Hydrive Citrus Burst V

Here I am, yet again reviewing the third and final Hydrive (At least the final Hydrive by me). I thought I'd save the best drink for last, so today I'm gonna crack open a bottle of Citrus Burst, with a Vitamin-infused formula. Unlike the antioxidant, as soon as I check out the formula, I'm relieved to see 100% of Vitamin D, Vitamin B3, B5, B6, and B9, all healthy compounds. Hydrive also notes the presense of caffeine, taurine, L-Carnitine, and L-Arginine. Citrus is a rather simple flavor to get down, so I'm eager to see how Hydrive takes it on. I know that we reviewed a Dragonfruit Hydrive back when they used their old bottle design and formula, but I'm not too sure that Dragonfruit is exactly the same, in terms of taste. Anyways, looking at the bottle, I see that Hydrive Citrus Burst has a nice, deep orange color, while retaining bright yellow hues as well. The logo is nearly the same as the other Hydrive's, with the exception of the orange and yellow swirls behind the basic black-fonted logo. Below the logo, there's a large "V", that symbolizes Vitamin, obviously.

Opening up the bottle with a crack, I find Hydrive Citrus Burst has a hearty, orange scent, just about as strong as an orange pulp, or just like when you open an orange. I'm a bit disappointed taking my first sip, as anticipating from the scent, I was hoping for a stronger lemon/orange flavor. Granted, it is refreshing, although it does lack the flavor of citrus you find in sodas, orange juice, and other energy drinks. Sort of not what I was expecting, but nevertheless, a good drink for only 30 calories. It's a light, mostly orange flavor with a nice sour bite, although more artificial orange flavor than natural. I find a bit of lemon-lime nuance, though not as much as a usual citrus drink. Because it's not carbonated, it goes down nicely, and, just like an orangeade drink. About halfway through the bottle, I find that the Hydrive Citrus Burst has actually lost most of it's 'burst', so to say. It's gotten a bit bland. Although my expectations were high, I do give credit to Hydrive as making a low-cal/low-sugar drink is not an easy task. In my own opinion, I do favor the Hydrive Kiwi Strawberry A out of the three I have reviewed, as it was the most natural, strong in flavor, and overall the tastiest.

In terms of ingredients, I'm really fascinated that Hydrive put in all sorts of Vitamins: D, and B. If it were up to me, I think it would have been cool if Hydrive put in Vitamin C, like I expected they would. Orange, lemon and lime just seem to always compliment Vitamin C, but that's the irony of it, I guess. In each bottle, like listed above, you get 100% of Vitamin D, B3, B5, B6,B9 and B12. There's also purified water, sucrose, citric acid, natural flavor, sodium citrate, caffeine, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, monopotassium phosphate, gum arabic, calcium chloride, sucralose, taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Arginine hydrochloride, glycerol ester of wood rosin, magnesium chloride hexhydrate, yellow #5, and yellow #6. Waiting a good 30 minutes after finishing the bottle, I find a decent kick from the caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins. Definitely not a kick like the Blue Raspberry, though. From 245mg of the blend, I was pretty impressed from all of the Hydrive's kick, as they all contain the same amount of the stuff. Overall a decent energy drink, especially for 30 calories. If you want to heed my advice, I'd definitely go for the Kiwi Strawberry if you want to pick one of these beasts up at a supermarket. Keep in mind they all have a specific function, and all are an even 30 calories.

Taste: 7 - Decent pulp-y orange flavor with a sour a bite, but lost most flavor towards the end
Kick: 7 - Although Vitamin D took no part in aiding a buzz, the 245mg of basic blend did a decent job
Overall: 7 - Not my favorite Hydrive, but certainly not terrible

Reviewed by: Chan

Hydrive Kiwi Strawberry A

Moving right along with the six new Hydrive flavors released rather recently, I find myself face-to-face with a tall fuchsia bottle, Hydrive Kiwi Strawberry Alertness formula. As I explained in the Blue Raspberry review, Hydrive launched six new products, each with a designated purpose. Being allocated to alertness, Hydrive adds in some neat, though standard ingredients such as Guarana, Panax Ginseng, Vitamin B3, B5, B6, and B12. These are found in your every day Monster, along with caffeine, taurine, L-Carnitine, and L-Arginine. I'm interested to see how the simple ingredients in the drink compare to an average Monster, Rockstar, or Amp. In terms of design, the drink is packaged in a transparent bottle, with a sticker label stretching around the bottle. On the sticker, Hydrive mentions alertness and focus a couple of times, and a brief description of the product. It has a basic yellow-purple design behind a standard black font reading, "Hydrive Energy". Lastly, the bottle isn't a complete 16 ounces, but not far off at about 15.5 ounces per bottle.

Tearing open the bottle, there's not too much of a potent scent. As far as I can tell, it's a rather bright strawberry tang with the kiwi complimenting well. Taking a few sips, the flavor is just that. At first, the drink tastes stronger, like a tropical mix you find at the grocery store, then slightly fades with each sip, most likely due to the lack of much pure sugar. Unlike a few kiwi strawberry drinks I've tried, Hydrive does a nice job balancing the amount of each fruit in the drink. Instead of a prominent berry, there's a good, benign helping of kiwi. Although kiwi isn't common in drinks, it really does pack a punch of good flavor. If you've ever tried a kiwi, you know that it's real tart and sweet, while maintaining a distinct flavor that's unlike any fruit or vegetable out there. While strawberry, on the other hand is a much more common flavor in desserts, drinks, and salads. It's not as tart as a kiwi, but it complements nicely with other fruits and sugars. Together, I like the blend Hydrive uses: tart, sweet, and smooth. Although the drink is low on sugar, the fruits taste well natural, not artificial. Because it's not carbonated, the Hydrive goes down well like a fruit drink, without being as thick as one. Overall, a refreshing sugar free drink, and like the Blue Raspberry, exceptionally formulated.

Per bottle, you get only 30 calories, and 6 total grams of sugar; it's a good on-the-go drink if you want good energy, while wanting to watch your calorie intake. You also get about 20 milligrams of niacin, 2 milligrams of Vitamin B6, 6 milligrams of Vitamin B12, 10 milligrams of Pantothenic acid, 140 milligrams of sodium, and 50 milligrams of Potassium. In the bottle, there's also purified water, sucrose, citric acid, sodium citrate, caffeine, natural flavor, sodium benzoate, taurine, sucralose, gum arabic, magnesium chloride, hexahydrate, glycerol ester of wood rosin, Red #40, Blue #1, and all the listed Alertness Formula in the first paragraph, as well. Within about thirty minutes of finishing the bottle, I find myself more jittery than the last Hydrive I had. The formula for alertness doesn't have many differences between itself and a regular Monster or Rockstar. The kick is decent nevertheless, but definitely not as alert as I had anticipated. Aside from that, a great sugar free drink; I cannot wait to review the final Hydrive on my part, and hear from Jeff about his.

Taste: 7.7 - A refreshing equal blend of tart kiwi and sweet strawberry
Kick: 7 - An average kick full of hyper/jitteriness, and some alertness
Overall: 7.7 - Definitely a recommended drink if you're into sugar free drinks, and don't want a Gatorade

Reviewed by: Chan

Hydrive Triple Berry X

I don't know how old those other Hydrives Chan and I had were, but they sure were different. Since we found those, Hydrive has evolved, their new lineup consisting of six colorful tonics, each with a different function. You have A through X, Alertness to Antioxidants. Today I've chosen the Antioxidant Formula. I thought this would be a tame one, but from reading the back I learned that there's a stiff energy blend in here too. Like all the other Hydrives, this one contains 30 calories per bottle, which is cool to hear. Good energy blends can sometimes be diminished in sugary drinks with that sugar crash. It looks to me like Hydrive is a serious, no-nonsense, health conscious energy drink. I haven't had much caffeine in recent weeks, so 145mg of Caffeine is probably gonna have a pretty big impact. Triple berry sounds good.

I twisted open the cap and found a pretty deep scent of berries, though I want to say it's cherry. I can't much tell whether it's artificial or natural, but it is nice and fruity. The taste is a little interesting; there's a good amount of flavor, and it doesn't taste like cough syrup, thankfully, but there's a little sour bite when I swallow that reminds me of the stuff. I was thinking before that this would somewhat resemble a Gatorade, but there are some differences: It tastes a bit sweeter and more artificial than a G2, but it's equally refreshing. Also, I've decided the flavor is stronger, and the familiarly light saltiness is absent or hidden. Even though it has sucralose, Hydrive doesn't lose it sweetness much as I've found artificial sweeteners to do. Of course, I'm drinking it kinda slowly, but still. I've decided Hydrive X is a smooth, satistfying, rounded berry flavor. Though it's a bit generic, it fortunately doesn't get old and gumminess is hardly a problem at all. Overall, I think Hydrive is a good choice because it's got a good taste for 30 calories, but it's not one I'll reach for when I just want something tasty.

Now, what I instantly liked about Hydrive's ingredients list was seeing Ginkgo Biloba (3mg) and two amino acids. Ginkgo solidly delivers focus and alertness, while L-Carnitine (25mg) and L-Arginine (25mg) make for some great vitality. The rest of the proprietary blend is a hefty dose of Caffeine (145mg), a bit of Taurine (50mg), Apple Polyphenols (3mg), and Acai Extract (3mg). Formerly I would complain about how weak this is, but for a drink aimed less at raw power and more at vitality and longer lasting energy, I think it's near perfect. Down below the ingredients, it mentions a special antioxidant formula consisting of Vitamin E; the same Ginkgo, Polyphenols, and Acai; Selenium, and Zinc. The rest of the ingredients are purified water, sucrose (6 grams of it) citric acid, purple carrot juice concentrate (for color), sodium citrate, natural flavor, a few preservatives, sucralose, and your usual assorted B vitamins, emulsifiers, and Red #40. All in all, I like the stuff that goes into this beverage, and it made me feel pretty great. I'm not all that excited by it, but Hydrive does a decent job of adding in some antioxidants, which fight free radicals. Free radicals, of course, can cause cancer or simply accelerate aging. If you're looking for a drink that'll make you feel good, refresh you, tastes pretty good, and fights aging, you're looking at a Hydrive X.

Taste: 7.4 - Nice, simple, rounded berry that doesn't get old

Kick: 7.8 - I love drinks that are solidly invigorating as well as powerful
Overall: 7.6 - A good one to have for some outdoor activities

Reviewed by: Jeff

Hydrive Blue Raspberry S

If you recall, Jeff and I reviewed a couple of the original Hydrive flavors, a neat find at Big Lots. Although the tastes weren't exactly appealing, it interested us because we really hadn't found a drink that was bittersweet, tasted a bit salty, yet lacked the necessary all-around flavor of an energy drink, so to speak. We most likely weren't the only ones to have the same mindset, so Hydrive went back into the lab and reformulated a new batch of energy drinks. They released six new flavors, Blue Raspberry being one of them. A good difference between the older formula and the newer formula is the designated function of each flavor. For instance, the Blue Raspberry's function is strength, as it claims to formulate strength with Vitamin B12, Maca Root, Ginkgo Biloba, D-Ribose, and L-Leucine. From past experience, most avid energy drink users have been exposed to D-Ribose, Vitamin B12, and Ginkgo Biloba (Most commonly found in Rockstar). A new ingredient I'm not sure I have tried before is the Maca Root, though from a bit of research, Maca Root helps rebuild weak immune systems, restore energy and endurance, and give minerals to a poorly-nourished body.

Giving the bottle a quick shake, I twist off the cap and notice a light mixed berry aroma. Unlike previous Blue Raspberry energy drinks like Jolt Blue Raspberry, this has a very subtle berry scent and flavor. Although its dark blue color suggests a more deeper, pure raspberry flavor, (such found also in various candies) it's light on the pallet. A few sips in, I start to taste a sour bite usually found in berries, though unlike the original, it's delightful, and ridding of bitterness. With only 30 calories, it's formulated just right; therefore very little sucralose is noticeable when tasting the raspberry/blueberry drink. Instead, it's sweetened very lightly with sucrose, the common table sugar. Because it's non-carbonated, Hydrive goes down smoothly, and makes for a great thirst-quencher, especially on a hot afternoon like today. About half-way through the bottle, some initial soft raspberry flavor becomes lost, which is hard to explain, but happens in a lot of low-calorie/sugar-free drinks. In terms of flavor, it reminds me most of the blue Gatorade G2 (A low-cal alternative to Gatorade). The taste fades rather quick, leaving only a sour aftertaste and a reminiscence of berry. Overall a good twist of a light Blue Raspberry drink, especially in a 30 calorie bottle.

Like stated above, the strength energy blend is appealing, as instead of having just caffeine, taurine, etc., you get some of the natural stuff too. Maca Root and Ginkgo Biloba come from an autotrophic source (plants, trees, etc.), while Vitamin B12, L-Leucine, and D-Ribose are all organic compounds that aid in energy, strength, muscle output, you name it. In each bottle, there's purified water, sucrose, citric acid, sodium citrate, caffeine, preservatives, gum arabic, natural flavor, taurine, sucralose, monopotassium, L-Carnitine, L-Arginine, Vitamin B5, Glycerol Ester of wood rosin, and Blue #1. In a bottle, you get 30 calories, only 6g of sugar, and a Proprietary energy blend of 265mg. A regular Monster or Rockstar has about 2500mg of energy blend. In comparison, it may seem like much more, though Hydrive, if you recall, skips out on the caffeine and taurine overload to make sure the consumer gets the smaller amounts of organic ingredients essential to strength and a good kick. Speaking of which, within about 20 minutes or so of finishing the bottle, I notice myself much more focused, awake from the Sunday-morning fatigue, and not over-the-top jittery. Instead of your cup of Joe in the morning, grab one of these portable 15.5 ounce bottles of strength.

Taste: 7.5 - Mild raspberry with a delighting sour bite, though partially bland at times
Kick: 8 - Great improvement of focus and energy; I feel loads more restored
Overall: 7.8 - Solid low-cal Hydrive; much better than the original

Reviewed by: Chan

Spot On Energy Patch

Hey, what's new? You know we here at Canned Reviews are devoted to reviewing energy drinks (hence the Canned Reviews), but today I feel a bit more daring than usual. If you look to your left, you see no can, instead a little square, green package. These hold a total of four energy patches that you place onto your skin. I can't say I'm a huge fan of their "No More Energy Drinks" idea, but hey, it's cool to take a break every once in awhile. To me, this is a radical idea anyways, but it just might work. I do respect Spot On for its cleverness. Think about all the advantages: no sugar, no calories, small and discreet, and most importantly, it's healthier. Because I'm obviously not going to review taste, I'm going to go ahead and slip on these patches now so I can get right down to work on the kick section. Anyways, I requested a sample from Spot On about a week ago, and thanks to a speedy delivery, these came in just this afternoon. Being eager, I ripped open the box, and immediately started reviewing. As I place two small brown patches on to my inner arm (they recommend two, as it compares to two 8 ounce Red Bulls, or one 16 ounce), I notice they're extremely adhesive, so you wouldn't have to worry about them falling off. Additionally, they don't seem to bother my arm. Since they're made out of latex, you may want to stay away if you're allergic. Okay, well I feel some energy starting to kick in, so let's move on.

Spot On claims that their energy won't get you jittery, but will keep you awake and will maintain focus. It's always about the consumers' opinion; some like jittery, sugar-filled drinks, while others, like myself, appreciate caffeine with amino acids, B vitamins, and low-to-no sugar, therefore increasing focus. Nevertheless, caffeine allows you to get the job done to put it simply. Each patch of Spot On contains caffeine, taurine, glucuronolactone, Green Tea extract, niacin, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, and Vitamin B12. These ingredients are standard in any energy-delivering product, except Green Tea. Some energy drinks may contain Green Tea extract, whether to improve taste, or to aid in giving energy. In this case, obviously Green Tea extract aids the B Vitamins and caffeine to improve energy. Green tea also can help lower cholesterol, reduce heart disease, and not only increase fat oxidation during moderately intensive exercise but also improve insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. On that note, it's good to have Green Tea Extract in your body. Moving on to the kick, using only two patches I definitely feel a bit more alert and focused, though it's a different feeling than you get with an energy drink. For someone who uses caffeine regularly and has built up a tolerance to small doses, I personally recommend perhaps three patches. It all really depends on your surroundings and prior activity, too. Finishing a long day, I'm already tired, and Spot On seemed to pick me up from that rut, and didn't propel me farther than I need to go. Overall, your experience with Spot On is going to be experimental. Try two patches for a solid kick, and three for an added extra, but don't exceed four in 24 hours.

Taste: N/A
Kick: 7.5 - Using two patches, solid focus and alertness, but nothing too substantial
Overall: 7.5 - Good all-purpose pick-me-up

Reviewed by: Chan

Rockstar Recovery

Looks like Rockstar's branching out, trying something new, with a new energy drink all about hydration. Rockstar Recovery comes in a bold, simple, and eye-catching can. The almost fluorescent yellow stands out like a traffic cone and the completely black top seems to give it an edge. Reading the label, there's a lot of things that are unique about this as well. This is, of course, the first time I've seen "hydration" on a Rockstar can, and it's also very cool to see that there are only 20 calories in the entire can. From the name Recovery, I assume this drink is for either recovery from a bad hangover or for a little helpful boost plus hydration during sports or physical activity. So, what do I expect? First off, Recovery implies that it's going to be refreshing. Any normal energy drink to me, would most definitely not be refreshing, but I think Rockstar does some things that are very smart. Carbonation can get in the way of a thirst-quenching drink. This is why Rockstar chose to make Recovery non-carbonated, something I like very much. Another thing that can get in the way of a good, refreshing drink is loads of sugar. Recovery addresses this by reducing the sugar to a mere 1 gram and sweetening it mostly artificially. And of course, Recovery's got electrolytes. Three good things I've been able to find about the drink and I haven't even opened it! I guess it's time.

I crack open the top and Recovery doesn't fizz one bit. Me like. The smell reminds me of those artificially sweetened Tropicana light soft drinks; totally sharp lemon flavor with no sweetness. I delicately poured some into a cup and noticed it was clear with a cloudiness like they wanted to trick you into thinking it was real lemon juice. I actually tried looking for pulp, though there is none. My first sip is delicious, and definitely on the sour side. First, it's just kind of refreshing and neutral, but then, you get a little zing from the sourness of it, and the lemon taste lingers a while longer before the flavor disappears. Nothing about it says "energy drink" to me, which would surprise people trying it for the first time. It's pretty amazing to me how much this tastes like the same Tropicana drinks I mentioned earlier. The Recovery is a little better, considering it doesn't make my tongue feel so dry after I have a sip. So there's a plus. I don't really know why, but I hadn't expected this drink to be so sour. I had imagined more of a subtle lemon with little to no zing. This one isn't as bad as other drinks out there, but there's a little bit of gumminess backing up. However, on a scale of water to Sunny D, this one doesn't even make it past the halfway mark. I'll admit, the lemonade is tasty, but I find it to be a little too one-dimensional. I like it, but it hardly leaves me begging to take another sip. Still, this could be part of Rockstar's approach to a hydrating drink. One thing that I often complain about in low-carb/low-cal drinks is the artificial sweeteners, but Rockstar's done it right, with a combination of Sucralose and Ace-K. And of course that hint of Sucrose adds a little brightness and naturalness to the mix. Overall, I'm pleased, but not overjoyed. Rockstar concocted a solid drink with a good taste and nice sweetness, but it's not as flat-out addicting as I find Monsters to be. Now, I'll do my best to examine my hydration level. If that's possible.

Rockstar Recovery's ingredients list goes as follows: Purified Water, Lemon Juice, Sucrose, Taurine, Citric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Caffeine, Benzoic Acid, Sorbic Acid, Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose, Panax Ginseng Extract, N-Acetyl Cysteine, Prickly Pear Extract, Milk Thistle Extract, Niacinamide, Calcium Pantothenate, Magnesium Lactate, Gum Arabic, Calcium Lactate, Ester Gum, Monopotassium Phosphate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, and Cyanocobalamin. The difference I see from most energy drinks is purified water instead of carbonated water. It's also neat to see lemon juice in the ingredients list. Above the Supplement Facts, it states that the beverage is 3% lemon juice. High in the list is also Taurine. The Supplement Facts mention that there are 1000mg per serving, 2000mg per can. Early on, we never really understood what Taurine was good for, but now we know that Taurine helps absorb fat-soluble vitamins. Caffeine is also part of the energy ingredients, weighing in at 160mg total. Not quite a massive dose, but definitely a good jolt to get you going. Panax Ginseng is present at 100mg and N-Acetyl Cysteine, which sounds like an amino acid, is present at 50mg. There are 40mg total of Milk Thistle, an ingredient I've seen often in Rockstars. Finally, the last ingredient of Rockstar's energy blend, Prickly Pear Extract, exists at 50mg. I could not fathom why Rockstar would choose Prickly Pear Extract to put in here, but a quick search tells me it's helpful with hangovers. Ah, so there's my proof, Rockstar Recovery is a drink designed to bring you back to life after a night of drinking. Vitamin B, Caffeine, Prickly Pear, and electrolytes (the compounds near the bottom of the ingredients list), among other things work in conjunction to quell your headache, dehydration, and fatigue. Seems logical enough Rockstar would come out with this, since mixing alcohol with energy drinks is somewhat common. Now, how ironic would it be to use Recovery as a mixer?

Taste: 7.7 - Lemonade's one of my favorite flavors, but I think Rockstar did it a little blandly
Kick: 7.5 - A respectable jolt, though it doubles as a hangover cure and yields some nice focus
Overall: 7.6 - A good idea, though I don't see it being a go-to drink

Reviewed by: Jeff

Rockstar Energy Cola

For the past few years, I've been looking for the Rockstar Cola, although had trouble locating it due to the fact that they discontinued making them. I'll admit, I was disappointed until very recently Rockstar released a new and improved Rockstar Cola, as if the old formula was never released. Anyways, I'm totally stoked to review the new Cola drink. On the market, it's difficult to find many Cola energy drinks, thinking only of...Red Bull Simply Cola, and maybe the Monster Assault, if you'd consider that cola. Therefore, I'm definitely intrigued to find out how the Rockstar Cola compares to the said above. Its can design catches the eye, being mostly black, from the bottom rim, all the way to the tab. The gold writing shimmers in the light, contrasting nicely to the pitch-black background. In most soft drinks, cola is comprised of vanilla, mustard seed, lime, kola nut, cacao, licorice, cinnamon, ginger, coca leaf, orange, corn mint, pine, cardamom, mace clove, etc. If combined with original Rockstar flavor, I'd expect a blast of mixed flavors, hopefully delicious.

Okay, so popping the tab, I immediately sense natural licorice, and a hell of a lot of sweet, 'limey-ness'; very little actual cola. You'd know very much what I'm talking about if you've tried Airborne, a dissovable tablet that allegedly helps support your immune system. Its taste is dynamic in its own way. It reminded me a lot more of Pepsi, which in this review, I'll relate it most to rather than Coca-Cola, though some can't even taste the difference. Its similar characteristics: redundant lime/citrus-cola sweetness and a subtle hint of bright, pure vanilla. Its different characteristics: bitter, bitter aftertaste that's noticeable almost directly after taking a drink, and no dullness brought on by the high fructose corn syrup in Pepsi. I'm starting to think Rockstar has the edge on cola, here, definitely all around better tasting than the Monster Assault, and the Red Bull Cola. I noticed Rockstar didn't add any of their original formula to the Cola; apologies to let you down if that's what you were hoping for when buying the product. It's very lightly carbonated, and goes down well, being sweetened with sucrose and glucose, therefore avoiding potential gumminess some drinks may have. As mentioned above, I wasn't a fan of the aftertaste, but if it doesn't bug you, hey, Rockstar Cola may very well be flawless. To sum up the taste, Rockstar nailed cola on the hammer. It really doesn't get much better than a refreshing, true cola drink.

Topping off the can, I go in to check out the ingredients. Actually, I think Rockstar put on the same ingredients list from all their other drinks, although the defining factor-of-flavor is the "natural flavors" ingredient listed as the sixth on the list. This natural flavoring makes up the flavor of Rockstar you buy. If you grab a regular, it's raspberry/apple flavoring. How about guava? Same deal, though they add guava flavoring. You get the point. The only exception I believe is the coffee line of Rockstars, and their borderline unpopular energy shots. Knowing that, check out these ingredients: carbonated water, taurine, sucrose, glucose, caramel color, natural flavors, caffeine, phosphoric acid, citric acid, L-Carnitine, inositol, milk thistle extract, niacinamide, Calcium pantothenate, ginkgo biloba, gaurana, ginseng, riboflavin, pyridoxine, Kola Nut extract, and cyanocobalamin. You don't see Kola Nut in every energy drink. Since it's at the bottom of the list, Rockstar sneaked just a hint of the trademark flavoring ingredient. Thanks to Wikipedia, I get a bit of a background on Kola Nut: it's got a bitter flavor, is a source of caffeine, and is even used to treat whooping cough, and asthma. It's got a double job in the Rockstar because not only does it give it the cola flavor, but it enhances your physical energy, elevates mood, increases sensitivity and suppresses the appetite, and like stated above, is a good source of caffeine. Additionally, it's toxic in large quantities, and can cause fever. Per can, you get about 260 calories, 66 grams of sugar, and an energy blend (Taurine, ginkgo, caffeine, ginseng, etc.) of about 2.7 grams. This includes 2000mg of taurine, and 160mg of caffeine. The ginkgo in the drink is known to improve focus, as well. Overall, a vast, dynamic collection of energy ingredients, and a great cola drink. Before you get your usual Coca-Cola or Pepsi, give one of these a try; you'll like it.

Taste: 9 - Different, yet bright and delicious citrus-cola
Kick: 8 - Usual Rockstar buzz, slightly improved from the Kola Nut...not by much though
Overall: 8.5 - Fantastic, refreshing drink; let's see how Monster responds

Reviewed by: Chan