Engage Original

When I reviewed Engage Blue Raspberry, I walked away impressed. While I noticed several cracks in the overall product, it was still a good introduction for me to get to know the line. Engage Original is what I believe to be the first in the line. I'm generally hasty about drinks labeled "original" because there's a chance the company means the flavours the typical Red Bull clone. Hopefully, Engage Original's flavour will turn out to be truly original, and not typical.

FIRST IMPRESSION: Like Blue Rasp before it, Engage Original has a really impressive bottle design. It's clean, intimidating, and attractive all at the same time. More companies should follow the rule "less is more," because when done right, the outcome is a success. I really liked Blue Raspberry's bottle, and Original's is just as good. The crimson really works well with the claw pattern and the logo. All in all, a flawless bottle that really gets your adrenaline pumping.

TASTE: I unscrewed the top and took a sip. Once the liquid hits your mouth, an overwhelming sensation builds, but thankfully it lasts only milliseconds. The flavour begins with a crisp and sweet zing that is proceeded by a faint blend of lemon, apple, and goji berry. The lemon is the dominate fruit, only letting the apple sneak a few notes out, and allowing the goji to finish the experience. There's a jump of artificial sweetener once the goji adds its two cents, but it's short lived. Overall, Engage Original's flavour is significantly better than Blue Raspberry, but it's not perfect and not something I'd drink on a day-to-day basis.

KICK: Each bottle contains: 300mg of caffeine anhydrous, 1000mcg of Vit. B12, geranium extract, 5-hydroxytryptophan, and dimethylaminoethanol. This overall blend gave me a super strong kick. For around five to six hours I felt wide awake, and had no jotters. Once the five or so hours ended, I sadly got hit with a crash. It wasn't as hard as in Blue Raspberry, but still enough to put a damper on any extreme sport lovers day.

FINAL WORD: Extreme energy drinks don't have a real big and lasting interest from me. While I sure love being wowed by a great kick, my home is with the standard energy drink. Not something to be used for some strenuous action like ice climbing, but instead something to help you through your day. In all honesty, I doubt Engage is intended for daily consumption, and since that's one of the things I look for in a drink, Engage is not for me. Don't get me wrong, if I was ever going wakeboarding, Engage would easily be my drink of choice, but since I'm not known for my obsession with extreme activities, it's not. My rating for Engage Original may seem high, but I'm grading it for the market it attracts, and not for the regular energy drinker...3.9/5

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