Chaotic Mind Strike Review

Edit: Skip to the middle of the post to see what I discovered about this drink


I was at 7-11 again browsing the fridges. On the upper shelf, of one of the energy drink sections, tucked away in the corner of the fridge I saw a dark and familiar label. I picked up the can and read it - "Chaotic". Right away I recognized that the label was from the trading card game Chaotic, whose decks and expansion packs are usually on sale at the cash register. I cannot believe they are trying to market energy drinks now. It must be a part of an evil plan to get
kids that play the game hooked on energy drinks. I assume a Chaotic expansion pack costs the same as a pack of Magic cards and a can of the Chaotic energy drink - $2.99. "Hey kids, when you are buying another pack, why not get a drink too?" I bet that's what the execs were thinking. I also like how they have given them names - Mind Strike, Fearocity, Power Pulse,
Elixir of Tenacity. The one I picked up was Mind Strike...because that was the can I originally grabbed when I first noticed them.

It says it tastes like blood orange. It smells like Hi-C/Fanta/any carbonated orange drink. Not only does it smell like any carbonated orange drink, but it also tastes like them as well. When I say "like" I mean "worse". I really don't like orange soda because it just tastes fake. If I wanted a carbonated orange drink, I would mix club soda and orange juice or just buy an Orangina. Chaotic Mind Strike has a dull orange taste with a slightly bitter undertone. The label on the back tells me that the bitterness might be from the ginkgo biloba extract or the gotu kola. I have never heard of the second one, but I do have a pack of loose leaf ginkgo biloba tea at home so I know that it is bitter. Here is a link to the gotu kola wikipedia article. So to wrap up the taste section - I don't like it much.

The aftertaste is similar to that of the carbonated orange drinks - a bit sweet with an artificial orange taste. Yep, the aftertaste lasts for a while, but don't worry, it is not as bad as the drink itself.

I was surprisingly pepped up by the drink. The label doesn't say what the caffeine content is, but I assume it is low because I only recognized the green tea leaf extract as something that might contain caffeine. The ginkgo biloba is supposed enhance concentration and memory, but at 1.5 mg per can, I don't know if the effects would be noticed. The energy boost lasted for a couple of hours, but I don't think it's comparable to other energy drinks.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 CAD per can, I got it from 7-11 and I haven't seen it anywhere else
Taste - 5.8/10...not the greatest taste
Energy - 6.1/10

Overall - 11.9/20...don't leave yet, read bellow

OK, so the label on the can was badly placed. The whole time I was drinking this, the edge of the label was touching my lip and scratching it. After I had the drink, I looked at the rim and noticed that the label was slightly ripped where I was drinking. I grabbed the ripped piece and pulled it. See what I discovered when I peeled the label:


WHAT IS THIS? Awake good morning energy, 100% juice + energy. How is this 100%? Right below the "100% juice" it says from concentrate. Sure concentrate was made from juices, but if this is how you defined 100% juice, then all cheap orange juices you buy at the grocery store will claim that they are 100% juice. On the back it says that there 80 mg of caffeine per can and 100 mg of taurine. Not bad, but this is a 355 mL can. OK, forget about the energy and that the label came off. It says that it is not carbonated, but guess what - IT IS CARBONATED.

Now, onto more important things - is Awake energy Chaotic energy? Did Chaotic just use the available cans to save money? Did Chaotic just bought a bunch of Awake energy cans and rebrand them to try and make a quick buck alongside the game they sell? Let me know if you have come across this before.

Check out the other Chaotic drinks I have tried:

• Fearocity
• Elixir of Tenacity