry flavor, assuming from the red color it gives. I don't know, but I think I'm ready to find out now...

I open up the bottle careful for it not to slip out of my hands, and am met with a strong Monster clone aroma. My hopes are down because I've had enough Monster clones and right now, one doesn't sound good at all, good thing it's only 6 ounces. The color is a pale amber hue, much lighter than a Monster, and no fizziness. The taste is definitely unlike any Monster clone I've tried thus far on our website. It starts off as a Monster clone, with an apple-grape flavor, but then switches to a sharp, bitter ammonia taste. I'm tasting a crisp flavor, which means no HFCS, and probably sucrose and glucose. Shots are meant to taste weird, so I'll let this slide, besides, why should shots taste good, they're puny? The strong aftertaste makes me want to down the rest of this drink and wait for the kick shortly following, having that same nasty ammonia flavor, very unappetizing. Besides that, the M-150 is really sweet, so sweet it even pinches going down the throat. It's not gummy at all, which makes me want to take a glance at the ingredients. I do, and sure enough, I find sucrose, fructose, and glucose, all good sweeteners. Being a 6 ounce shot, M-150 goes pretty fast, and I wouldn't recommend you drink two of these until you find your tolerance for M-150. All you big drinkers out there, wait it out if you're into drinking a few shots in one day. Overall, M-150 wasn't about the taste, but the kick revving into first place throughout the next few hours or so, can't wait to find out.

The ingredients are decent having water, sucrose, fructose, glucose, taurine, inositol, natural caffeine, niacin, pantothenol, pyridoxine, riboflavin phosphate sodium, L-carnitine, ginseng, citric acid, artificial flavors, caramel color, and sodium benzoate. The sugars combine to create a crisp Monster flavor, but doesn't even out the bitterness in the aftertaste. Natural caffeine is found in most energy shots around town, and improves focus, rather than giving you just a few hours worth of jitteriness. The flavor really showed me that it had no natural flavors, just artificial flavors. A glance at the ingredients list reads artificial flavors, what a surprise. I wish I knew the amount of caffeine I'm receiving, just know, and just to be safe, but M-150 decided to leave it undisclosed. Per bottle, you get a crazy 130 calories, and 31g of sugar, wow. I guess they really did manage to squeeze a lot of sugar in this minute 6 ounce glass bottle, that's okay though, it helps the kick even more. The prescense of guarana isn't in the bottle, which gets me thinking "Why wouldn't they improve the kick by putting guarana in with the mix of caffeine and a lot of sugar?" Oh well, I'll just see how it plays out later on... All in all a great kick came out of the M-150, and I guess it's true, less really is more, when it comes to energy shots.

Taste: 3.5 - Not really meant for taste, although I didn't enjoy the nasty ammonia aftertaste
Kick: 9.7 - Energy Shots are pretty cool, if you need to be doing something requiring a lot of energy
Overall: 8 - I had to think for awhile what to give it overall, adding in part of the taste rating...

Reviewed by: Chan