Review for NOS Active--Raspberry Lemonade

This is the last photo I’ll be using from Caffeine King’s blog, so thanks credit out to him for that—but don’t get comfortable; the drink I’ve selected for review #400 came to my hands through a trade with him, so there will be mention of him one last time before the week’s out.

CAFFEINE CONTENT

224 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—7

(Shrugs) Not hard to find per se, but still a lot less available than beverages like Monster, Red Bull, etc.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—8

No need to go through this again, but in just in case you haven’t read either of the other two reviews, it works and looks exactly like a hydration beverage should.  Can’t think of anything else to say besides that.

TASTE—8

It’s a pity that NOS made their Active line taste so dang watered down; if it weren’t for the fact this could turn out to be a serious contender as one of my all-time favorite energy drinks.  The best thing about it is the raspberry flavor—I don’ think I’ve ever had an energy drink that nails raspberry quite so well.  The lemon highlights it well but could do a better job; in my book it’s a little bit weak to realize its full potential.  Then there’s the fact that the flavor is so weak and dilute—for which there’s really no excuse, there are plenty of low calorie beverages out there that excel in the flavor department; heck, there are low-carb beverages out there that taste even better than their sugared counterparts.  If NOS could take this back to the drawing board, leave the raspberry flavor intact, and fix the rest of it, I would be going back to it for a lot more than just as a pre-workout energy boost.

KICK (INTENSITY)—9

As is, NOS Active—Raspberry Lemonade still makes for an exceptional energy boost for the gym—in fact, one better doesn’t come to mind.  This is the sort of drink that fills you with non-jittery energy enough to sustain you through cardio, weight lifting, and just about whatever the heck else you could do by way of physical activity—and then some.  To top it off, this is the first time I have reason to think that a beverage containing caffeine could work as a hydration beverage—forgot to load up on water on top of this before the fact, but once I was done with my half hour on Jacob’s Ladder, I was showing none of the symptoms of dehydration that usually occur when I’m dumb like that.  I still advise lots of water beforehand, but for energy and hydration, you can’t do better than NOS Active.

KICK (DURATION)—9

This worked for the half hour before the gym, the hour during, and two and a half hours after the fact before I could feel the effects wear off—culminating without a crash.

THE DRINK OVERALL—8.67

Functionally all the NOS Active beverages are superb energy/hydration drinks for the gym; as far as flavor is concerned this tops the others, no contest.  Pick one up before the your own workout, and leave your thoughts in the comment area below.

WEBSITE: drinknos.com

KEYWORDS: NOS Active Raspberry Lemonade energy drink review, low calorie, hydration beverage