Hydrive Dragonfruit

I'm all for trying new things, especially energy drinks. I know what a dragonfruit is, but I've never actually seen one in a market anywhere. The only other time I've tasted it was in the Vitamin Energy Dragonfruit, which was quite good. I remember it being like tangy, flowery strawberry. That drink was labeled as a sort of "healthy" energy drink, and so is this one. Rather than adding a load of sugar to make this sweet, Hydrive instead goes for an energy spring water. In a skinny 11.2oz bottle, there are a measly 5g of sugar and only 25 calories. That's nothing compared to the 55-ish grams of sugar and about 200 calories in a regular energy drink. I'm pretty sure I can expect to find a tangy, yet refreshing and light liquid inside this bottle. And it looks strong on energy ingredients. I have to taste this.

I slowly and gently twisted off the cap, careful not to spill a drop. To my surprise, the smell was stronger than I'd expect flavored water to be. It smells delightfully sweeter than I thought it'd be, and there is an intense sour and sweet aroma that must be dragonfruit. I can describe it as vivid strawberry-kiwi with a heap of blueberry and tart raspberry thrown in. I really like it. I've never smelled such an interesting fruity mix. The taste deviates slightly, as I can taste a bunch of minerals and some saltiness and earthiness. Also, the texture is different than most energy drinks because this one isn't carbonated and it flows much smoother and feels thicker. This doesn't feel as sweet as I'd like it to be, but it's surprisingly sweeter than I thought 5g of sugar would provide. I quickly checked the ingredients list, and was very disappointed to see listed toward the end, "Sucralose." Aww. That must be the cause for the artificial aftertaste. Ugh. I guess it's impossible to completely avoid Splenda. Anyway, the flavor isn't totally ruined by the Splenda, but it would be much better if they had left the sweetener as Crystalline Fructose or Glucose and Sucrose. Overall on taste, I think it had a great flavor, but it tasted oddly salty and had a slightly artificial aftertaste, which distracted me from a great dragonfruit I really wanted to enjoy.

You would expect a petty kick from an energy water, but that's not the case here. Hydrive doesn't provide a lot of the traditional energy ingredients. All that it has in common with most energy drinks is Caffeine and Taurine. There's also L-Carnitine, which we find in Monsters, and which has many health benefits. The two other energy ingredients in this are Crystalline Fructose (HFCS in disguise) and L-Arginine. A quick search reveals that L-Arginine is an amino acid that has many functions in the body and is even used for treating heart disease, erectile disfunction, and high blood pressure. Overall, the effects of the Hydrive weren't too drastic and all I mostly felt was some nice focus, which this drink was meant to deliver. You won't get jitters or a super huge boost from this kind of drink. What you get instead is the concentration you need to get any technical job done. I like what this drink provided, because I've been needing some concentration.

Taste: 7.5 - Smelled nice but was oddly salty
Kick: 8 - I love having great focus
Overall: 7.7 - Good for its effect

Reviewed by: Jeff