Monday, November 4, 2013

Review for Xtreme Shock--Fruit Punch


CAFFEINE CONTENT

200 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—4

Best bet is to buy this online or check out your local nutrition centers (the GNC kind, not the natural/whole foods kind).  The supply is otherwise spread pretty thin.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—6

I don’t feel the need to go over this four more times with the other flavors, so I’m just going to copy and paste my evaluation (with a few edits) from the first review below.  If you’ve read that already, just move on to the flavor evaulation.

I’m not really sure what to make of this one.  First off, the label is energy drink to the core—bold font and colors, lots of lightning, etc.  But the label really isn’t the first thing that catches your attention—it’s more the fact that there’s a bottle sitting on the shelf which looks uncannily like the one my favorite teriyaki sauce comes in, only filled with a liquid that looks like a translucent version of that dreadful Hog Wash garbage my son likes from time to time (I usually get him the sugar free stuff).  The result is a generally befuddled look that grabs your attention quicker than any aesthetic appeal it might have, and I’m not sure that inducing perplexity in consumers is really the way to go when selling your product.

TASTE—8

I’m not sure what it is—I’ve hated the fruit punch flavor for years, but in the last couple of months, I’ve found not one but three that were done in such a way that I quite enjoyed them (I’m behind on my reviews…hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on those soon, but don’t count on it too much).  In the case of this drink here, you get a triple threat to trump all other crap fruit punch drinks—1) it’s not sickeningly sweet, owing to the sparing use of artificial sweeteners, 2) it’s plenty sour, balancing the sweetness nicely, and 3) the flavors are actually distinct—cherry, mango, etc.—rather than the indistinct homogeny of fruity flavors that most fruit punch beverages settle for.  Still might not drink it for the flavor alone, but if you’re into energy/beta alanine supplements and like a good fruit punch, this might very well be a drink for you.

KICK (INTENSITY)—8

As far as a pre-workout boost, this drink is excellent—the initial energy jolt is impressive, and I did notice that my fatigue levels were considerably lower over the course of my workout.  Still, my favorite use of this energy drink is as a workout recovery beverage—courtesy of the beta alanine (if the article I read is not mistaken), which has been shown in clinical trials to decrease fatigue in athletes (I’m paraphrasing here).  Unfortunately, it’s also the reason I don’t think I’ll ever go back to these beverages now that I’ve tried out all the flavors—the beta alanine makes me really freaking itchy.  Sometimes it’s just the hands and forearms, but gets extremely noxious extremely quick once it spreads to my trunk and scalp (the last of which is particularly maddening).  So if you need a boost and have had beta alanine supplements before and don’t mind the high price, this might be the way to go.  Otherwise, I’d shy away.  It’s just not worth the itch, especially when I’m already satisfied with my current pre-workout supplement (Cellucor C4—review coming soon, I hope).

KICK (DURATION)—8.5

Just shy of four hours, no crash.

THE DRINK OVERALL—8.17

I like this drink—don’t get me wrong—but like I said, it’s not something I’ll be revisiting.  If you’re the sort that’s been longing for a caffeine and beta alanine-loaded fruit punch for your workout, then congratulations—this is absolutely your beverage.  I’ll be sticking with my C4, though.


KEYWORDS: Xtreme Shock Fruit Punch energy drink review, beta alanine supplement, zero carbs, zero sugar, zero calories

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