Showing posts with label Cott. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cott. Show all posts

Thursday, April 8, 2021

red rain Zero Sugar Energy Drink Review

red rain Zero Sugar is an appalling revision of an honestly decent looking drink, swapping the black sleekness for white bleakness. The red does bounce attractively off of the bare aluminum, but it is too a point of excess here, and the embarrassing quantity of text really fail any chances of the can passing. Twice mentioned is the inclusion of B vitamins, and there is no reason to say "zero sugar," and "low calorie" in sequence, and later be followed by "diet."

Manufacturer Cott calls this citrus, which is as big a lie as me telling you I do not overwrite. It is an entirely chemical experience, truly not tasting much like anything, and really resembling Red Bull in theory more so than through execution, an expected succumbing to the dark side of energy drinks. Its viscosity is gummy without having much flavor to affect, with only a slight vanillin taste, thoroughly medicinal and empty on the tongue. Young kids who love those puckering candies would probably imbibe this stuff like crazy, as everything is forcefully sour and to the point where it just does not enhance the experience, as if sourness is the way to make a good potable. The saccharinity is decent, however, easily the highlight of each sip, though it feels pointless within the overall bland unnaturalness, where it is presented with the impossible task of sweetening and making any of the many inorganically inept sips the least bit enjoyable.

There is no reward for suffering through the entire can, with only 142 milligrams of caffeine present. There is also some B vitamins, taurine, and inositol, but nothing but the popular stimulant could have brought the two hour buzz up to something longer lasting. In the end, red rain Zero Sugar is a lazy excuse for not only an energy drink, but for bubbly drinks in general.

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Quick Strike Energy Drink Review

Multiple entries behind, Quick Strike advertises the "Fast & Furious" film in the franchise, so we know this drink has been rotting on shelves for years. Its can is a mess, various fonts fly in all different directions with no rhyme or reason, with an awkwardly illustrated car and explosion. This is no doubt one of the worst looking drinks I have ever seen.

We have unsurprisingly a Red Bull clone, a yucky and syrupy disaster that sips like pure corn syrup, with perhaps even less flavor. Vanilla, cotton candy and apple all do their worst, they are without balance or rhythm and just sit on your palate, burning your taste buds all for the low, low price of fifty cents at Big Lots. Sixty three grams of high fructose corn syrup, as well as sucralose, do a terrible job of sweetening, a sloppy sugaring that is ungodly overwhelming- this is the definition of crap energy drinks.

Each can contains: B vitamins, taurine, ginseng, inositol, guarana, and 160 milligrams of caffeine. The buzz itself is mediocre, but there is a rocking sugar rush, ending with a crash, but is a fairly fun trip until then. On the whole, Quick Strike Energy Drink gives bad energy drinks an even worse name.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

red rain Redeem Energy & Hydration Drink Review

Because you could not redeem any other red rain Energy Drink, the five cents back to the customer was just such a great bargain for customers that the drink itself is named after it... In all honesty, I really have no idea why Redeem is named "Redeem,"  but you do not have to look hard to discover the company's inspiration. The can is shockingly good, sexy black with ample yet sharp strokes of yellow, and white pin stripes that add more than they probably should. There is far too much text just below the flavor however.

An uninteresting ripoff of Monster Rehab, at least at first glance; Redeem's lemonade is far more sour than the competition. It tastes like the summer refreshment should, followed with a slight earthy bite with bitter highlights thanks to the tea. Sweetness is artificial but unassumingly so, brightening the citrus with a verve and passion that would make both the aforementioned and Rockstar's attempts jealous. The mouthfeel is somewhat airy with perhaps some pulp, and without carbonation each sip is smooth, and the near fifteen ounce can is exhausted expeditiously. Unoriginal to be sure, but this red rain does have some redeeming qualities.

There is a decent little kick here, just under four hours long with jitters. Each can contains: caffeine (190 milligrams), b vitamins, taurine, ginseng, and guarana. To end, red rain Redeem is a timeworn experience that surprisingly surpassing its inspirations.

official site

Sunday, September 23, 2012

red rain Storm Surge Energy Drink Review

This uninteresting can sits on Dollar Tree shelves across the states, hammering cliche text at the eyes with no textural detail. The orange is bright and pure however, but the "Storm Surge" name struggles considering its nearly identical color.

Your initial sip does not disclose the involved flavors, a ghostly familiar blend that you cannot place your finger on. It takes several large sips before the passion fruit is revealed, but the experience is equal parts orange and mango too. All three disregard their inspiration's fine distinctions, favoring the cheap method of dumbing down depth with syrupy sweetness and inconsistent sourness. The beverage's final few sips unsheathe some pineapple and lime suspicions and powdery tartness, great complexities no matter how minor or late they are. You finish the pint fast, never sure what the 240 calories reminds you of, but what ever it was, it probably was not very good itself.

I had energy for two plus hours, a jitterless period unadvanced by a crash. Each can contains: taurine, B vitamins, inositol, and 142 milligrams of caffeine. On the whole, red rain Storm Surge is a brainless beverage that deserves as much attention as what went into it.

official site

Monday, January 23, 2012

Red Rain Berry Energy Shot Review

Red Rain Berry Energy Shot looks as good as possible being found in a Wal Mart clearance. Sure it is a bit crowded, and absolutely the text is much too ample, but the squiggly line insignia of the brand is sorta cool looking, and the faded red encased in black is probably the best scheme of colours they could have utilized.

The seal is not broken or missing, so it must be safe to consume, with my finger nail running through the thin plastic surprisingly and unusually well. The flavour is not much to bark at, with all the wateriness of any shot, though here, ice cold at least, there is not much of any bitterness. It is not medicinally sharp to the tongue, but there is not much of an actual taste, however, nothing resembling berry that is. The experience is an insipid shell, the fruit's skin if you will, without any of the juicy flesh to savour. Things are at least halfway tart, doing the shot more good than it probably should, and the only satisfaction that comes with the final sip is that that ends the consumer's misery of blandness.

Taurine, caffeine, B vitamins, N-acetyl, and L-tyosine make up the supplement's cocktail, an unfortunate one that does not disclaim any exact amounts. The kick lasted something over two hours, under three, and there was nothing of a crash afterward. Overall, Red Rain Berry Energy Shot rightfully belongs in discount, but not necessarily in the trash.

Friday, September 23, 2011

red rain Downpour Energy Drink Review

Downpour comes in a green can, which isn't what's suggested by its name red rain, which is exactly why you shouldn't brand anything after a colour. Sure, it made sense to years ago when Red Bull was the definitive energy drink, but when you want to expand your product offerings, you're limited to just using the same colour or you risk looking stupid, which is what we have here. It doesn't help that the can itself isn't attractive, with far too much text choking the lower half, and as with the previous varieties, there doesn't seem to be any purpose in using the word "rain." Descending water droplets typically makes one lethargic and drained of energy, which is exactly what these drinks are supposed to prevent.

red rain Downpour has a rather subdued flavour that doesn't assault your palate, but opts to instead mildly pass it by without much interaction. There is surely lime and cherry to taste, but their decrepitude prevents them from tasting ripe, or from ever evolving into a state of the such. There is only the slightest susurration of sourness, which creates an incurable falseness to the fruits, both of whom crave generous helpings of the embellishment. There's an effervescence that's certainly fizzy to the ear, but not exactly bubbly to the tongue, which gives the experience a melancholy flatness. If there was something to praise, it's most definitely the saccharinity, one that gives HFCS a good name by never being syrupy, cloying, and by being conceivably the most creditable characteristic.

Ingredients include: caffeine(142mg), taurine, inositol, and an assortment of B vitamins. The cocktail didn't stir up anything special, with the kick lasting only about two and a half hours, and the sixty grams of sugar likely had something to do with the mild jitters. What it all comes down to is that red rain Downpour doesn't receive praise because it doesn't demand it of itself. It unwisely accepts its mediocrity and disseminates the feeling that it just doesn't care.

official site

Sunday, March 27, 2011

red rain Hydroplane Energy Drink Review

red rain Hydroplane's can is purple, which I find humorous given the name clearly contains a different colour. But I can partially forgive such silliness, as the purple works well with the minimal design and the modest sprinkling of blue and white. I also sort of guiltily enjoy that the name rhymes, though I do not really like either of the two parts. "Red Rain" still sounds cliche and really looks stupid without a red can, and the presence of the sub name, "Hydroplane," isn't explain nor does it even match the suggested flavour.

red rain Hydroplane's carbonation is a bit more subdued than some similar tasting products, which is respected and begins the flavour on the right note. The taste starts with a pleasant pomegranate that's enough sour and robust to be considered realistic. The fruit is decisively influenced by red grape, which too resembles its nature bound inspiration quite well. The grape is mildly sour and deeply voluptuous, and it wholly complements the pomegranate and creates an overall statuesque experience. The sweetness is plenitudinous but restrains from becoming cloying, and each of the two prior fruits pleasure from the well behaved saccharinity. There are subjacent depictions of both black and raspberry, both of which are tasted simultaneously. They're detected during the sourness of the grape, although the two are awkwardly simple and neither display the same level of genuineness as the initial two. Each sip is crisp and leaves behind little on the palate once the last of them is taken. Overall, the flavour is generally uncompleted with little actual intricacy, however it evinces a strong degree of authenticity that's worth a fair amount of lauding.

I had just under three hours of decent energy, with mild jitters, and there wasn't a following crash. Each can contains: various B vitamins, taurine, inositol, and caffeine(142mg). All in all, though Hydroplane is an overall improvement over the original red rain, it still requires a myriad of little tweaks before it could be considered good.

official site

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Red Strike Energy Drink Review

I was surprised to find a stocked shelf at Wal Mart of Red Strike, but I was even more surprised when I saw that they retailed for only forty eight cents, which is probably the cheapest price I've ever seen a single sixteen oz. energy drink sell for. Like with a few previous drinks, the name sports the word "Red" in a vain attempt to leach off of Red Bull's success, and while it's an overused cliche, the can it appears on doesn't look too bad. It's clean and the colours of the colour scheme all blend well with one another. It's simple, and while it does borderline boring, it's an improvement over the last Cott drink I had, Red Rain.

Red Strike begins with a premature climax of syrupy sweetness that immediately leads to a pronounced pineapple that disregards any level of naturalism in favour of a chemical-like body. A sugarless syrupiness suddenly capstones below the pineapple and emits a strong gumminess that negatively influences much of the experience. Notes of sour apple soon follow, and its sourness rapidly grows and quickly abandons it and instead rises up and garnishes the initial pineapple. Bedrock to the prior fruit is a layer of sweetness, vanilla and then bubble gum. The latter two act as notes and the above sweetness trickles down slowly. There's now a declining progression to the flavour, in which all the aforementioned shaves away, leaving only a faint core of tartness and an abridged aftertaste of what has past. Overall, Red Strike's flavour was much like any cheap Red Bull clone; uninspired.

Red Strike's ingredient cocktail contains your typical: caffeine, taurine, inositol, and several B vitamins. I had a decent rush that lasted around three hours, which is when I crashed fairly hard. In the end, while Red Strike is nothing but more familiar nonsense in the energy drink market, I do at least feel that my forty eight cents went as far as it could.

official site

Monday, May 31, 2010

red rain Energy Drink Review

It's quite obvious that red rain's name contains the word "red" because of Red Bull, which, like Pit Bull, may of been acceptable early after Red Bulls success, but in 2010, it's cliche and lazy. The can is a failed attempt at simplicity and sophistication. Though I would rather have a clean though boring can over an overly busy one, with a name like "red rain," it makes you wonder why there isn't a red rain storm or something as the design. If done correctly, the can could have been hard core and cool looking, and not uninteresting and unexciting.

A strong chemical taste with a light sour sting begins red rain's flavour. There's an underneath layer of a highly gummy bubble gum and light notes of a smooth, if not boring fake vanilla taste. The gumminess doesn't remain exclusive to the bubble gum, as it soon overtakes the vanillin, and eventually it "enhances" the chemical taste. There are roaming, subtle hints of a pineapple and a fairly realistic apple. The apple taste quickly overlaps the pineapple once it sharply emerges. The chemical taste lasts through out the experience, but it doesn't change in tone or strength during the entire duration of the flavour; not even for the finish. Its overall carbonation is light and unobtrusive, and there's a semi-sickly sweet glaze left behind once you take your final sip. Ultimately, red rain shouldn't be described as the poor mans Red Bull, as even the poor have taste buds.

A sixteen oz. can of red rain contains: a variety of B vitamins, taurine, caffeine(160mg), and inositol. This fairly run of the mill ingredient cocktail gave me a fairly run of the mill kick. I had mild jitters during the provided three hour buzz, and the best part was the lack of a crash. Overall, red rain may of been viewed as average or mediocre at the time of its original release, but it hasn't aged well.

official site

Monday, January 5, 2009

Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drink

If your a regular reader of my web log, I want you to just take a guess where I got Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drink. And if your just reading my web log for the first time, just wait, the answer should appear any time now. And for all your regulars out there that are still guessing, your an idiot. Its so blatantly obvious that its Wal*Mart... No I'm kidding, it's Big Lots. My most recent voyage to Big Lots was rather disappointing though. The only new energy drink was Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drink, but I also got a four(4) pack of Who's Your Daddy Green Tea Citrus and Stacker 2 Cronic Cola(for nostalgia value). I only bought two(2) Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drinks, but should of I bought more, or was it a waste of my Moon fund...

FIRST IMPRESSION: If there's one thing that Throwdown has... down, with their can, is the bad ass appeal. It just comes out like "I'm Gonna Fuck You Up, Bitch". It's been a while since a great can has come along(I think the last bad ass can was back in August with Black Mamba Venom Energy). I've gotta say that I'm rather excited for Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drink. My first impression was that it was gonna be a FreeFall clone, but I noticed that its "Rampage" flavour, and not classic flavour. This gets me wondering, what will it taste like? Lets find out...4.6/5

TASTE: I oped up the can and cautiously took a sip. I was rather frightened because its' sugar free first off, and second, its the mysterious "Rampage" flavour. Imagine my surprise when I was greeted by a fruit punch flavour, very much in the same vein as Who's Your Daddy. Its a punch, but with a candy like finish. Its an overall pleasant flavour, that doesn't, and I mean doesn't drink like a sugar free drink. You can hardly taste the sugar substitutes in it. After a couple gulps, you can taste a grapefruit like flavour, but it rather hard to identify. Overall, I'm extremely impressed with Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drink. More sugar free energy drinks should taste this good. The sugar substitutes are hardly noticeable and that makes the punch all the more enjoyable to drink...4.1/5

KICK: Each can contains a staggering: taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, inositol, and B Vitamins, sucralose and acesulfame potassium, which provided me with a killer buzz, but with a catch, no jitters. I was really enjoying the jitters from the Who's Your Daddy Green Tea Citrus that I had at seven(7) in the morning. Well, it looks like I'm just gonna half to drink another WYDGTC again. Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drinks kick really surprised me, mainly because its made by Cott. I say this because both After Shocks(Sugared and Sugar Free), and Inked buzz's were merely decent, nothing like Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drinks kick...4.4/5

FINAL WORD: Overall, I feel that Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drink was a great drink, as well as a great surprise. I thought it was just another FreeFall clone, but I was mistaken. I really wish more energy drinks would be this good. Its got a great can, great taste, and a great buzz. Most energy drinks don't get above a four(4) on every category, hell, they're lucky if they get two(2) above four(4). And the funny thing is, its a sugar free drink. I'd have to say that Throwdown Rampage Sugar Free Energy Drink is the best overall sugar free/low sugar energy drink I've ever tried, beating out Ace Lo-Cal and the Xenergy line...4.4/5

official site

Monday, November 24, 2008

Inked Chikara Energy Drink

Thank you Big Lots for providing me with many cheap energy drinks that are slowly killing me. Inked Chikara by Cott Beverages is the next energy drink that I'll be reviewing. I was kinda skeptical buying a 24 pack of this, mainly because I've never had it, nor really heard of it. But, I figured for $5, I might as well buy it, but did I make a mistake?

FIRST IMPRESSION: I really, really like the can. It reminds me of tattoos. It also gives it a tropical feel, especially the weird waves and red slowly turning into yellow. Upon further inspecting, I notice that its made especially for 7-11 gas stations. There is one thing that really bugs me, the fact that the ingredients etc. are in two(2) languages. I understand that its made for a gas station that's all around the world, but still. It bothers me. Neahhh...4/5

TASTE: The flavour of Inked Chikara is hard to describe. Its a citrus flavour, with noticeable tangerine flavour. Its not a very complex drink, nor sour at all. Its a pretty mild drink. Its not very sweet, which gives it a juice like taste. Its a really refreshing drink, and you can barely taste the vitamins in it. All these things combined gives it a really great flavour, not too strong, but not too weak. But these things aside, its not an athletic drink. And you all know, I'm 200 pounds of athletic man...4.2/5

KICK: Inked Chikara is one of those energy drinks that don't give you a major ass kick-ing, but one of those drinks that give you a subtle buzz. I felt really awake, but not energetic. Similar to what Energy Bloom or Rip It Chic's buzz. This is thanks to: 180 calories, forty six(46) grams of sugar, one(1) gram of protein, high fructose corn syrup, taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, gum acacia, inositol, ester gum, and B Vitamins. Its good to have a subtle kick every once in a while...3/5

FINAL WORD: I think Cott did a great job with Inked Chikara. The only other drink I've had by Cott(I believe) was Aftershock. Now, I'm not saying Aftershock was a bad drink, I'm just saying that the flavour's not as unique...4/5

Sunday, March 2, 2008

aftershock suger free energy drink

sorry, i couldnt get any picture on this...now, i also had this on friday cuz i new i was gonna stay up late and look at por- the internet so...yeah...
TASTE: the taste is just like red bull suger free but with no mediciny tate 2 it. this energy drink was accualy pretty good tasting 4 a suger free one...
KICK: well, i didnt fall asleep until about 7:56 AM saturday so... i guess that means something...
FINAL WURD: well, ill get this again, but not if theres any rip it at the dollar tree...3/5

aftershock energy drink

i had this one on Friday but I'm just getting around to reviewing it now. now, i got this at the dollar tree along w/ the sugar free one, and full throttle bad mother. props to the dollar tree for having different weird energy drinks every week. I love this can, its so cool. props to cott for making one cool can...
TASTE: so, once i opened this it smelled like i was gonna get a red bull clone, and i was right. BUT, this one wasn't filled w/ gummieness or bitterness like most red bull clones out there. it tasted like Red Bull, but w/ lest sugar...
KICK: a pretty solid kick for a dollar, so I'm gonna give this a... 4/5
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