Review for 5 Hour Energy Extra Strength--Berry

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Recently, I began reviewing energy shots.  My first shot experience (Monster Hitman) left me feeling singularly underwhelmed, but it instilled within me a resolve to find a truly great energy shot—one that would confirm to me that my decision to review shots would be worth it.  Seeing as 5 Hour Energy is considered the “original,” I figured it would be a good next stop in my search.

CAFFEINE CONTENT

207 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—10

You can get this and most other 5 Hour Energy shots most anywhere you look.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—7

The look of the shot itself is intriguing—I’m a runner, and I quite like the idea of an energy product that will help me bound over mountains during sunset.  That aside, I also hate shrink wrap—so I have a love-hate kind of thing going on with this bottle.

TASTE—.5

I’ve been told that the original (i.e. berry) 5 Hour Energy is kind of the Red Bull of shots—it’s the one that everyone copies so as to get a piece of 5 Hour Energy’s demographic.  This is something I have a hard time believing, as I can’t for the life of me fathom why anyone would want to regularly drink this swill.

I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had something so badly executed.  There is absolutely nothing about this shot that actually works.  Let’s go over it bit-by-bit, so you get the idea.  First is the flavor itself—you can’t actually taste the alleged berry flavor.  There is a sickening sourness that that dominates from the start, and overwhelms any nuance of berry that might be in there.  Second is the aftertaste—it is really horrifically bitter.  I understand that it’s probably harder to mask the taste of the energy components in something this small, but if Monster can do it, so can 5 Hour Energy.  Lastly is the sweetener blend—it’s really bad.  It’s not even a good kind of sweet that would provide some respite from the rest of the experience; it just adds its own brand of terrible to the mix.

I reviewed 250+ energy drinks before adding shots to the repertoire, and let me tell you—I’ve had bad 16 oz. energy drinks that were easier to get down than 2 ounces of this stuff.  I kept taking small swigs, then holding it in there, because I couldn’t decide what was worse—swallowing it and thus putting it into my body, or perpetually tasting it.  As though all that wasn’t enough, once I finally decided to do the former, the stuff hit my stomach like a sledgehammer—two hours later and still in the throes of the shot's effects (see the next two sections), and I still have indigestion.

The only thing good I can say about the flavor is that it does not sink to the fiendish depths of the 12 oz. Rockstar 2X.  But when that’s all that can be said in favor of your shot, you really need to rethink what you’re doing with your life.

KICK (INTENSITY)—9

You want energy?  This will at least give you energy—assuming you can manage to choke it down.  I’d call the boost substantial, though jitter-free.

KICK (DURATION)—10

Lives up to its name—five hours with a light to moderate crash.

THE SHOT OVERALL—6.5

Does it work?  Yes.  Is if worth it?  Not by a long shot (rimshot).  5 Hour Energy Extra Strength—Berry is some seriously nasty stuff.  Spare yourself—get your energy through something drinkable.

WEBSITE: 5hourenergy.com

KEYWORDS: 5 Hour Energy Extra Strength Berry review, 5 Hour Energy shot review, zero calorie, zero carb