Unwell Apple Cider Donut Energy Drink Review

Are you unwell? You have barely touched your apple cider donut energy drink. What kind of name is this!? The can is a scrambled wreck of bubble letters, with an awful rendition of the fried favorite that has the world's smallest bite taken out of it. That is not a good sign of a quality doughnut. It does at least say autumn, even if it screams it in an obnoxious voice.

The front of the can proudly boasts how this was made without the use of artificial sweeteners, staying instead with a few grams of cane sugar and stevia leaf extract. A gentle pull of the top tab and out pours a dull green elixir out from the predominately red metal transport. My nose is flooded with the scent of apples and, much to my pleasant surprise, a bit of cakey warmness. This had my spirits running high, until I took a sip. My god what in hell is this. What begins as any regular apple energy drink swiftly devolves into a cacophonic cup of complete crap. The familiar fall favorite is held for a single, solitary moment before losing out to the "natural flavors" doing their worst pastry impersonation. It is not yeasty but instead chemically leavened, and let me tell you this tastes like chemicals. A donut flavored caffeinated cocktail is strange enough, but Unwell goes several steps further in the absolute wrong, unexpected and boneheaded direction. Somehow, sips achieve the impossible by removing the moisture from your tongue as if sipping liquid crumbs. Your mouth thusly dehydrates, only to be immediately rehydrated by the same flavors that turned your face into a twisted mess of muscles sore from their twelve ounce beating. Gulps climax with an apple reprieve that gives way to more sweetness and a shockingly ugly maillard reaction impression that leaves your gag reflex no choice but to be on standby.

All that rotten fluid now sitting in my tummy and for what, just 150 milligrams of caffeine? Oh sure yeah, vitamins also make an appearance, but you want to know what also has vitamins? Actual apples. Overall, I admire Unwell Apple Cider Donut's ambition, but lament its naivety in thinking it could actually achieve it.

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Juice Monster Bad Apple Energy Drink Review

Juice Monster is back with a very naughty apple, though which exact variety has yet to be discovered by this soon-to-be caffeinated tongue. While I do like the tattoo-art visuals on the slab of aluminum, I do not really understand what Miss Lady here has to do with monsters, fruits or energy drinks. Maybe it is the evil witch from "Snow White?" I dunno.

Mildly carbonated and aggressively sweet, Juice Monster Bad Apple resembles a poorly sparkling cider. The unexciting effervescence slows down the elixir's momentum, declining quaffs down to a crawl as you otherwise eagerly look to guzzle down the entire sixteen ounces on offer. It is a real shame, since there is a good raw bite to each imbibe, this earthy edge of legitimacy that only becomes available with honest orchard involvement. Sugar, glucose and sucralose sweetens well, but it is the potent potable's tartness that sincerely makes sips shine. It, combined with the saccharinity, almost clumps up in the back of your throat, as if pulp is building up, a fabulous facsimile of what happens with honest mouthfuls of the stuff fresh from the tree. In addition to actual apple juice concentrate, we also have pear puree, which adds little in terms of actual flavor, but does dull the presence of the yellow, red and green autumn orbs. Even the most accomplished of palates would fail to identify which cultivars are involved, the whole thing homogenized into a sleek but indistinguished energy drink. Too bad we get so little personality here, especially when its artwork has so much.

160 milligrams of caffeine appears and does its job then goes home. The buzz is a serviceable two and a half hour long one, with familiar favorites ranging from taurine to inositol to B vitamins. It too does not live up to the charismatic can.

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Mtn Dew Green Label Soda Review

A surprisingly appealing can, this Mtn Dew is one of three in their "Label" line, at least according to my interwebs sleuthing. There is a lot going on in the design, busy white text and graphics that are easily noticeable off of the forest green backdrop, but it all works here, achieving a level of controlled chaos the main Mtn Dew drinks usually are overtaken by.

The flavor is one of the best the company has pushed out in years, the base fruits of Mtn Dew veiled by a composed sourness that puckers just enough to gently yank at the edge of your lips. Any claim of apple is a lie- you taste the fruity idiosyncrasy of kiwi just above the trademark lemon, lime and melon flavors. Sweetness is another highlight, thirty five grams cane sugar and however much the juice content adds, in addition to sucralose and ace-k. It is well balanced, slightly syrupy and gritty but never overwhelming: it is exactly what this flavor needs. Sixteen ounces might be a tall order for an experience of such relative simplicity, never evolving much between your first and final imbibe, but gosh, what a world if all the company's caffeinated cocktail varieties were as carefully crafted as this one here?

Each can contains eighty three milligrams of caffeine, but that is it. For a soda lover looking for a kick, it will do, but only Mtn Dew lovers will find much to appreciate in the ingredients list.

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Nello Apple Rush Energy Drink Review

Hello Nello, or so I imagine the TV ads would say. The interwebs tells me this is exclusive to the retail giant Target, but is that just this variety or the entire brand? You may assume the can would fill me in, but it is too busy telling you (twice, I might add) of its purported flavor, as well as puffery pieces like "focus." Sigh, if only the company had done that themselves.

It is autumn, so all the apple energy drinks poke out from behind the woodwork. Nello certainly smells the part, and upon first sip, you can see where they were going and appreciate their ambition. However, this is a terrible tasting tonic. Chief complaints fall to the use of rebaudioside M, which brings an earthiness to every imbibe, as if munching on an unpeeled apple slice dropped in plotting soil. It is not potent enough to truly rev the engines of the fall favorite, which in any other drink would allow sourness to come and run amok. But not here, not with Nello. Tartness is not strong enough either, so each mouthful lacks both the bright sweetness and fresh sourness. What is crazy though is just how well this impersonates the orchard otherwise: if I could just dump a pack of Splenda in, maybe a drop or two of lemon juice, freshly squeezed of course, we would have a real winner here. But alas, I cannot review the drink I wish I was having, making today's crystal clear colored cocktail's failing all the more painful. By missing each of the associated characteristics one expects when biting into the red and green orbs of fleshy goodness, every one of the twelve ounces end up like apples as if born vegetables instead of fruits.

My bonus for making it through an entire can is just 150 milligrams of caffeine, a fair amount, but hardly setting anything in any world on fire. Also bundled along for the very bumpy ride are some amino acids, vitamins and taurine, among others, but my body is nonplussed by their inclusion. Nello? More like "hell no."

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Rockstar Xdurance Super Sour Apple Energy Drink Review

I am not sure what happened to Rockstar, but the brand is stalling. At least, if the shelves of my local stores are to be believed. Recently, only one or two cans sit next to rows of Red Bulls, Monsters and Bangs; perhaps it is the company's focus on revamping their existing varieties instead of revolutionizing the soft drink genre? Then again, what do I know... I have only penned over 1000 reviews over the years. I know I know, a real knucklehead.

If you tell me your drink is not only going to be sour but "super" sour, then I expect an acidity that will knock not just my socks off, but my shoes too and food jewelry as well. Rockstar failed last time with this flavor, and despite a few changes to the ingredient list, there is minimal rejigging to taste. Apple is the focus but it is a candy impersonation, you know the drill. This means that sip after sip is sweet for the sake of being saccharine, with as little tartness as possible. No gulp resembles biting into the skinned flesh fruit, a little pulp dripping down your chin as you grin with glee at picking the most ripe piece of produce from the tree. Instead this is an experience so obviously straight from a company's flavor lab, not necessarily a bad thing, but without actual sugar, the diet sugars sucralose and ace-k rule and ruin things right into the ground before you finish your first mouthful.

Ten calories, 300 milligrams of sugar, electrolytes and a bunch of other supplements make for a pretty rocking kick, lasting four hours if I am generous. Overall, Rockstar Xdurance Super Sour Green Apple is not good, and that is me still being generous.

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Alani Nu Witch's Brew Energy Drink Review

I am not sure how this is any different from the last time Alani Nu Witch's Brew appeared here on The Caffeine King, aside from a new can and a few more milligrams of this or few milligrams less of that. The design this time around looks just as "Halloween" as before, though the darker green logo is hard to read against the dark purple backdrop.

Cracking open the can unleashes an odor so thick with Granny Smith apple that you begin to wonder if they just shoved an entire piece inside. Sadly no, there is no actual juice here, but the flavor is a good one, an acidity exercise in pushing the palate deep into the realm of diet candy shop cocktail concoctions. The aforementioned variety of the autumn fruit favorite is tasted alone and it loves its solitude, if I close my eyes I could picture myself on muddy grounds picking fresh green orbs off of the tree late October, nectar dripping down from my lips as I crunch hard into its bright white flesh. Then I snap out of it, I mean, I am sitting at my dinky little desk, far from the orchard. There is no caramel here, in case you were frisky for info like that, but hey, I have always been more of a candy apple person. The acidity is perfect and puckering, but it is how it completely keeps your tongue from detecting the use of sugar-free sugars erythritol, sucralose and ace-k. The texture might not have much heft, but so what? There was never a sip in the twelve ounces offered that made me think of my waistline.

OK I lied, I have never had a candied apple. But I have experienced Alani Nu's energy formulation before: this is the same ol' two and a half hour long buzz as any other. In addition to 200 milligrams of caffeine, we have also taurine, vitamins, guarana, you know, the usual suspects. Overall, this is a tasty remake of something that tasted more or less the same.

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Red Bull The Winter Edition Fuji Apple & Ginger Sugar Free Energy Drink Review

Removing sugar from the delicious equation that is this year's Winter Edition from Red Bull hopefully does not result in the company falling onto the "Naughty List." The can is much of the same, though the blue "sugar free" branding looks out of place against the warm yellow and red gradient, and we really did not need to have it in multiple places; the twelve ounce transport simply does not offer enough aluminum real estate for all this text.

This year's Winter Edition, again, tastes like apple, though the exact varieties are a bit more muddled here, the ginger even less visible. But it is still pretty good! The lack of any cultivar in particular results in an experience with the homogenized appeal of commercial apple juice, though none of that fresh fruit nectar is found inside these metal walls. The resulting golden colored cocktail lacks the subtlety of its non-diet brethren, sips where you could practically taste the fresh flesh of the fruit, each bite bursting with moist ambrosia as it drips down your chin. That does not happen this time around, which is OK as the whole production remains equally drinkable. Synthetic sweeteners sucralose and ace-k replace actual carbohydrates, doing a fine job in the taste but failing in the subject of texture; the mouthfeel is less satisfying, unable to mimic the sensation of the thin red, yellow or green peel one expects when munching into one of the autumn orbs. Fortunately acidity remains appropriately almighty, which helps keep any nasty side-effects from the diet honeys at bay.

Red Bull is in dire need of an ingredient cocktail overhaul- the B vitamins, taurine and 114 milligrams of caffeine simply not enough in 2025. Unless, of course, that means I just have to drink two cans, which I would not mind all that much.

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Red Bull The Winter Edition Fuji Apple & Ginger Energy Drink Review

These "Winter Edition" Red Bulls have sprouted into part of my holiday traditions, and this year the flavor is purportedly "Fuji Apple & Ginger." Though I am a sucker for a good spicy soft drink or confection, the Fuji apple is not one of my favorite varieties (that is reserved for the magnificent Jazz apple), but history has been kind to this wacky sub-brand, so let us pray to Santa and hope this product ends up on the "Nice List."

It smells like apples and pours out like a sparkling cider, so palates across the world are not surprised when this tastes like apples. Like, impressively so, the extreme burst of the autumn favorite the moment the golden elixir smacks your taste buds so realistic that it is almost scary. The back of the can declares the involvement of both "natural and artificial" flavors, but my tongue would have bet all the roasted chestnuts in the world on this containing actual juice, a lot of it. But the ingredients fail to list out honest nectar, so my Santa's hat is off to the formulators this time around. Fuji is not the cultivar I immediately placed, Golden Delicious far more front-facing until falling to the Red Delicious' distinct finish and acidity level. But wait, you and your elf friend ask, what about the ginger? It is there, somewhere, lurking beneath the orchard product and struggling mightily against its fabulous fusion of sweet and tangy goodness. This means only some sips climax with a neutered nuance of the knobby rhizome, but that was probably a smart approach- not everyone consumes the spicy root with love the way The Caffeine King does. With sugar and glucose providing a biting sweetness that taste like these crave, this is Red Bull is the real deal.

I wish 114 milligrams of my namesake stimulant was the real deal, but unfortunately, the hour long buzz is not up to par. Yeah yeah, taurine and vitamins are here to party too, but what lousy guests they are; they did not even bring gifts for the Yankee Swap! 

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Celsius Apple Jack'd Energy Drink Review

Apple is one of those delicate flavors that few get even remotely right, let alone one that is diet, contains a surplus of caffeine and is pumped full of other nasty tasting supplements. But Celsius throws its hat into the autumn favorite ring with Apple Jack'd, an admittedly cute name. The can is one of the better looking ones of the brand, the green easily associated with the flavor, but geez, what is with all the text!?

Color me green, but Celsius does a rather OK job here. Oh sure, the excessive stimulants give something of a ornery overtone to every imbibe, but what else could have happened when there is so many additives trying to hide here? Sucralose is solely responsible for the sweetness, and it is just barely able to handle everything it is in charge of guarding from the bitterness. There must be a lot of it here- my tongue felt coated in the artificial honey, you know, the kind of sensation where even well after your final sip real sugar just does not taste very sweet. For the apple flavor itself, it is a rather delicate interpretation despite ultimately tasting like candy, your palate required to explore the broth for depth outside the saccharinity and generic "apple" taste. There is not much else, unfortunately, no rogue varieties of the fleshy fruit to offer any complexity- what you taste in sip one is all you get by your last.

Potency is king here, with that rocking 300 milligrams of caffeine. The buzz lasts a stable four hours, rounding up by mere minutes, though the journey is not devoid of a jitter or two. Other ingredients include: taurine, guarana, ginger, green tea, B vitamins, and vitamin C. In the end, Celsius Apple Jack'd gets a very mild recommendation.

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Gas Monkey Light Energy Drink Review

Start your engines, because here comes the final Gas Monkey my not-so-local gas station carried. It is the sugar free variant of the original variety, but the once interesting design struggles atop the bare aluminum background. Sure, all the black and green stands out, but there is an undeniable inexpensiveness here.

Again Gas Monkey struggles a bit with the flavor, this time a disordered mix of apple, pear and vanilla, all medicinally enameled as well as tasting cheap and unfulfilling. They never appear at the front of any imbibe, always feeling distant on your taste buds, as if drowned in all the effervescence. It is the sweetness that causes the overwhelmingly unsatisfactory, sure, honey is listed as the fifth ingredient, but every eight ounce serving remains sugar free, leaving sucralose to sweeten all by itself to ill effect. It is a lonely synthetic sugar, one that begs for either ace-k for assistance or a better experience to work on. There is an ineffectual acidity as well, doing the flavor trilogy no favors nor does distracts from the frustrating saccharinity. Every sip is underseasoned and underdeveloped, leaving your palate barren of enjoyment.

Each can contains: B vitamins, ginseng, inositol, guarana, and 160 milligrams of caffeine. Lasting two hours before subsiding, the buzz is pretty standard, but after a drink like this I'll take it.

Alani Nu Witch's Brew Energy Drink Review

What kind of flavor is "Witch's Brew?" The can insinuates caramel apple, which is something of a pipedream considering this drink is diet. I mean, what else could the visuals imply? It is a wild looking beverage, that is for sure, but its optical cacophony kept my eyes glued to the twelve ounce transport, constantly looking and finding some new neat little thing.

Apple is the flavor here, I mean obviously, but the acidity is turned up well past eleven, making this a sour ride in the most excessive of excess. It throws natural impersonation out the window immediately, going the candy route with a showy albeit simplistic synonym of what the fruit actually tastes like. Erythritol, sucralose and ace-k are the sugar free sugars on the job and they clearly were on a coffee break, as the Granny Smith variety pillaged from mother nature is stripped of nuance and diluted in a tank of tartness; each sip is identical to the last and something that would never work as decently as it does here had we more ounces offered. Where caramel comes into play is beyond me: mouthfuls are sweet yes, but there is none of that burnt, slightly smokey goodness promised.

Yeah yeah we have vitamins, ginseng, and stuff like that, but what we care about is the 200 milligrams of caffeine. The buzz is a good one, lasting three hours without fail or jitters. Overall, Alani Nu Witch's Brew is better than it should be.

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Adrenaline Shoc Sour Candy Energy Drink Review

Adrenaline Shoc really is an awesome name for a power potable, and its simplistic visuals really stand out. Problem this time around was that it caught my eye on the shelf of my local dollar store, home of forgotten brands and discontinued drinks. What does this say about the company's "Sour Candy" offering? Nothing good I am afraid.

Ultimately, this is nothing but an apple adventure, the misleading moniker saddening my palate with its complete creative insufficiency. The fruit impersonates the Granny Smith cultivar exclusively, reducing the rendition to mindless mimicry that simultaneously bores your tongue as well as overwhelms it. Another variety, perhaps Red Delicious with its distinct sweetness, could help soften the otherwise stagnant experience. To its credit, sucralose and ace-k, the drink's diet sugar duo, produce something without any hit of artificiality, no doubt aided by the spirit's incessant acidity. The tartness does remind me of, well, apples, which is about the nicest thing I can say about it.

300 milligrams of caffeine provides a rocking buzz, one that lasts approximately three and a half hours. Other ingredients include amino acids, B vitamins, guarana, yerba mate, electrolytes and BCAAs. On the whole, Adrenaline Shoc Sour Candy satisfies better than its nearest competitor, Bang Candy Apple Crisp. There, I said it, now get outta here.

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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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Ghost Warheads Sour Green Apple Energy Drink Review

It is October, and thus the start of the spooky season, so what better way to celebrate then with Ghost. I mean, that is scary right? It is even based on the trick or treat favorite Warheads!

I have gone on record expressing my displeasure with energy drinks using candy licenses, but it does suck that just because children exist that us adults cannot enjoy such juvenile pleasures. The can is your typical shrink-wrapped thing, plasticky in your palm but at least looking the part, with aggressive looking text.

Ghost goes straight for the candy store here, achieving a level of sweetness without actual sugar that it feels almost illegal, though I am sure it is the extreme sourness that helps mask any plausible aftertaste. Sucralose, working alone in a rare solo gig, only lacks the mouthfeel of its caloric cousin, crafting a cocktail that would make green apple vodka blush in its confection. There is zero nuance here, the fruit tasting identical from sip one to the final few ounces that drip from the can, but that simplicity feels almost an obligation of its inspiration; Warheads are not exactly known for their complexity. They are known for their acidity, and boy did they ever figure out a way to bottle that. Er, well, can it, I suppose.

The most notable thing this has going for it, aside from potential child consumption confusion, is the 200 milligrams of caffeine. The buzz is pretty grand, lasting a good three hours and ending without a crash. Overall, Ghost Warheads Sour Green Apple will not convert those who gasp in disgust at such fruity flavors, but adults looking for a nostalgic beverage should enjoy themselves.

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Red Bull The Winter Edition Fig Apple Energy Drink Review

A new Red Bull is an event in the realm of energy drinks: their Winter and Summer editions giving fans two new flavors a year to look forward to. This year's solstice season variety is a first here on The Caffeine King, Fig Apple, but its frosty green can barely stood out at the local store. It did not help that it was positioned next an ice cream endcap, but I digress.

Now I low figs, my preference being the dried type, but Red Bull is unable to achieve the fruit's delicate deliciousness. But it is not bad! Apple is the star but it is a rare example of the autumn harvest actually resembling something found in nature. Sweetness is sedated, thirty eight grams of the carbohydrate is a lot to be sure, but earthy undertones bring an edge of realism to every mouthful. So does the sourness, which is equally understated, but it is balanced with the somber saccharinity; this is probably the most realistic depiction of granny smith apple I have ever tasted in an energy drink. But the fig, where is the fig!? That would have sent the experience over the edge of greatness, but as it stands, it is merely good.

If there is one thing the brand fails to understand is buzz, with a paltry 114 milligrams of caffeine really not doing too much for me anymore. Sure, it is enough to satisfy my morning need for the chemical, but so what? The competition runs laps over this and its antiquated blend of taurine and B vitamins.

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Mtn Dew Thrashed Apple Soda Review

Mtn Dew Thrashed Apple is exclusive to the Kroger family of grocery stores. Mine did not sell twenty ounce bottles, which meant I had to spend over seven bucks for a twelve pack of twelve ounce cans. Oh, well, maybe one day I will get paid for the words I type.

The can itself is wild, like any other recent Mtn Dew, but it sells its apple origins with its nearly all green appearance. I like it.

Despite having zero nectar, the flavor achieves a level of verisimilitude uncharacteristic of the company. It is ungodly sweet sure, featuring forty three grams of high fructose corn syrup, but there is a fresh taste to each sip, a burst of acid that feels like it came bursting out of the flesh of the emerald skinned fruit instead of by a person in a lab coat playing with beakers and other things I stereotypically associate with flavor scientists. It is one note and demonstrates an absolutely no depth, taking the famous granny smith variety profile and liquifying its essence, but it commits to that like a marriage. The front of the design reads "DEW charged with crisp apple," but do not let that fool you; my palate observed that the usual brand flavor was never present. This is apple through and through, for better or worse.

Remember kids, this is a soda, not an energy drink, so the fifty five milligrams of caffeine is not design to give you much of a boost- really the sugar rush is what my body felt most. In the end, Mtn Dew Thrashed Apple is what it claims to be: an apple soft drink.

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Bang Candy Apple Crisp Energy Drink Review

It has been just about three years since the Bang brand first came across my desk, with their Sour Heads variety; today, just about every store has an entire shelf of their energy drink retail space dedicated to the company's numerous offerings. Unfortunately, their aggressive expansion is unguided, as their lethargic design offers little room for differentiation; there is little color distinction between flavors, leading me to paw over each sixteen ounce can looking for a new release.

Apple is one of the more popular flavors of energy drinks, for no good honestly- most companies insist on imbuing their potables with excessive candy influences with little regard to the produce faithful. Bang's attempt here falls smack dab in the middle of the road, perhaps only impressive for masking 300 milligrams of caffeine and a slew of other supplements. Other admirable actions involve the its hyper-sourness, having a fresh, almost earthy bite that simulates the sensation of biting into one of the red or green stemmed spheres with relaxed ease. Its a tartness that crawls up the back of your throat with every sip, until it engulfs your entire mouth, soaked down to the tips of your teeth in the sour supremacy. But it is a one-note experience, sips build exclusively for the aforesaid without any regard for balance or nuance. This blindness leaves the sweetness to grow out of control, lead by the sole sweetener sucralose, if the back of the can is being read correctly. It challenges not only the other elements but also your patience for gulping diet sugars in excess.

We have a lot of caffeine to play with here, and the resulting three and a half hour kick is a wonderful perk-up in the morning. Other ingredients include: B vitamins, arugula extract, amino acids, and super creatine. Overall, Bang Candy Apple Crisp, recommended to me by the guy stocking Target shelves, ain't bad.

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V8 +Energy Honeycrisp Apple Berry Drink Review

V8 +Energy simultaneously makes complete sense, and no sense. In one respect, energy drinks have for years featured juice, in varying quantities, and the brand's namesake products do contain vitamins not unlike most caffeinated potables. On the other hand however, the markets are completely different; I cannot imagine anyone has ever thought to themselves, after finishing a can of Red Bull, "... I should have had a V8."

Just one sip in and you discover that this has a lot going for it, approaching apple with a more honest mindset than most of the products reviewed here. Sweetness is proportional to the produce on display, coming only from the nectar within and stevia. Every ounce sips with honesty; close your eyes and take a swig, and you will have no trouble imagining yourself sinking your teeth into a red round beauty in an orchard. A quick glance at the rear of the can reveals that we have sweet potatoes, purple carrots and carrots to thank for a bulk of the fifty percentage of juice, but your palate needn't worry; this is an expression of fruity love only, and no mouthful exposes any influence of vegetables. Apple is the only fruit hailing from the actual crop, with the vague "berry" mention coming from "natural flavoring," an element that distracts from the otherwise authentic experience. Acidity is present but could be stronger, a sourness dying without confrontation to the saccharinity.

Each can contains eighty milligrams of caffeine, from black and green tea, and that is really all we have. Does it matter though? No, really it does not. The buzz is about what any petite energy drink offers, lasting an hour, perhaps a few moments longer. In the end, V8+ Honeycrisp Apple Berry's taste is its highmark, but its confused branding and unexciting kick keep it from greatness.

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NOS Sonic Sour Energy Drink Review

NOS is back with Sonic Sour, their newest flavor, one that I cannot seem to find any information on what it actually is. Is it citrus? What about apple? Why doesn't the can say anything about the taste? How come the website avoids telling drinkers what they are getting themselves into? Bad design choice aside, the classic NOS design looks rather fine in the lime green color scheme, though there is little reason to list "high performance" twice on the front, especially since true fans know they cut the caffeine content down a hundred milligrams a few years ago.

If you took "generic apple flavor" for $200, then congrats, you have 200 hundred dollars and generic apple flavored energy drink. Far from as acidic as the front of the can declares, Sonic Sour is more sweet than tart, no doubt thanks to fifty milligrams of high fructose corn syrup, rendering much past your initial imbibe overly gummy with a texture that begs for something more toothsome. As for the apple itself, it is nothing you have not experienced before, your usual hyper saccharine granny smith interpretation with about as much depth as an empty swimming pool. Where are the other varieties? This is about as corporate tasting as any apple energy drink these tastebuds have ever suffered through- not suffer as in it is all that bad, just that the utter lack of personality wears on your weary palate.

Each can contains 160 milligrams of caffeine, a mix of B vitamins, and some taurine and inositol. The kick is as commonplace as the taste, lasting two and a half hours, with some sugar jitters and something small in terms of a crash. On the whole, NOS Sonic Sour is disappointingly unoriginal.

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Rockstar Xdurance Super Sours Green Apple Energy Drink Review

Rockstar just cannot leave a gimmick alone when it thinks it is a good idea; the case with Xdurance's latest flavor "Super Sours Green Apple," which is, if I can count correctly, their third attempt at the autumn favorite after "Hardcore Apple" and the sugared "Super Sours" version. The can is not too shabby- I like the honeycomb backdrop and the black and green make for a fairly good color scheme. Plus, it puts its major selling point, 300 milligrams of caffeine, right in your face.

Apple is somehow a rather popular flavor in the world of energy drinks, yet I have yet to be convinced that their balance of sweetness and acidity, or the thousands of varieties, can be properly reproduced in a can. Rockstar's Super Sours Green Apple unfortunately remains yet another disappointment. There are three things broken in this trippy exercise in excess: 1) Things are just not that sour! Sure, there is an inkling of acidity with every quaff, but nothing that earns the adjective "super." 2) The beverage's apple flavor is the utmost stock interpretation of the seeded fruit you can find. There is no depth, no personality, just pure corporate wringing of the popular produce. 3) Sweetness is tongue-numbing. Sucralose and ace-k do their absolute worst, working without passion for the fall harvest or without worry that they will stain your palate of their chemical aftertaste for hours beyond your final sip. Do you like drinking carbonated sugar free apple candy? Well then this drink is for you. Only you

300 milligrams of caffeine. This is where things get real good. The buzz is dynamite, lasting a rock solid four hours, though there is a bit of a crash as your body works through the excessive quantity of the stimulant. Overall, Rockstar's latest drink can only be recommended if you value the "energy" in "energy drink" and not the "drink."

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