Dragon Tail Lightning Cola with Tea Energy Drink Review

It has been many years since a Dragon Tail has crossed my path, and today's flavor is perhaps the one I am most excited for. Sure, energy colas are usually mediocre, frequently trash, but the hope that soda-inspired potent potables inspire tickles my innards like a kid in a candy shop. The glass bottle here is tall and handsome, the only issue being the ingredients and caffeine warning creeping in on both sides.

The cap pops off with minor force and moody notes of caramel ooze out from the slender opening. The flavor is a cola alright, but it takes hardly a moment on the lips to notice how poorly carbonated this is. Barely fizzing as the sugary elixir rots my teeth from all around, my body is immediately crestfallen, since the actual flavor is spot-on. The base of the experience is vanilla, sweetened like one expects a soft drink but silkily milky like a premium ice cream. Its lightened by the expected citrus, namely lime and orange, who's acidity helps keep sips from becoming bogged down in the weighty dairy. Then there is the spices, mostly cinnamon and clove, who's potency picks up as you near your last gulp. But by now, your palate is a bit tired from all the commotion and no matter how hard to wish, the effervescence ends up never being deserving of the flavor it surrounds.

We have 180 milligrams of caffeine, as well as green tea and guarana on the ingredients list, and the buzz is probably the most standard thing about this. It lasts two and a half hours, like one would expect, but all the carbohydrates (forty grams) does result in a sugar rush. Overall, Dragon Tail Lightning Cola with Tea is not as good as it should be. That, and Google tells me their "official website" is not secure; you can never trust a dragon.

Carabao Energy Drink Review

Found at the local Asian market, Carabao is a cool little drink, a non-carbonated elixir coming in both an exotic brown bottle (pictured) and a more familiar eight ounce can (not pictured). The differences are transport exclusive, but I picked up one of each. Its design is simple but effective, with a skull of a (red?) bull being all it needs to get its point across.

The flavor, acidic and saccharine, is all too recognizable, a blend of vanilla, lemon and apple. It is a complete riff on Red Bull, but there is something about the glass bottle that retards the slight metallic staining usual here. Cracking open the can reveals a less appealing experience, tasting less fresh than the glass version, but it is not a complete loss. Sweetness is the best characteristic here, twenty one grams in the bottle and thirty seven in the can, remaining thick on the tongue but never growing syrupy as a bad energy drink does. Neither one is unique, but for an almost energy shot-esque punch of Red Bull-like flavor, it is a fun little diversion.

In addition to sugar you get taurine, caffeine, inositol and B vitamins. The kick is the weakest element here, lasting an hour from the bottle, a bit long from the can, though that is just due to the slightly larger size. On the whole, Carabao is a bizarre looking glass into a more conservative energy drink market.

company site

Dragon Tail Blazin' Tropical Energy Drink Review

Blazin' Tropical loses the "g" in its name in a feigned attempt at looking hip, but its rocking glass bottle forgives any fault in its silly naming. But the brand name, Dragon Tail, is no where to be found on the front of the design, creating a clean design but forgoing some brand recognition.

Sips are sweet, forty milligrams of pure cane sugar give every imbibe a grainy and almost syrupy texture. Fortunately things work with the flavor, which is a hodgepodge of mango, orange and pineapple, the tastes turbid and never spawning a structured sapor. Nuances of cherry and lime round out each gulp, however they are lost in the cocktail's chaotic flavor. Sweetness and sourness are here in equal measure, but it is the beverage's pacing, which layers both the sugariness and the acidity so that the two are seldom savored simultaneously. It provides the dismally derivative experience its only anomalous attribute.

Each twelve ounce bottle contains: caffeine, guarana, and maltodextrin. The buzz is the beverage's biggest bane, lasting about two hours and, unsurprisingly, is not the strongest. In the end, Dragon Tail Blazin' Tropical is less interesting than its icy line brethren, and therefore more disappointing.

official site

Bomba Mixed Berries Energy Drink Review

One of several Bomba varieties, Mixed Berries is a dimensionless blue hue with a label that has even less personality. But that does not seem to matter in a shaped glass container like this, its pull tab only adding to is charm.

The taste dismally has less character than its military-inspired transport; remaining an unenthusiastic cocktail of blueberry, blackberry and raspberry- only less interesting than that troika suggests. Tartness is a massive disappointment, understated and could use a kick in the pants. Sweetness is a strong player here, twenty eight grams of pure sugar sweetening with a level of honesty and enjoyment the the actual flavor lacks so brazenly. There is a refreshing edge of realism to every imbibe, a slight organic bite that breaths the only individualism into the limited sips offered.

Each bottle contains 120 calories, some taurine and inositol, and caffeine (seventy five milligrams, per internet sources). The kick is a weak hour and a half long one, so be sure to pick up another pick-me-up. In the end, Bomba Mixed Berries is a decidedly mixed bag.

official site

Dragon Tail Ice Mint Blizzard with Lemon Energy Drink Review

Dragon Tail Ice Mint Blizzard with Lemon- sheesh, what a long name! Why not reduce it to "Lemon Blizzard" or something? Its prolix title is particularly egregious considering the other variety I purchased is simply "Blazin' Tropical." But the bottle is otherwise fantastic, its logo a chrome side shot of the mythical namesake creature, and the glass has a terrific heft to it.

Its flavor, flooding back memories of Stoked Wild Chill, of course had no chance of living up to the lofty expectations laid by its appearance, and it does not. But it sure tries. First sip punches your palate with a burst of mint, its cooling property freezing your taste buds and turning them blind to the muted taste of lemon, more of a nuance than its bottle insinuates. Forty grams of sugar, all of the pure cane genus, sweeten gentler than anticipated, giving the experience a less candied feel than most. This mintiness remains deep in the back of your throat and intensifies the more you sip, but that is where the problem arises- the menthol itself does not exercise the depth demanded by leading a twelve ounce drink. Additional citrus would have aided the herb's vapid representation here; things unfortuantley begin tasting like a lemon cough drop.

Each bottle contains: 160 calories and unknown amounts of both caffeine and guranan. It probably is not a grand quantitity either; the kick is the most mundane thing about this minty glass bottled beverage- why go out of your way to make such a statement, both to the eyes and to the tongue, if you are not going to do the same for its kick? Overall, Dragon Tail Ice Mint Blizzard with Lemon is an uneven potable, but I cannot ignore the risks it takes, even if they are not followed all the way through.

official site

Bomba Classic Energy Drink Review

A recent trip to a dumpy surplus store has left me with six varieties of the Bomba line, an insane looking brand with grenade-shaped glass bottles. They even have a little pull tab to simulate the pin on the small explosive!

This golden elixir has the wretched scent of the worst Red Bull clone; but the flavor somehow escapes tasting like one. It is saccharine and packed with the tastes of bubble gum, vanilla, and apple, a trilogy only slightly tart but serendipitously never syrupy. Its petite size, clocking in at just above eight ounces, means it is an experience that never overstays its welcome, despite its unoriginality. And the glass bottle gives every sip a clean climax, without the metallic perversion of aluminum cans or the polymer sapor of plastic bottles. It is a shocking revelation; this is quite the refreshing beverage and boarders on the line of being enjoyable.

Each bottle contains: 123 calories, twenty eight grams of sugar, several B vitamins, taurine, and caffeine, seventy five milligrams according to the internet. Its kick is the least impressive characteristic here, lasting less than an hour. Overall, Bomba is not a bomb, but it is not the bomb either.

official site

Monster M-3 Energy Drink Review

Monster M-3 is yet another imprudent extension put out by the company, one who's always trying to concoct the next big thing. But their releases are instead frequently redundant, if not pointless, and it doesn't feel as this variety is to escape that fate. Its bottle, on the other hand, is actually quite fascinating, with its glass fabrication and petite size really making it stand out amongst its peers. But only adding to the many examples of their temerarious decisions, the pry off only cap limits not only its mobility, but also itself to those old enough to have a bottle opener easily accessible.

Demonstrated is the recognized taste of a mucilaginous vanilla, who's entirely inept and moronically rudimentary. Wholly ignoring the former is the blunt depiction of a routine apple, who resembles a sort of prosaic pineapple if only for its sharpness. It lacks either a frank tart or sourness and really doesn't taste any bit natural like it should, and the fatiguing sweetness gives it an overpowering candied quality. It's thankfully an impressive sweetness, at least it is initially, being a mix of both real and artificial sugars, and it flaunts decent robustness thanks to the generous thirteen grams of sucrose and glucose. But it lamentably grows tiresome, with the slightly thickened fluid densely coating your mouth to the point of sheer excess. But what is positive throughout is the product's carbonation, which is done via nitrous, and it really smooths out each sip. This makes the bantam five ounces go down with incredible ease, even with all the former dissonance, but this single favourable characteristic isn't enough to give it even the slightest recommendation.

Each bottle contains: caffeine(160mg), taurine, ginseng, guarana, inositol, and a variety of B vitamins. There isn't much to say about the potency, with the three and a half hour kick being on par with just about any to be adorned by the trademark logo, but it was activated much quicker. Overall, Monster M-3's gimmick of being the middle ground between a shot and an actual drink isn't explained very well, thus it isn't exploited to its fullest potential. That's to say it has any potential.

official site

Bawls Guarana Caffeinated Soda Review

What exactly is Bawls? Well, it's a highly caffeinated premium beverage that's much alike those generally unsuccessful energy sodas that were experimented with a few years ago, though the blue drink has survived much longer than Mtn Dew MDX did. It comes in a rather attractive glass bottle, aiding in the aforementioned distinguishing superiority, and it smartly avoids congestion, which is the thing I most often criticize about a product's appearance.

The first sip was agreeably pleasing and surprisingly rich, if not creamy to taste. But that isn't to insinuate the presence of dairy or something, but rather that the fluid's smoothness is so laudable that it begins to positively resemble that of fatty milk. The flavour, however, is much of vanilla, which benefits hugely from the just prior, but the second most expensive spice isn't the only thing greeting your taste buds. There is a miscellany of fruits to note, with lemon and lime being prominent but not dominating. White grape, strawberry, and kiwi are transiently communicated with and their discussions bring depth even though their mentions are exceptionally mild, if not merely suggestions, even when compared to the already feeble binary of citruses. The general sugariness isn't syrupy despite the generous use of HFCS, and impressively the experience is never too sacchariferous. The flavour closes with an equally enjoyable bite of cloves and the sweet pungency of nutmeg, and although neither are at all distinct, they do ingrain redolent piquancy into the experience. Overall, Bawls Guarana tastes much of the latter of its name, but partially in addition to the nontraditional manipulations of the otherwise average fruits and flavours.

There is guarana and sixty four milligrams of caffeine powering each bottle, which honestly but expectedly isn't comparable to your typical energy drink. That can't be used against them, though, as it never claims to be one, so if compared to your typical Mountain "style" soda, then it is quite a bit stronger. All in all, Bawls Guarana has a bit of an identity crisis, being caught behind energy drinks in terms of potency while also costing more than your usual caffeinated soda, but it doesn't change that its trademark yet niche taste is hugely likeable.

official site

Tattoo Berry Energy Brew Review

Tattoo Berry makes a good first impression, with its consistent label graphics and overall theme. The design isn't cluttered, even though there is a decent amount of stuff going on, and because it achieves aggressiveness by going in a different direction than do most drinks, it doesn't feel trite and uninspired. The choice to say "brew" rather than "drink" is a bit unnecessary though, but that's really now just me trying to find fault.

Tattoo Berry is surprisingly sour, at least initially, and as things progress tartness is chosen as a replacement. Both of the former are sweetened much like any good candy of the such is, and this causes the sugariness to feel far less important on the flavour experience than do the two aforementioned. The actual taste is less of the suggested berry and more of the rhyming cherry, to be more specific, the maraschino variety. This may sound self contradictory, as the sweetness was just labeled as secondary, but it's just enough to nectarize the fruit. Both the tart and sourness, however, imbue a sort of authenticity that's depth developing for the cherry, and while the genuineness is superficially incongruous with the saccharinity, the experience demonstrates them both simultaneously and never tastes awkward or discordant. There are notes of both blue and red raspberry, both of which taste dulcetly crystallized, however unlike the general flavouring, they don't ever suggest factualness, but the two honestly do not really need to given that they're merely nuances. Overall, Tattoo Berry's taste is unexpectedly pleasing and it squeezes out uniqueness from such a seemingly usual taste.

Each bottle contains: caffeine, taurine, guarana, ginseng, and several B vitamins. The buzz lasted only around two or so hours, which makes it the drink's weakest area. Overall, it's hard to forgive impotent energy drinks, but Tattoo Berry Energy Brew's taste is solid enough to warrant a mild recommendation.

Hi Ball Cranberry Apple Energy Drink Review

Hi Ball Cranberry Apple was sold to me for an expensive $2.49, though the glass bottle and the innoxious design do give the product a rather sophisticated feel. But it certainly is cluttered, with the small real estate of the label being a crowd of both needed and needless sentences and statements.

Drunks and college folk can certainly laugh at me, but I really do struggle to pry of screw top caps. The flavour is definitely milder than your typical energy drink, and though both namesake fruits appear, they're displayed rather prosaically. The initial thing discerned is the sparkling carbonation that's harsh and rather unpleasant, and the actual flavour then moves into sight. The cranberry is the incipient fruit tasted, but unfortunately it is too improperly tart to be authentic and too unsweetened to be kindred to the juice cocktail form. The apple, though, does demonstrate some authenticity even though it's also lowly sugared, but it is thankfully saved from tasting awkwardly imperfect by a terminal cassonade bite that is also subterraneanly sour. The improving pleasantness of the later fruit absolutely changes my feeling of the general experience, and overall, Hi Ball Cranberry Apple is enjoyable even if it doesn't come close to justifying the price.

Each bottle contains: ginseng, caffeine(eighty milligrams), taurine, several B vitamins, and guarana. Not surprisingly the kick is meager and downright weak to any well accustomed energy drinker, and for what it is worth it was jitter free. In the end, Hi Ball Cranberry Apple feels more like a premium effervescent beverage than an energy drink.

official site

X-Drinx Tropical Typhoon Energy Drink Review

The final X-Drinx under my possession is the Tropical Typhoon variety, and the design it sports is very much consistent with past two flavours, however I kind of enjoy the flashy colour lights it showcases. Now I'm not lauding the bottle or anything, but I am rather fond of the almost tie dye look it optically attempts, even if the label as a whole lacks much appeal. But regardless, Tropical Typhoon at least looks better than the previous Orange Rageous did, which while not exactly the most difficult task possible to venture, it is an improvement.

X-Drinx Tropical Typhoon's flavour begins with a guava and passion fruit braid that has adjacent stronger notes of both mango and cherry and lesser suggestions of pineapple and banana. The first two of the aforementioned are more in line with dulcet representations than ripe fresh fruits, however they hold decent authenticity in the sense that neither is cloying or syrupy, and that both provide a tang that isn't presented in a candied fashion. The cherry is initially fairly feeble and this doesn't ever fluctuate, though its presence on the overall flavour is distinct and noticeable immediately. The prior fruit also tastes richly honeyed but it retains a natural tartness and befitting sourness. The latter is artificially seamed to the fruit, however it's entirely appropriate with both the heavy sweetness and organic tartness, as this creates a very candy-like aura to the cherry. The mango taste is fainter than the former that it also resides parallel to, but it's surprisingly genuine considering all the surrounding's fallaciousness. Neither the pineapple or the banana impregnate the experience with much of their respected flavours, although it's apparent that the pineapple is less sweet and sharp than it's commonly portrayed. The banana isn't granted much focus for its appearance and thus it's rendered underdeveloped, but I did observe that it thickened slightly near the throat, which gave the drink a slight textured intricacy. It should be noted that complete taste materializes in the foregoing order that I listed, but all the flavours are exposed simultaneously; no fruit surfaces nor departs partway through. This wouldn't fabricate any problems if it wasn't for the fact that each sip passes deftly and leaves little time to carefully examine the fluid and consider all the fruits that lounge within. All in all, X-Drinx Tropical Typhoon's taste sporadically makes an effort to infix uniqueness into an otherwise rather pedestrian flavour, but it never acquired any negative aspects and was mostly genial to consume.

I had only around two hours of enlivened energy, through out which I experienced no jitters and afterward I endured nothing much in terms of a crash. Each bottle contains: caffeine, guarana, and ginseng. Overall, while Tropical Typhoon was certainly more pleasurable to review than some this year, it wasn't billowing with freshness nor did it match the flavour creativity delineated by X-Drinx Kosmic Kola.

X-Drinx Kosmic Kola Energy Drink Review

I'm lucky to of been able to obtain several varieties of X-Drinx, as it seems the line has been discontinued. Kosmic Kola is the first of the few that I'm going to review, and it comes impressively in a glass bottle, which gives the drink a premium sort of visual quality. Its label, however, doesn't look as great, with a rather boring circle graphic as its only real design. One thing that I don't quite understand is the dual X's smack dab in the middle, as it almost gave me the impression that this is actually called XX-Drinx.

Kosmic Kola splashes out with minimal bubbles hugging my glass's walls, and it is of a deep and appropriate brown colour. Starkly tasting of vanilla, this initial flavour is quickly braided multiple times with sarsaparilla and licorice. The vanilla tastes robust on its own and has a mildly creamy tail to it, and the complex interweaving of the two add great depth and dimension. Then your palate notices attributes of lemon and lime, albeit light tastings of the citrus couple, and they're underlined by a nutty and slightly spiced butterscotch flavour. The spicing is indistinct but mostly of nutmeg and clove, and the butterscotch mostly just sweetens the fruit tastes, as little attention is initially given solely to it. But eventually it's adopted and adapted by the sarsaparilla and licorice, and it too meshes into the vanilla. By this point in the flavour a slight herbal bitterness, mostly tasting of yerba mate, is identified and while it remains low pitched, its presence gives an already complicated affair even more to consider. Overall, X-Drinx Kosmic Kola's pensively developed taste is so enjoyable that I'm saddened severely that the drink is no longer available, as my last sip is very likely to really of been my last.

Kosmic Kola's kick was substandard. I had a decent rush for under two hours, and it was free of jitters, but not free of any crash. Each bottle contains, well just caffeine and guarana. In the end, for an off the market energy drink, X-Drinx Kosmic Kola's taste is wildly more intricate than many mainstream colas, regardless if they're an energy drink or just a soda.

Diamond Cutter Energy Drink Review

No no, the picture to the right isn't a beer, but instead Diamond Cutter Energy Drink. I don't quite know why the company would make the bottle look like a beer, as both drinks occupy completely different beverage markets, and consumers could easily be confused and lose interest. But that aside, I really love glass bottles, and while I'm glad Diamond Cutter comes in one, its label looks generic and unexciting. It lacks anything that holds your attention, and the namesake diamond dominating a large amount of space doesn't even shine or look valuable.

What flavour would you expect from an energy drink that looks like a beer? Well, according to Diamond Cutter, a Red Bull clone makes sense.; albeit a fairly unique clone. Beginning mild but quickly gaining strength, a sweet tart-like taste cloaked partially by gumminess takes root. It overlays an eccentric lemon and apple stitching who is light but laced playfully with a distinct tartness that befriends easily with both the prior and the proceeding. A swelling of more sweetness follows a cloying red grape who's intensively candied tasting. There's a powdery afterthought of blue raspberry that lifts aspects from the past fruit and confines the two into one somewhat enjoyable though slightly overwhelming presence. The grape acts as the finish of the experience, which then leaves behind a non-syrupy though sickly sweet lamination for your dentist. The liquids carbonation is bubbly, but goes mostly unnoticed. Overall, Diamond Cutter's flavour is a genial, though fundamentally familiar, take on the classic taste.

Diamond Cutter kicks a lot like its obvious flavour inspiration and clones. I had energy following fairly immediately after, and it lasted all of two and half or so hours. I had no jitters during and I didn't crash. Each can contains: caffeine, taurine, inositol, and several B vitamins. All in all, while it did contain some promise, Diamond Cutter is essentially a cookie cutter energy drink.

official site

RED Light Energy Drink Review

RED Light is the sugared version of RED Light Sugar Free, but RED's black background looks a whole lot better than Sugar Free's silver did. The common red on black colour scheme makes the bottle sleek and seductive, which is more or less what I think RED Light Industries was going for. The design is essentially the same on both varieties in the line, but where as Sugar Free made the design bleak and boring, original makes the simpleness catch your eye and give it some candy. While I'm still not a fan of the shrink wrapped label, I could see RED Light giving most drinkers one heck of a first impression.

RED Light's initial taste focuses on cherry, blended with a mild cranberry. Both taste natural, and the carbonation is almost sparkling. The cherry is more of an authentic cherry taste, opposed to the common maraschino taste. The experience then gets sweeter, but not syrupy or sickly. During the prior rising, there's a bit of pomegranate flavour that then becomes evident. It's actually more of a note, as it soon becomes muddled as an alloy of goji and lime. The goji is stronger than the lime, but the lime does add a bit of tartness to an otherwise tart-less experience. There's a bit of an earthy hint lurking in the flavour, it's not too noticeable or bitter. Like RED Light Sugar Free, RED Light is impressively smooth, but in terms of overall taste, RED Light is miles ahead of its low-carb counter part.

When compared to other similarly sized energy drinks, RED Light's caffeine content of just ninety milligrams is easily the drinks worst aspect. Although it contained a healthy dose of other ingredients, such as taurine, ginseng, and B and C vitamins, it just couldn't provide a decent kick. While I did receive some energy, it lasted all of two hours. In retrospect, RED Light isn't an energy drink that most will buy into. It's marketed to a higher class of energy drinkers, and perhaps those who are looking for an alternate to coffee, but are afraid that they'll never sleep if they drink other energy drinks. And if that was the thought process behind the weak kick, then I can see where they were going for.

official site

RED Light Sugar Free

I don't generally review sugar free energy drinks before the sugared version, but for a change of pace, I'm reviewing RED Light Sugar Free before RED Light Regular. I requested samples of RED Light earlier this year, and though I've had them for quite some time, only now am I getting around to reviewing them. My guess is that RED Light Sugar Free is marketed to the sophisticated party goer, which isn't a terribly common market for an energy drink, so while they may monopolize the market with ease, they may not have a lot of customers.

FIRST IMPRESSION: Like most sugar free energy drinks, RED Light S/F's bottle design is silver. Not that silver is a bad colour, it's just the way it's used that is bad. Silver reminds me of a bare aluminum can, where as the bottle's glass, which must create some sort of time alternating paradox. The colour choice isn't the only thing wrong with the bottle. Like All City, the design is shrink wrapped on, which while it doesn't look terrible, it feels unnatural. Alright, enough criticizing the design, now it's time to criticize the name. My biggest problem with the name is that it's confusing. Does the "light" in "RED Light" stand for the drink being light on sugar, or is it the brand name? Either way, while I like the fact that the bottle's glass, the design is just not memorable.

TASTE: RED Light Light pours out a cross between pink and red. Initially, the flavour is rather harshly bubbly, but as it dies down, a smooth and natural cranberry taste appears. Slowly, some cherry and pomegranate blend together and join the cranberry. Neither fruit taste artificial, and all of them have a good amount of sweetness. Underlying the prior mix, a sour melon begins to emerge. The sourness wasn't too pleasant, as it didn't fit with the rest of the flavour. A mildly bitter lime thankfully surfaces and masks the sour melon. The bitterness of lime wasn't overwhelming, and was short lived. The experience ends with a rise of sparkling fizz, and there's no aftertaste. The overall sweetness is kept low, which I think helped the drink avoid tasting sugar free. All in all, RED Light light's taste is reminiscent of a fruit punch, and a very good one at that. I quickly finished the entire bottle, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

KICK: RED Light Sugar Free's ingredient highlights include: L-Taurine, 90mg of Caffeine, ginseng, schizandra, thirty percent of your daily intake of Vit. C, and 100% of your daily intake of Niacin, Vit. B6, B12, and pantothenic acid. Once I finished the entire bottle, my energy level increased for two hours before I returned to normal. My mentality was slightly increased during that time, and I didn't crash.

FINAL WORD: There were things I really liked about RED Light Sugar Free, and there were things I didn't. Though I thoroughly enjoyed the taste, the bottle just didn't work with the colour, and the kick just didn't impress. But, RED Sugar Free isn't your typical energy drink. It's not intended to wow you with a powerful kick, so if I were to critique it to the market it attracts, then I guess the bottle is the only problem. I wouldn't buy RED Light Sugar Free for any reason other than taste, and unless your part of its intended market, then neither should you...3.1/5

official site

RootJack

One of the most popular varieties of soda pop is root beer. A favorite among kids root beer is a unique flavour that few can do it right. Being a fan of root beer it makes me wonder why there are not many root beer energy drinks. Root beer suffers the same tragic fate that lemon/lime does. After 200 something reviews I'm still in shock that I have not come across a single root beer energy drink. Well thanks to a recent trade my wish was half granted. Root Jack is a root beer and orange flavoured energy drink. Though orange isn't my favorite flavour, I'm excited to see just how Root Jack blends the two flavours together.

FIRST IMPRESSION: I have to say that the bottle to Root Jack looks great. I'm a huge fan of the glass bottle and the whole pirate theme is cool. Perhaps my favorite thing about the bottle is the "fights scurvy" patch on the logo. I don't quite understand why pirates would have a root beer and orange drink. I mean is Root Jack served at pirate A.A. meetings? Either way the bottle looks great and really makes me excited to try and review Root Jack.

TASTE: After prying the bottle top off I took a sip. The flavour starts out a light and mildly spicy root beer flavour that soon is taken over by a medium strength orange taste. More root beer flavour soon overlaps the orange taste but doesn't last long as a rather light blend of cinnamon and liquorice flavours develops and finishes the experience. There are several notes of vanilla and molasses through out each sip, but neither note is very strong. I do wish that the orange taste was weakened, as it gets pretty overwhelming in large sips. Root Jack's overall flavour is rich and well done. While I'm impressed will how well root beer and orange blend together, I doubt many will agree as the taste is not something I would expect to well received by the masses.

KICK: Each bottle contains: 120mg of caffeine, guarana, and 100% of your daily intake of Vit. C. And while Root Jack may be great at preventing me from getting scurvy, it seems it is also great at preventing me at getting a good kick. For a mere one to two hours I was slightly more alert and was slightly more awake. Overall, Root Jack is just disappointingly weak.

FINAL WORD: From start to finish I have to say that I'm pleased with Root Jacks overall performance. While the kick does the unique taste and bottle no justice, this isn't enough to keep Root Jack from failing. While I am impressed with the taste and bottle of Root Jack, for a drink labeled an "energy drink" I'm ashamed about how weak the kick was. If several aspects were blessed with another look Root Jack could of been a truly unmatchable beverage, but for now, it is just a reminder of what could of been. All in all, at $2.25 a bottle, Root Jack is tough to recommend, but for anyone looking for a unique tasting root beer spin off, then you couldn't do better than Root Jack, and personally I fall in the latter category...3.4/5

official site

Sol mate' Sparkling Yerba Mate' Original

Shopping through my local Big Lots brought me a surprise, Sol mate Sparkling Yerba Mate' Original. Sol mate Original is made by the, Sol Mate' Beverage company and is the first energy drink that I've reviewed that comes in a glass bottle, the way all carbonated drinks should come in. Sol mate' Original, the name, leaves me to believe that its going to be a Red Bull clone, but for some reason, I feel that Sol mate is too premium to use such an over used flavour. On other note, the check out lady at Big Lots recommended me this and told me not to consume any other caffeinated drinks afterwords. Now, while I did buy the drink after her recommendation, I WILL drink more caffeinated drinks through out the day because no body tells the Caffeine King what to do...

FIRST IMPRESSION: The bottle of Sol mate' Original is very basic, with only a sun, and some writing. The colour of the drink is piss yellow, which is not a very appealing colour. And the slogan, "Just Energy No Jitters" doesn't really excite me. Overall, I don't like the bottle. If Sol mate wants to sell more drinks, they're gonna have to change the colour to something less piss-like(or tint the bottle), and spice up the bottle a little bit. But I do like the fact that it comes in a glass bottle, but the positives don't outweigh the negatives.

TASTE: After struggling to pop the cap off, I finally opened the bottle and took a sip. The flavour really surprised me. It starts off with a light tea flavour, lightly sweetened, then it fades away with a milk-diluted coffee taste similar to coffee ice cream. There is some underlying bitterness to the drink that I think comes from the coffee flavour. Overall, I don't like the taste of Sol mate' Original, as it try's and it try's hard, but it never really succeeds. It try's to be two completely different flavours at once, which should come to no surprise that it doesn't do well. Its also a real chore to finish drinking. I haven't had a drink that's so difficult to finish since Vital Lifestyle Water Energize Dragon Fruit.

KICK: Each bottle contains: sixty mg of caffeine, Mate' extract, organic can sugar, and citric acid. This "blend" of ingredients gave me one of the weakest kicks since the debut of this web log. Just like the slogan claimed, I got no jitters, but I also got no energy. The caffeine content is similar to a twelve oz. can of Vault, and so is the kick. Overall, a weak buzz that makes even FreeFall seem like Jolt.

FINAL WORD: Overall, I feel that Sol mate' Sparkling Yerba Mate' Original is one of the most disappointing energy drinks I've had in quite some time. Though my expectations where pretty low, what is disappointing is that the drink didn't even meet them. Though I like the fact that more companies are releasing premium energy drinks, with real sugar, glass bottles, and more vitamins, but Sol mate' is not a good example of these. In fact, Sol mate' is a perfect example of how not to make an all-natural energy drink...2/5

official site