Welch's Sparkling Fruit Punch + Energy Drink Review

Juice giant Welch's enters the energy drink market with surprising class, at least as far as the can is concerned. The black to red gradient is a nice touch, and despite all the text, it gets its point across- this is a popular nectar company with caffeine. Unfortunately, the brand recognition is misplaced- I have never been making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and said "you know, I wish they turned this grape preserves into an energy drink."

We have a solid twenty five percent juice here, but gosh, why do we need sixty one grams of sugar?! High fructose corn syrup is the second ingredient, coming before even the nectar, which is a disappointing blend of apple, grape and cherry. The actual flavor does benefit from aforesaid blend of liquid squeezed from the fruits, but it is missing a strong acidity to cut through the sugariness. Oh sure, I see "citric acid" on the back of the can, described as "for tartness," but we need something more zealous here, because to be honest, things do not taste much like a juice cocktail. Things are aggressively saccharine, coating your palate with the slippery sweetness that destroys any potential naturalness- this is Welch's attempt at a commercial kid's soda, only with caffeine.

Well not too much caffeine- we have just eight milligrams of the lovely stimulant! Why so little!? There is so much sugar, so many calories (260), how come we settled for so little caffeine? The buzz is about what you would expect, lasting an hour, perhaps a touch longer. Overall, Welch's Fruit Punch + Energy has the looks, but that is about it. It is a shame really

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