Freek Psycho

Well, Freek is an energy drink I've always wanted to try. I had heard that the Freeks offered some intense flavors. I had no idea where I was going to find a Freek, since I had never seen them before. You can probably guess where I found this one. That's right, Big! Lots, a store I never used to give a second glance at, had the Freek Psycho. It's also where Chan found the Rage and the Sugar-Free Maniac he's going to review later. I haven't really gotten too familiar with the Freeks and all I can tell from the can is that it's going to be pretty sugary, thanks to 33g of sugar per serving, 66 total. Honestly, that's the highest amount of sugar I have ever seen in an energy drink so far, and I'm not very comfortable with it. I don't even think there's any fruit juice in the Psycho to balance the sweetness out. I'm not particularly looking forward to this review, but I will do it in the name of Canned Reviews. And I'm a little low on energy.

The first sniff was like Sunny Delight and orange juice mixed; a sort of mixed artifical and natural taste. There's very little sharpness and lots of nice, rounded sweetness complementing the tangerine in there. The color is cloudy yellow-orange, which would make sense if this were made with real juice, but it's a tad puzzling, knowing there isn't any. Taking a sip, I don't sense as much flavor as there is conveyed in the smell. Now, when you drink it, some of that rounded sweetness is gone and there's a simple sweet Valencia orange flavor before you taste more fake orange similar to Sunny D. This is one you'll want to drink in small sips or you'll pay by enduring the stinging carbonation of the overwhelming sweetness, although the carbonation does tone the sweetness down. After a while, this starts to taste a little like Sunkist, my least favorite soda, but thicker. I'm not the kind of person who drinks their beverages really fast, especially if their thick or sugary, and so I'm not usually affected by a lot of gumminess. The Freek doesn't give me much gumminess, however, it does deliver slightly more than usual. If you're very susceptible to gumminess in a drink, this is one you might not like for the gumminess. However, I do want to say that it has some very nice tangerine-orange flavor to offer if you drink it at the right time and while it's cold. Overall, I think people's opinions on this drink will vary greatly, but it's not overwhelmingly sweet as I thought it would be.

The boost was kind of what I expected. I got a pretty wild and jittery, but also short kick. I understand why that was; the main energy ingredient in here is Caffeine. There are 200mg in the whole can along with those 66g of sugar which also provide a quick, jittery burst of energy. The rest of the energy ingredients are sort of low-impact. There are 2000mg of Taurine, which sounds like a lot, but then again, it's never been proven to have any real effect. Then, there are 200mg total of Inositol and a measly 20mg of Guarana Seed Extract, which provides the long-term energy and tons of B Vitamins, which are a given in any energy drink. Also, I don't see any other energy ingredients, such as Glucuronolactone, or L-Carnitine, which we see some of in Monsters. This is a pretty great-tasting drink, if you're into sweet ones, but the energy ingredients are weak overall. The only thing that stands out in this drink is the above-average amount of Caffeine, 200mg, and the sugar overload.

Taste: 8.5 - Sweet tangerine-orange reminding me of Sunkist and Sunny D
Kick: 7.3 - Simple energy ingredients mean a short burst of energy
Overall: 8 - Sweeter than most drinks with a short kick

Reviewed by: Jeff