Juice Monster Strawberry Lemonade Energy Drink Review

There is likely some audience for a patriotic energy drink, but in today's climate, why take that chance? Just produce a potent potable all people would feel comfortable purchasing, but then again I what do I know? I have only been reviewing these things for over a decade. The can itself is pleasant enough, with a monster truck, woman in a bikini, an eagle wearing gun glasses and a bandanna, and my personal favorite, a ripped George Washington on a motorcycle. You might call it a white can; I call it white trash.

At least the taste is pretty good. Pretty damn good, actually. While neither piece of produce achieves a level of verisimilitude found in nature, its simplicity is refreshing in an age of constant caffeinated evolution. The berry brings with it sweetness, a fruity reprieve from the sometimes harsh acidic bite of the citrus. But this sourness is able to withstand the fifty one gram onslaught of carbohydrates, lingering just long enough in the back of your tongue, refreshed with every subsequent sip. Sugar, glucose and sucralose steer the sweetness, there are forty seven grams of the sweet stuff after all, and if you can ignore the little doctor angel on your shoulder, they do provide a really good texture. It is weighted without being heavy, toothsome without becoming gritty. But we should really talk about juice: what little we actually have comes to us from apple and lemon- that is right, strawberry, despite receiving top-billing, is nothing but a "natural flavor." And yet that is not the best part: what is is how we get just five percent nectar, despite a whopping 200 calories. Obesity is the American way, after all.

I really wish we had more than 160 milligrams of caffeine, but that is just the world we live in. Taurine, inositol, vitamins, etc., are all here in standard measure, but come on, this is the country's birthday, do you not think we need a little extra oomph to celebrate?

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Juice Monster Voodoo Juice Energy Drink Review

You are telling me that there was not already a grape juice Monster? The Caffeine King must have been hallucinating when reviewing Monster Mixxed way back in 2009. Caffeine is a drug, and if the PSA's had any truth to them, drugs will do that to you. The can is your standard issue from the company, but the avocado green really makes the lavender pop, as well as all the other superfluous elements surrounding that familiar logo.

A measly six percent juice content is apparently enough to call yourself "juice" these days; back in my day, energy drinks had something like, half the total amount of actual nectar, but I digress. The first fruit to appear is white grape, followed by lessening amounts of apple, red grape, concord grape and finally plum, and in theory this should produce a layered flavor, challenging you to think with each passing imbibe. But no, Monster here was uninterested in nuance, supplementing complexity with a saccharinity somehow kept below your average person's daily recommended amount. Thirty six grams and all added, come from that familiar band of sugar, glucose and sucralose. Their handling of the sweetness is able to keep the experience from disintegrating into a syrupy mess, at least. The grape itself is basic and unchallenging, but not as aggressive as an actual cupful of the juice you would buy from the store. It strikes right between munching on both red and green grapes simultaneously, though obviously without the actual health benefits. That is not to say this is not pleasant, because it most certainly is. The child in me adored its innocence, filling my head with recollections of sucking on frozen ice pops in the summer heat. Problem is, I am now a grumpy elder pissed that the memories are now just that.

Just 160 milligrams of caffeine, come on, man, can we not get a few more just once? Vitamins and other supplements (ranging from taurine to inositol) also appear on the back of the crazy can. Overall, Juice Monster Voodoo Juice may be easy to drink, but it holds itself back by a relentless familiarity, and chronic lack of ambition to do anything about it.

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Unwell Frost Cranberry Sparkling Energy Drink Review

Why would you name your energy drink "Unwell?!" Should one drink when they are under the weather? I have no idea and the less said about it, the better, though there are a lot of elements here that had me grabbing a can off of the local Target shelf with unbridled glee. Chiefly its purported cranberry flavor, and the fact that real juice is involved here. Coupled with The Caffeine King's famous holiday spirit, I can forgive the absolutely massive amount of text, for now.

Unwell demands not that you love cranberries, but that you live, breathe and sleep them. The four percent of actual nectar involved here means sips have all the standoffish honesty that one experiences when they pop one of the tiny bouncy orbs of crimson into their mouth, their only exposure being that can-shaped gel they eat once a year with turkey. Wrong-o. The cranberry acts alone without backup, allowing you to taste the alienating pungency of the antisocial produce. Whether that is the intention from this winter based beverage or not I cannot discern. Two grams of added cane sugar, in addition to stevia leaf extract, simply is not enough to combat the harsh astringent reality native to the creeping shrub denizen. Not that things are necessarily sour, more earthy and bitter, the kind that curls your tongue more out of disgust than with childlike wonder. And that is the problem, this appropriately colored cocktail is not nearly sweet or properly puckering enough to become something your average energy drink drinker would want to drink.

Now to the good stuff: 150 milligrams of caffeine. The amount is just enough to keep me sipping onward, the two and a half hour long buzz a fine one. Electrolytes and B vitamins round out the energy cocktail, for those who are counting. I for one was counting down the ounces so I could be done with this.

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Mtn Dew Rise Peach Mango Dawn Energy Drink Review

Peach Mango is an interesting flavor from Mtn Dew's Rise line, one that has not really been seen before from the brand. Oh sure, we had their Mango Heat drink a few years prior, but peach? That is a first from the company of course, aside from their KFC-exclusive Sweet Lightning drink, which my tongue has never tasted simply because it would require my body to enter a KFC. The can today is OK, remaining a bland design that screams neither peach nor mango.

The five percent of juice included is limited to just white grape juice concentrate, which adds nothing to the flavor but does introduce texture. There is a slight grit to every sip, resembling the pulpy goodness but it is restricted to only a simulation. But this nuance goes a long way in giving the experience a minorly more mature impact on the palate. What does this mean? Every imbibe is less a "super sugar-charged soda" and closer to a mainstream craft soft drink, well, at least as craft as any mass-produced energy drink can be. The peach and mango are relatively impressive here, bringing to the potable a zesty acidity that pairs very well with the punchy effervescence. All this gives Mtn Dew Rise Peach Mango a profile that is further developed than what one expects from both the brand and sub-brand. Is it flawless? Of course it is not- there is not much in the way of nuance or complexity, with each gulp identical to the last. But hey, we are not looking for perfection here, we are looking for drinkability, and we got it.

The 180mg of caffeine here is twenty milligrams more than the average energy drink, and the buzz also slightly above average. There are some vitamins and antioxidants as well but the sweet sweet caffeine is what we are all about. On the whole, Mtn Dew Rise Peach Mango Dawn is a surprise, a pleasant surprise. It is a simple as that.

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Joggy Pineapple Crush Energy Drink Review

What a strange little product Joggy is: its eight ounce can is short and fat, its emerald label consisting of only text, stuck on like a sticker. To be honest, when first spotted at my local Target, its look betrayed by what my eyes usually associate as "energy drink," but I assure you, this little piece of metal is most definitely a caffeinated cocktail.

Pouring out a dully opaque gold, this certainly looks as if it contains twenty seven percent juice. And then that first sip is taken, and its unorthodox acidity had my face practically curling up on itself. And that is coming from me, an individual who loves sour soft drinks, but Joggy here lacks the sweetness to backup the tart calamity. There are six grams of sugar, but all of it is derived from the contained pineapple and lime nectar, fruits who run amok without any carbohydrate surveillance. This sadly means the experience tastes just wrong, and a PB&J without the jelly. All the unsupervised pungency results also in the unfortunate textural side-effects, where things feel slippery and unsatisfying to sip. A bit of honest sucrose or something could have given mouthfuls that gripping texture my tongue oh-so pined for. But alas, I am stuck with a dreaded few remaining ounces of undercooked ambition.

Though containing l-theanine and guayusa, it is the 150 milligrams of caffeine that makes my heart all warm and fuzzy inside. The buzz is pretty good too, though my favorite thing about Joggy Pineapple Crush is a line of text on the back of the can that reads "...contains 100% plant-based ingredients, excluding water."

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Starbucks Baya Raspberry Lime Energy Drink Review

Baya is back with variety number two, Raspberry Lime. The does the fruits justice, a pleasant combination of pink, green and blue, though the latter is a mystery unless the fake "blue raspberry" flavor is crashing the party. Yet text clumps up towards the bottom, with advertisements like vitamin C's inclusion as if its a rarity in the energy drink spectrum. It very much is not.

Like the brand's Pineapple Passionsfruit before it, Baya Raspberry Lime has a curtness issue. Sips are cacophonic, pummeling the palate with a unrefined carbonation and blunt punch of herbal funk. The benefit here is the acidity, an element equally sharp but present for the nectars it represents. Both raspberry and lime can be found on the tongue, but the twelve percentage content of juice is diluted by the presence of white grape, resulting in imbibes bringing blind sweetness to combat the otherwise terse acidity. Lemon is also listed, no doubt helping the potable's potent tartness, but my tongue feels mislead by the time the gulps are all gulped from the twelve ounce can.

The 160 milligrams of caffeine we have here is a fine amount, a far cry from the hyper-strength drinks that are so common these days, but that is OK. Not everyone needs that much energy, and the kick here is only two hour or so long. In the end, Starbucks Baya Raspberry Lime does not defy expectations, but the important thing to remember is: I had expectations.

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Guru Yerba Mate Organic Energy Drink Review

GURU returns to The Caffeine King, an organic variety this time with a deep blue background: it is an appealing looking energy drink. Since we last saw the brand here waaaay back in 2016, not much has changed, outside of a taller can, things have hardly changed. Not that that is a bad thing, but the visuals remain busy to the point of distraction.

Yerba mate is one of those things that just does not smell too good. I have had decent tasting potables with the plant, but this is not something you would splash on behind your ears ahead of the office holiday party. The flavor is strange, the herbal funk loud and proud for a most alienating experience. Cane sugar, monk fruit juice and stevia are the sweeteners and despite that description, this is not a saccharine product. You sip and almost wince at the unorthodox liquid you just splashed onto your tongue, but not every energy drink needs to be caffeinated candy. What rescues the potable from a sad life of misbegotten drinks is citrus, thanks to actual lemon juice; it introduces a sourness just strong enough to keep things from sitting bitter on your palate. This is tough to review because it is tough to drink, but it is not tough to appreciate.

We have 142 milligrams of caffeine, which is just enough to craft a noticeable buzz. It does not last as long a second longer than two hours, but I have reviewed plenty of weak crap here, and this is not crap. Overall, GURU Yerba Mate Organic is not for everybody, but it is refreshingly different. Not always for the better, but refreshing.

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Juice Monster Rio Punch Energy Drink Review

As The Caffeine King was on the hunt this year's annual "The Summer Edition" from Red Bull, instead a new Monster appeared, the curiously named "Rio Punch." Oh, I am sorry, this is actually a Juice Monster. Whatever. 

The can is fun to look at fortunately, the usual Monster visual language brought to life with bright colors. The back of it claims the flavor to be a "blend of exotic fruit flavors with a hint of spice," where as the website claims more specifically it to be "papaya, vanilla ice cream and black currant." Which is it!?

Upon first sip, I am surprised at how accurately the latter's mention of vanilla ice cream is. Mouthfuls have this smooth, nearly creamy texture, as if the thousands, if not millions, of little bubbles were wearing padding. It does not necessarily sip like dairy, but there is enough milky taste that it puts this Juice Monster in the upper echelon of unique energy drinks from a super-mega-canned-caffeine-cocktail-conglomerate. Sadly there is zero spice to be tasted, be it vanilla or any other, so while this does taste like vanilla ice cream, it is sadly generic vanilla ice cream. Or worse, gasp, vanilla frozen dairy dessert. As for papaya and black currant, the jury is still out, as the remainder of the experience is murky and ill-defined, citrusy without distinction. The thirty three grams of sugar, all of which is labeled "added," gives gulps a good bit of heft, but it is diluted by the inclusion of the diet sugar sucralose. I am usually a fan of these reduced calorie beverages, but the liquid passes past my tongue without leaving much of an impression.

With 160 milligrams of caffeine, the buzz is basic and unimpressive, lasting two hours. We also get B vitamins, ginseng, taurine, you know the drill. On the whole, Juice Monster Rio Punch fails to punch above its weight class. 

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Mtn Dew Kickstart Watermelon Review

This slender, bright green can has text screaming in from many different angles, almost all different fonts, sizes, and with varying levels of importance. Some text is bold, some italicized, but hardly any is necessary, words tossed about the can like a kid learning how to use Microsoft Paint.

First sip is grotesquely sour, a mossy acidity rather unpleasant with the potation's high fructose corn syrup, ace-k and sucralose saccharinity. Its flavor is less the soft, carefree nature of the melon, and inspired most by the Jolly Rancher rendition of the fleshy fruit, twelve ounces with any gentle depth removed. Instead, the candied interpretation lacks the weight of the sugar needed, the fifteen grams used proving too little, particularly with the burn of synthetic honey; this gaucherie potable is liquid candy without the candy sweetness. The petite beverage seems to drag, and no matter how many gulps I choked down, there always seemed to be many more left in the can. Years ago, Pepsi proved that they did not know how to make a tasty watermelon drink, and this year, they showed that they still do not know how.

Sixty eight milligrams of caffeine, and several varying amounts of B vitamins and vitamin C. The buzz is banausic, lasting less than an hour, and acting more like your typical Mtn Dew and an "energizing" beverage. On the whole, this Watermelon Kickstart did not have much promise yet somehow, turned out to be worse.

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Sprecher Charged Lemonade Original Energy Drink Review

The can is a weird one, a naked aluminum can with its label stickered on, all while sporting some astonishingly low-rent (and res) images of lemons. It is so wild that, when first spotted at my local dollar store, I thought this was some cheap canned juice instead of an energy drink- oh I am sorry, I meant "caffeinated sparkling drink."

It has been a long time since a straight-up lemonade, let alone one using caloric sugars, has graced The Caffeine King, and yet Sprecher's failings has nothing to do with its respect to the citrus and absolutely everything to do with the absolute dearth of a proper effervescence. When I see the word "sparkling," I expect a carbonation to punch my palate through my teeth, damaging my roots and all, and yet this is about as still an experience as your grandma's pitcher of freshly squeezed lemonade. That is a shame not only because of the broken promises, but also because the actual flavor is fabulous! Now, I am a pushover for flavors like this, but the presence of real juice concentrate brings a level of freshness to every sip, while the use of high fructose corn syrup, and all its syrupiness, helps add a certain innocence to things, like something a child would sip on on the hottest day of the year. It is just such a shame the bubbles are as leaden as, well, actual lead.

All we get is 140 milligrams of caffeine, which is, I dunno, fine, I suppose. I wish there was something here a little stronger to help curb off all the empty calories, and resulting sugar rush, but actually, it does not matter. It is not like it would have staved off the mediocrity.

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Bing Crisp Energy Drink Review

After the svelte black can of their last variety, Bing Crisp is a lot more kid-friendly, though that is not what you want your energy drink to be. Still, the can is a marginal improvement over the original can, visible if you know how to Google Image search, but text today remains a tad too high.

The apple and cherry here are like the characters in a buddy-cop movie who have chemistry; they play off of one another and never let the other become the star of the experience. Granny Smith and McIntosh are what my palate detect, their saccharinity in wonderful contrast to the curt sourness the stone fruit introduces. There is only five percent actual juice but your tongue calls your eyes a liar, with a weight and heft rivaled only by the flesh of the actual fruits. Sweetness comes from cane sugar, sucralose and the nectar itself, but there is only eight grams of the stuff, with any potentially nasty aftertaste lost deep below the pungent acidity; the equally persuasive effervescence is another helpful distraction.

Each can contains: B vitamins, vitamin C, ginseng, guarana, and 100 milligrams of caffeine. Buzz has never been what Bing does best, but the kick is your average two hour long one, usual for a twelve ounce potable. On the whole, Bing Crisp is a visually perfunctory exercise in flavor over functionality.

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Rockstar Recovery Strawberry Lemonade Energy Drink Review

Rockstar is a brand that even I, someone who writes about energy drinks weekly, cannot keep up with. Is this a new variety? Gee I hope so, otherwise I am just wasting time. Visually, the can is a mess, with words, colors and images all flying in different directions that it is impossible to get even the foggiest idea what this is supposed to be. Did you know this is non-carbonated? No? Yeah me neither.

Utilizing coconut water was smart on behalf of Rockstar, as it gives mouthfuls some body seldom seen in a sugar free energy drink. Well, I say "sugar free" but in reality we have about a gram here, no doubt from the three percentage of juice, so do not go holding me accountable on such a technicality. For actual flavor we do in fact taste strawberry but very little lemonade, in fact we have only the faintest faction of citrus, a vague fruitiness that contributes acidity and almost nothing else. But it is not bad! Sips are pleasant enough, never exactly complex, but its under-demanding nature bodes well with the otherwise flat effervescence, crafting something passively engaging.

160 milligrams of caffeine, the only real reason to consume a potent potable, is hardly doing it now-a-days. Sure, you get that usual two or so hour long buzz, but so what? So many stronger cocktails exist that such a lackadaisical elixir is lacking. Overall, Rockstar Recovery Strawberry Lemonade does its job then goes home, which is exactly what I am gonna do.

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Mtn Dew Pitch Black Energy Drink Review

Mtn Dew's Pitch Black has has come and gone several times throughout the brand's history, even getting reviewed by the world famous Caffeine King way back in 2011, but so what? Artificial scarcity hardly excites me, even if it clearly works, but what I do care about is the energy drink adaptation. Its intimidating use of black, green and purple make for a very Halloween look, even though its the month of love.

This flavor washes off of your tongue almost the moment it hits it, a rather forgettable grape impersonation lacking weight, personality and acidity, leaving us with just sweetness and simplicity instead of sweet simplicity. Though actual grape juice is involved, the potable is five percent of the white variety, its presence is minimal on the tongue, an involvement more plausibly due to sounding good to the marketing team. We have four grams of sugar working alongside aspartame, ace-k and sucralose, a saccharinity without nuance or patience, just plopping on the palate like "hey look at me" but forgetting a reason why. Carbonation is another weak point, tasting like it is soon expiring, as if it is to go flat in mere minutes. There are bubbles, so it does do the job, but only the bare minimum.

Proudly proclaimed on the front of the can, we have 180 milligrams of caffeine, and the resulting buzz is a satisfying if unspectacular two and a half hours long. Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, the usual stuff, also appear, but I came here for my stimulant and dog-gone-it that is what I want! Overall, Mtn Dew Energy Pitch Black is about as memorable as a dark room with nothing to see.

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Mati Passion Fruit Healthy Energy Drink Review

Mati Passion Fruit's biggest visual virtue is its lack of clutter; text is sparse, and the small spurts of purple help convince your eyes of its fruit focus without ever reading the small flavor indication at the bottom. Sure, the graphic is cartoony and an unappetizing depiction of the seeded tropics denizen, but I guess you have to take the positives with the negatives.

This is without a doubt the best Mati reviewed here, but you could never tell from your first sip or two. Your mouth curls at this amaroidal inauguration, but your palate becomes accustomed to the astringent aberration with each passing imbibe. But beneath the acerbic introduction is a showcase of gentle passion fruit, its sourness so shy and its sweetness so sheepish that you find yourself turning sips into gulps as you try and savor more of the flavor. By this point our twelve ounce can contains only a few more, and the bitterness becomes little more than a distraction from the main event, the passion fruit now more bold and demonstrating a more potent tartness and saccharinity; nothing that will rival your common energy drink, but are more than welcome developments after the initiatory quaffs.

Each can contains some vitamin C, but I came for the 150 or so milligrams of caffeine, or so the internet reads. The kick is fairly potent however, lasting just above two hours. On the whole, while the jury is still out on whether or not Mati Passion Fruit is "healthy," it sure is tasty, and that is all I cared about today.

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Mtn Dew Baja Blast Energy Drink Review

Mtn Dew Baja Blast Energy puts me in an awkward spot as a potent potable critic- can I forgive the former scarcity of its Taco Bell exclusivity or can I be excited to see the favorite flavor in energy drink form? From a visual standpoint, it makes a strong first-impression, the lion imagery and iconic color palate benefiting from a surprising shortage of unnecessary text. Though lines like "immune support" get a chortle out of me; I mean come on, who with honest intentions would consume this for anything but refreshment and caffeine?

Lime and melon hit the palate with subdued vigor, carried by a plucky effervescence and an abrupt acidity that increases in intensity as sips are sipped but never lingers any longer than it does with that initial impression. The flavor profile is that of a soda, I mean yeah duh, but at sixteen ounces, there is minimal mutations between imbibes and that results in little incentive to continue gulping, outside of being thirsty that is. White grape juice, for a nectar content clocking in at a mere five percent, brings four total grams of actual sugar to the familiar faces of ace-k and sucralose. There is some textural nuance thusly, but more would have been appreciated. The dual flavors end up just sitting there, left out to die as other elements ignore them and instead choose to carry the experience to completion. What we get is, well, a mass-marketed energy drink.

180 milligrams of caffeine, vitamins A and C, B vitamins, zinc, etc., make up the ingredient cocktail, a resulting buzz lasting about two and a half hours. In the end, Mtn Dew Baja Blast Energy is exactly what its name suggests- nothing more and debatably nothing less.

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Mtn Dew Rise Tropical Sunrise Energy Drink Review

There is not much to say about this Mtn Dew Rise can that has not already been said in my award-winning review of the line's Orange Breeze version. Though with a flavor indication as vague as "Tropical Sunrise," it begs for more explicit explanation- what is so tropical about it? The ingredients list only white grape juice, so without any indication consumers are left to risk their two or so dollars on something they really do not understand.

I am a pushover for tropical potations, but Mtn Dew just double dips into the same old flavor-base used in previous products like Game Fuel Charged Tropical Strike. (So... triple drips?) The primary difference this time is the reduction from ninety to twenty five calories, but the core profile remains identical, tasting of hollow pineapple, jaded mango and a squirt of nectarine. But these are just words in a paragraph in a review on an energy drink review site- any Mtn Dew junkie has experienced this experience plenty of times before. In a way this is a good thing- the white grape nectar providing four grams of sugar, along with the synthetic squad of aspartame, ace-k and sucralose, but sips do not suffer from this carbohydrate reduction. The texture has some weight to it, and there is hardly any artificial aftertaste to taste, lost in the potable's fluffy effervescence and slight tartness. My tongue wished for stronger acidity and a whole lot more personality, but the sixteen ounces it bathed in was by no means unpleasant.

The 180 milligrams of caffeine makes for a pretty decent kick. Lasting three hours, the energy found within the thin metal walls is more impressive than anything here. To end, Mtn Dew Rise Tropical Sunrise gets a passing grade for competency and nothing else.

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Starbucks Baya Pineapple Passionfruit Energy Drink Review

Starbucks latest non-coffee-inspired energy endeavor is Baya, which debuted in three flavors and honestly, calls to mind the company's previous "Refreshers" efforts. We fortunately have a lot more caffeine to work with, 160 here opposed to the fifty from their previous potations, but, I dunno, when I think about the word "Starbucks," I think about java, not fruity juice blends.

Baya nearly punches your teeth out from your gums on your first sip- its carbonation so strong and flavor so on the forefront that your "flight or fight" reflexes turn into "swallow or spit." We here at The Caffeine King are dedicated to thorough reporting, so I winced my eyes shut, gulped, and moved on to my next. The following imbibe is a lot calmer, where the ten percentage of juice, a mix of white grape and pineapple, barely make a dent in the experience. The effervescence remains potent to the point of distraction, shoving the produce out of the way as it rocks your palate. What is left are hollow impressions of pineapple and passionfruit, the nectar center lost in a sea of all those little bubbles. A toothsome sweetness, twenty two grams of total sugar, and a playful tartness are segregated from the tropical plants, elements that interact independently and fails to create a cohesive cocktail.

160 milligrams of caffeine is always a nice find in a twelve ounce energy drink. The buzz lasts about two and a half hours, and it is all from my namesake chemical- no other silly stimulants needed. Well, we have vitamin C, but my lawyers Itchy and Twitchy tell me the jury is still out on the potency power of the water-soluble nutrient. 

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Arizona Mucho Mango Energy Drink Review

The Arizona line is back from the grave, with can designs resembling their tea line more so than their earlier energy drinks. Huge font informs the drinker of its flavor and of its caffeinated nature, however, little focus is given to the brand itself, only a tiny crest up top is designated to the state-named company. But the biggest problem here? The silly shrink-wrapped label; it simply feels and looks cheap.

Things are non-carbonated, but at only a small six percentage of actual juice, the absent effervescence is an encumbrance. Each mouthful is plodding, the stiff liquid crawling across my tongue with little dynamism in regards to flavor or mouthfeel. The actual mango flavor, from mango puree, is not bad, it has a gentleness to it, a caressing acidity, but lacks any sovereign punch or heft for this to be a "mango" drink. The paltry juice content also comes from pear juice and coconut water, the former adding nothing to any of the fifteen and a half ounces, and the latter adding an unwelcome umami characteristic, both in taste and in texture.

Each can contains: B vitamins, guarana, vitamin C, and 125 milligrams of caffeine. Any energy is negligible, the buzz lasting an hour and a half. In the end, Arizona Mucho Mango Energy is fails to fire on any cylinder.

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Monster Rehab Tea + Lemonade Review

2021 is the year of revamps, with Monster touching up their Tea + Lemonade Rehab flavor. The can is a stark contrast to the original's distracted, murky visuals in favor of a bright, bold demonstration of how to tell the consumer a lot of information with minimal text.

These re-reviews are done without the older potable for comparison, but my tongue likes what it tastes today. Tartness hits your palate right out of the gate, a sourness that complements the obvious citrus presence. The acidity does not linger, leaving your tastebuds shortly after its initial introduction, refreshed once you lift the can up for your next sip. Sweetness, the same three grams found in the original, picks up to balance things out thusly, achieved via glucose, sucralose and ace-k. For the actual flavor, it is all that little yellow fruit all the time, the tea, black tea, making its appearance in the form of an earthy bite, the climax of the experience who is a bit too tame and timid to really push the potation into the realm of a proper prepared Arnold Palmer. Still, it quenched a thirst I did not think I had, and as summer approaches, fans will no doubt lap up this lemony libation.

The bad news is the reduction in caffeine, from 170 to the current 160. It is mind-boggling that they would hyphen the whole point of an energy drink, but alas, here we are. Other ingredients include: B vitamins, taurine, l-carnitine, inositol, and milk thistle. Expect a two hour kick, nothing more to really say about it.

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Mtn Dew Rise Orange Breeze Energy Drink

Mtn Dew and its associate AMP have been trying to get people to imbibe their sugary bubblies in the morning for years now; oh you do not believe me? Recall their 100% juice entry back in 2010. Then came their "Kickstart" phase a few years later in 2013, which remains on-sale today. Still unconvinced? Go back even further to the late eighties to "Pepsi AM," although that experiment is nothing more today than the answer to a trivia question.

What I am getting at here? This latest attempt "Mtn Dew Rise" is a full-blown energy drink, discarding their usual "AMP Energy" moniker but cannibalizing their own existing products while showing that they really have not learned anything. The naked aluminum coloring is relatively unique amongst competing caffeinated cocktails in the cooler, but it is uninteresting to look at and shows ungainly smudges thus making it difficult to photograph. The design is at least very clean, and the angled lion imagery is cool, because lions are cool.

The flavor is, well, it is another "five percent juice" creation consisting first of white grape and then of the anticipated citrus. This has the orange tasting dulled and diluted, losing its acidic edge in a pool of basic sweetness. It still does resemble tropical harvest, but in the way a generic can of orange soda does; in no way could any palate mistake this as a glass of freshly squeezed nectar. In addition to aspartame, sucralose and ace-k, we do have real sugar to work with. This side effect of its ingredients aid to alleviate any adverse aftertaste, as well as help manufacturer a slight toothsomeness. But the overall texture involves little else but carbonation, a failure to understand the pulpy mouthfeel one looks for from the produce; with so little fruit actually included here, your palate feels detached from what you are actually quaffing, and is ultimately disenfranchised by the time the last few drips fall from the can and onto your tongue.

I said before that the brand does not learn from their mistakes, but that is not entirely accurate; we have a whole 180 milligrams of caffeine, which is twice than what most of their comparable commodities contain. Vitamins, antioxidants, and a few others round out the supplement list, but we came here for the caffeine. Overall, Mtn Dew Rise Orange Breeze treads overly familiar ground and is unlikely to break coffee's morning monopoly, but it is not horrible, which is about all you really need to know.

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