Review for Rockstar Xdurance

CAFFEINE CONTENT

240 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—2

I almost guarantee this is going to have to be updated in the future—I found mine in Utah, and as of yet I haven’t seen these anywhere here in Idaho.  But…as ubiquitous as Rockstar is, I guarantee that, wherever you are, you’ll be seeing Xdurance soon.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—10

I love everything about this can—I love the color scheme, I love the molecular outlines integrated into the background, I love the fact that it looks everything like the performance energy drink that it says it is.  I don’t even need to include a picture (even though I will); you would know what I was talking about once you saw it.

TASTE—7

The taste was…interesting.  Having tried it and reflected on it…I think I like it.  The “Blueberry-Pomegranate-Açai” taste reminds me to a degree of the hydration drinks I would drink when I was younger (old-school Gatorade), with a bit of a strange texture I’ll attribute to the amino acid chains it contains, and some bitterness in the aftertaste.  It's an unusual experience to be sure, and you’re just going to have to try it for yourself to understand.

KICK (INTENSITY) —10

Even for a Rockstar drink, this is pretty hardcore.  This stuff hits you like a hurricane of energy—sudden, unrelentingly intense, and so much freaking fun.  I won’t be any more descriptive than that; I don’t think I need to be.  Just try it.

KICK (DURATION) —10

Sure, it was intense, but what really stands out in my mind is the longevity—and that’s saying something.  I’ve had maybe one or two drinks that have lasted longer than this one—I’ll pin it on the energy blend, which has lots of interesting stuff like branched-chain amino acids, polyphenols, etc.  I got about 6½ hours of energy out of the can—long freaking time for an energy drink.

THE DRINK OVERALL—9

I loved Rockstar Xdurance.  As bizarre as the taste was, it’s easy to overlook in light of the superb kick it delivers.  Pick up a can as soon as it becomes available near you, and remember you saw it first reviewed here at The Energy Blog!

WEBSITE: rockstar69.com

KEYWORDS: Rockstar Xdurance energy drink review, Rockstar Xdurance review, polyphenols, branched-chain amino acids, 10 calories per serving, 20 calories per can

Review for Shark

CAFFEINE CONTENT

80 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

I found this at a grocery outlet store in Twin Falls for $.50.  I had never seen or heard of it before, and haven’t seen it since.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—…

You know what?  I’m just going to refrain from commenting on Shark here.  Why?  Well, here’s the reason—I have a two-year-old son.  He occasionally watches a PBS kid’s show while I’m studying or cleaning up around the house, and one of those is Word World, in which the form virtually every plant, animal, or inanimate object is comprised of the letters that spell out the name of that plant/animal/inanimate object.  For example—the leafy green part of a tree is composed of large green letters that spell “T-R-E-E,” the body of a duck is composed of the letters “D-U-C-K,” etc.  Well, there’s a character in the show named “Shark.”  And guess what?  His body is made of the letters “S-H-A-R-K”—uncannily like the logo of Shark energy drink.  So look at the picture I’ve posted of Shark energy drink, then look at the picture of the Word World DVD cover I’ve posted below—am I supposed to evaluate it independent of the fact that I can’t for the life of me take it seriously or no?

TASTE—6

Opening the can, Shark smelled like a Red Bull clone.  Then I tasted it, and it was a Red Bull clone, which I could have been fine with were it not for the addition of some lackluster strawberry syrup-tasting flavoring.  I’m all for different takes on the Red Bull clone phenomenon, but I’m afraid that this is one that just doesn’t work.

KICK (INTENSITY) —6

The kick was predictable for 80 mg of caffeine—moderately peppy, but not enough to make one feel hyped up to any extent.

KICK (DURATION) —6

Shark’s effects lasted about 2 hours before they wore off without a crash.  Decide for yourself if that’s something you’d go for.

THE DRINK OVERALL—6

Shark will most likely appeal to people who: 1) like the Red Bull flavor, 2) like really syrupy strawberry flavors, and 3) don’t mind drinking multiple cans to get energized.  I only meet one of those criteria (the first), so it’s only natural that it was not something I was wild about.  But if you meet all three…well, get onto the website and buy a case or two.

WEBSITE: sharkenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Shark energy drink review, traditional energy drink flavor, Red Bull clone, strawberry flavor

Review for Amp Energy--Lightning Sugar Free

CAFFEINE CONTENT

160 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—4

The popularity of this drink appears to be waning quite rapidly—over the last few months, it has all but disappeared from stores, at least around here.  It would not surprise me if Amp were to discontinue the beverage in the near future, but for now, it can still be found if you look hard enough.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—6

The packaging on Amp Energy—Lightning Sugar Free is just bland—there’s really no better word for it.  Just bare aluminum with the Amp logo and a black/yellow flame.  If I weren’t a reviewer and didn’t feel the need to drink it, I’d have just passed it over.

TASTE—6

In this drink, I could actually taste the lemonade, which is an improvement over the sugared version.  It still tastes like your run-of-the-mill low cal lemonade, and is about as unremarkable as you can get.

KICK (INTENSITY) —6

The kick was very lackluster—I was awake for the drive home from Twin Falls, but lots of drinks can do that and more, and they taste better.

KICK (DURATION) —7

Duration of kick was average.  Drink this and you’ll be in your unremarkable state of awakedness for about 3 hours.

THE DRINK OVERALL—6.33

Well, I for one am exceptionally unimpressed with this drink.  It brings nothing new or remarkable to the table at all.  If Amp were to discontinue it, I don’t think anyone would notice.

WEBSITE: ampenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Amp Lightning Sugar Free energy drink review, lemonade, sugar free, low calorie

Review for Xenergy Xtreme Fruit Punch

CAFFEINE CONTENT

200 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—1

Drinks in the Xenergy Xtreme line are fairly hard to come by, this one being no exception—I actually had to have a friend of mine bring this can from out of state, if that tells you anything about its availability.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—7

The packaging for this particular Xenergy drink is the same as ‘em all, with the exception of the large graphic of UFC fighter Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy with his fist in a punching gesture.  This will probably do more for UFC fans than it did me—I don’t think it really added anything by being there.

TASTE—7

One thing that’s always impressed me about Xenergy products is their tendency to taste almost exactly like the real thing—Xenergy Cran Razz Premium tasted like cranberries and raspberries, Xenergy Xtreme Cherry Rush tasted like cherries…you get the idea.  Well, with Xenergy Xtreme Fruit Punch, it tastes like your run-of-the-mill fruit punch drink—which tastes fake.  I mean, there is obviously some blend of fruits that is used to make it, but this particular drink tastes as vague and homogenized as any of ‘em.  Not a bad drink per se, but Xyience is capable of so much more than this.

KICK (INTENSITY) —8

Xenergy Xtreme Fruit Punch isn’t as powerful as most, but it is still quite effective, enough to deliver some moderate jitters and significant alertness.

KICK (DURATION) —8

While I found that the high point of alertness didn’t last as long with Xenergy Xtreme Fruit punch as it did some others, a reasonable degree of efficacy remained that lasted a decent while.  I got about 3½ hours of passable energy out of it before I crashed and took a nap.

THE DRINK OVERALL—7.67

Overall, Xenergy Xtreme Fruit Punch wasn’t a negative experience, but it was still pretty dang ordinary, and I’m not used to ordinary when it comes to Xyience’s products.  If you’d like to give it a shot, you’ve really got nothing to lose in trying it—but then again, you won’t really gain much out of it, either.

WEBSITE: www.xyience.com/index.cfm?fa=shop.beverages 

KEYWORDS: Xenergy Xtreme Fruit Punch energy drink review, official UFC energy drink, low carb, zero calories, sugar free, Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy

Review for Knockout Energy Low-Carb

CAFFEINE CONTENT

160 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—4

Knockout products are getting easier to find, though more often than not you still find them when you find yourself at a gas station in the middle of nowhere.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—7

Knockout Energy has improved their appearance since I last reviewed one of their drinks—the illustrated fist with brass knuckles has received an upgrade, and rather than the flat black background, we get the black background with a multitude of evenly dispersed micro-fists.  So only a few things have been changed, but they are enough to represent a significant improvement in my book.

TASTE—6.5

Think of the taste as sort of a Monster Energy Lo-Carb knockoff, except with less of a sucralose taste and more of a…host of other artificial sweeteners taste.  This isn’t the worst low carb drink I’ve ever had, but the next time Knockout decides to revamp their products as they did with the packaging, I’d suggest working on the sweetening blend here.

KICK (INTENSITY) —6

I’ve had plenty of drinks that kicked harder than Knockout Energy Low-Carb did, but to be perfectly fair, it was a step above the others of the line in terms of intensity.  Rather than being at the point where I could avoid falling asleep (as with the others), I actually felt reasonably alert at points. 

KICK (DURATION) —6

I can’t say that Knockout Energy Low-Carb lasted as long as the other Knockout beverages, but…I can’t say that it didn’t last as long, either.  See, the other two were so weak in terms of intensity that I actually found it hard to gauge how long they lasted, and consequently gave them the benefit of the doubt, as I was able to avoid falling asleep for a time.  So in evaluating Knockout Energy Low-Carb, I’ll just say that you should plan on having about 2½ hours of efficacy before the effects wear off, and leave it at that.

THE DRINK OVERALL—6.17

Really, Knockout Energy Low-Carb isn’t terrible, but it isn't anything remarkable, or even noteworthy, either—in just about every area where it counts (except perhaps for price), just about all other comparable drinks (Monster Energy Low-Carb and Absolutely Zero, etc.) outperform it.  More than anything else, it’s just another drink to take up shelf space.  Unless you really have to try it, just bypass it.

WEBSITE: knockoutenergy.com

KEYWORDS: Knockout Energy Low-Carb energy drink review, bargain energy drink, Red Bull clone, traditional energy drink flavor

Review for Vegas Fuel Sugar Free

CAFFEINE CONTENT

130 mg

EASE IN ACQUISITION—2

In my experience, any Vegas Fuel product is fairly scarce.  Anybody looking from place to place probably won’t have much luck, but hey—for those kinds of situations, there’s always the Internet.

APPEARANCE/PRESENTATION—7

Vegas Fuel Sugar Free possesses passable presentation—white background with the same logo and the same blood-red sun/moon as the original—but doesn’t seem to…make as much sense as the original.  See, when I think “Vegas Fuel energy drink,” I think of a drink that an individual can take down and be fueled as they take in the Vegas nightlife—

hence, the black of the original seemed appropriate to me.  The dark red sphere could have been either a setting sun or a rising moon, but either way, with the black background, it’s a night-themed drink.  With Vegas Fuel Sugar Free…the red sphere looks mostly like a rising sun, so it seems to be more of the drink for the morning after the night you drank the Vegas Fuel for, which to me just doesn’t seem as exciting.

TASTE—7

As I discussed in my review of No Fear Sugar Free, some flavors just lend themselves to a sugar-free drink—in a sugared beverage, they just come across as way too sweet.  The flavor of Vegas Fuel Sugar Free is one of those—the Hawaiian Punch-themed flavor is just too much for my palate when loaded with sugar, but in the sugar free version, said flavor is much more tolerable, and even borders on agreeable.

KICK (INTENSITY) —7

For the most part, I’ve found that sugar free/low carb energy drinks tend to do more for me than their sugared counterparts in terms of kick.  With Vegas Fuel Sugar Free, I found the opposite to be the case—I didn’t feel the effects quite as strongly.  Sure, there was a kick, sure, it kept me awake for a time, but it didn’t do as much for me as did the sugared version.

KICK (DURATION) —7

Again, a little lackluster compared to the sugared version.  As the effects wore off, I started to feel that the whole energy experience reflected perfectly in my interpretation of the packaging—Vegas Fuel keeps you awake and going for the night, whereas Vegas Fuel Sugar Free is the drink you take down to keep you awake long enough to drive home and crawl into bed.

THE DRINK OVERALL—7

I’m kind of surprised to find myself saying this, but…if I were to have to choose between Vegas Fuel and Vegas Fuel Sugar Free, I’d probably go with the original—not withstanding my dislike for the taste.  The kick Vegas Fuel toted was enough that I could probably down the can so as to get the effects and not regret it. Vegas Fuel Sugar Free, on the other hand, delivered a very standard kick—and sometimes, standard just doesn’t quite cut it.  If it does in your situation, fine.  If not…get the original.

WEBSITE: vegasfuel.com

KEYWORDS: Vegas Fuel Sugar Free energy drink review, low calorie, zero calorie, low carb