New ...lost Energy Drink Can Design

So ...lost has a new design, but does it have a new formula or is it still a re-branded Monster? I was curious so instead of buying something else, I chose to blow my money on a drink I was disappointed with a few months ago. I got the new can from Mac's for $2.99.

I have to admit that this is a slight improvement over the previous design though it still seems a bit tacky. The drink still smells exactly like a regular Monster and has the same color. The taste? Identical as well. There is just so much of that cough syrup taste. Damn it lost, I gave you another chance and you blew it again.

In the caffeine department, you get the same amount as a regular Monster - 160 mg. There is not much to say about the caffeine experience - came in like a torrent of uncontrollable energy, there were some jitters, once they went away the rush lasted for a few hours. I really enjoyed the energy boost since it was New Year's Eve. The one thing I didn't like was the mild crash which I had to counteract with some Revive energy mints.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 CAD for a 473 mL can
Taste - 5.9/10
Energy - 7.5/10

Overall - 13.4/20...you will notice that the previous ...lost got 12/20 with the same scores for taste and energy. That was because of the bad can design, I like this one better

Jones Pomegranate Cream Soda Limited Edition Bottle Review

I picked this fresh from a huge "Christmas tree" made of blue and pink pomegranate cream soda limited edition bottles. In hindsight I should have taken a photo of the tree to show the neat arrangement. Both blue and pink bottles contained the same soda so I decided to get just one of them since I am not a big fan of cream soda. The bottles were $1.39 CAD each.

I wasn't able to find much...or any...information on these bottles or the flavour itself. The Jones Soda website has similarly decorated sodas for purchase, but not these cream sodas. Nevertheless, I will tell you all about it. Obviously the soda is pink/reddish with a very sweet and creamy aroma. It tastes more like plain pink cream soda than pomegranate cream soda. The beverage is not sour at all and hints of pomegranate emerge for very brief periods of time. The taste reminds me a lot of those vampire gummy teeth or any other pink marshmallow/gummy candy. I like the full size plastic label though. The end wraps around the bottom of the bottle, which serves as a cushion when putting the drink down. I was working on a glass desk today so every time I had to put a mug or a bottle down, I was annoyed by the glass clinking noise. I had no problems putting this bottle down.

Scores:
Cost - $1.39 CAD for a 355 mL bottle
Taste - 7/10

Overall - 7/10...I don't like cream sodas too much and I thought that the pomegranate taste was too weak

Avitae Energy Water Review

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from an Avitae representative asking me if I would like some free samples of a new product - energy water. Of course I agreed to the free samples. Now lets fast-forward until yesterday when a small box appeared on my doorstep. In this box I found this 4 pack of Avitae energy waters.


I really like the design of the pack and the pack itself. What is in the pack looks even better. This is definitely a unique bottle design which will set Avitae apart from all the other waters on display. I was told that a bottle of Avitae retails for $1.69 and that this product will not be available in Canada yet.

Hmm, water with caffeine? How would that taste? Some companies can't conceal the caffeine taste with a ton of sugar and various flavours, so how can you add caffeine to water without ruining the clean taste of water? Well, Avitae has pulled this off. I am not saying this because I got some free samples, it is true. Avitae tastes like water, like any other filtered/ozonated water you can buy from convenience stores, gas stations, supermarkets, etc. The added caffeine has not affected the taste of water at all. The one thing I noticed was the dry-mouth feeling I got after the first few sips but I remembered that Aquafina has the same effect on me.

There are 45 mg of caffeine in each 500 mL bottle of Avitae, which is not much for caffeine junkies. In fact, it is slightly more than a can of Pepsi and I know this because there is a can of regular Pepsi on my desk right now. I had an Avitae the afternoon I got the package when I was feeling drowsy after heavy meal. Since I drink so much coffee and caffeinated beverages, the bottle of Avitae acted as a short term stimulant. I felt slightly energized for about 40 minutes and then I was back to feeling drowsy. Not much else to say about energy boost. Some individuals, who don't drink coffee or tea might find this stimulating for longer periods of time, but not caffeine addicts.

Scores:
Cost - $1.69 per bottle
Taste - 10/10...not sure what else to give it since this tastes like pure water
Energy - 4.2/10

Overall - 14.2/20...this would have been less if it wasn't for that pure water taste

Hype Enlite Energy Drink Review

For the longest time I thought that the black Hype can was the regular Hype and the silver can was the sugar free one. As it turned out, the silver can is the regular one and the pink can, Hype Enlite, is the light Hype. How do I know it is the light one? Well when I was waiting for the log in screen to appear, I was staring at the can and I saw the subtle text in the background which said "10 cal". Can you see it in the photo?


I like this, I like the subtlety, I like the art that is the background. I got the can for $1.99 from Bulk Barn, which is the only store I have every seen the pink Hype sold at.

As expected the drink is pink. It smells a lot like your typical Red Bull clone. It tastes like a Red Bull clone too with the exception of the slightly diet taste which appears in the finish. There is some extra citric acid added which makes the aftertaste sour and very crisp. I like this drink, it has a sour bite similar to that of Red Rave. Having tried this, I have to try diet Red Bull to compare the taste.

Don't expect much of a rush if you are a caffeine junkie/energy drink fiend. Being a 250 mL drink, this provides only 80 mg of caffeine which is on par with all other similarly priced and sized drinks. Since my day started really early, the 80 mg were enough to wake me up in the morning. The extra citric acid helped do the trick as well. I felt energized within 15 minutes, but like any other 250 mL energy drink the heightened energy feeling lasted for about an hour before I was back to my normal level of morning energy...the one between the moment you feel awake and the moment you feel drowsy around lunch time, yeah, that one.

Scores:
Cost - $1.99 CAD for a 250 mL can
Taste - 8.3/10
Energy - 6/10

Overall - 14.3/20...almost identical to the Red Rave drink with the exception of the slight diet taste in the finish, which is why I took some points off

Romulan Ale Energy Drink Review

What is Romulan Ale? According to Wikipedia Romulan Ale is "a fictional popular blue alcoholic beverage..." This energy drink however, should not be confused with the beer. Seeing how this is a novelty energy drink I do not have great expectations. Last year I had a can of Duff energy drink and it tasted like cheap, artificial orange pop. The can of Duff was $2.99, but luckily, this can of Romulan Ale cost me $2.69. I got it from the local Bulk Barn store, which happened to carry quite a lot of novelty energy drinks. I think I will go back to get a can of Slurm.

The Romulan Ale manufacturer was at least authentic and made the drink blue. So far so good. I can see from the bubbles that this beverage is very carbonated. The taste is not bad, but it is not impressive. It tastes like a blue raspberry/blueberry pop (read soda). It is not too sweet and the sweetness did not build up for me. The finish is slightly sour giving it a pleasant aftertaste. There is no energy blend taste which makes this quite enjoyable.

Obviously the caffeine content will not be listed on such beverages, but caffeine is listed as an ingredient. I am guessing that this 250 mL contains anywhere between 50 and 80 mg of caffeine. I am basing this solely on the fact that this is a 250 mL can and is more of a novelty energy drink rather than a real energy drink. I felt a jolt about 15 minutes after consuming the drink. Ten minutes after that I was feeling a bit jittery but overall energized. I think that much of this energy came from the amount of sugar this drink contains and not the caffeine. The energized feeling went away too quickly after only 45 - 50 minutes. This isn't the best energy drink, but it sure is cool.

Scores:
Cost - $2.69 CAD for a 250 mL can
Taste - 8.2/10
Energy - 5.5/10

Overall - 13.7/20...it tastes like Jolt Blue Raspberry, only slightly better due to the lack of an "energy blend" taste

Revive Energy Mints Review

It is time for me to start trying more non-liquid caffeinated products. I picked up a pack of Revive a few days ago from 7-11 for the low price of $2.99. I was disappointed to learn that there are tons of websites that try to get people to start their own business selling Revive mints. A lot of them suggest selling packs for $3.99, which is more expensive than what convenience stores sell them for.

The first thing I noticed about Revive is the package of course. It is cluttered!!! Really cluttered with useless text. For example - "1 Package = 8 Energy Drinks". I really don't need this since the two lines below read "1 mint = 1 Energy Drink" and "contains 8 mints". I can do basic math, I know that 1 package will equal 8 energy drinks if there are 8 mints per package and each one equals an energy drink. The back, surprisingly, is much more ordered and clean. But enough about the packaging, I want to try a mint.

Like the Blitz energy mints that I had a few months ago, Revive mints are large and covered in a white powder. The mint starts off very refreshing, but quickly turns bitter. Soon it goes back to being minty, then back to being bitter. This is like a taste rollercoaster. The mint...or shall I say...candy keeps bouncing back and forth between a minty and a bitter taste. I am not sure I like the taste very much.

Interesting, here is something funny I found on the back. The statements that each mint equals an energy drink "have not yet been reviewed or evaluated by the FDA". Interesting, isn't it?

Whether or not each mint equals an energy drink, they still give you a moderate boost. By the end of the mint I felt energized, but jittery. Though I wanted to get up and run around, my eyelids were still heavy. This acted only as a physical stimulant for me rather than something that would do both - stimulate me physically and mentally. So eat a mint if you need to be physically stimulated because it works, don't take one if you are drowsy or have mental work to do.

Score:
Cost - $2.99 CAD for a pack of 8 mints
Taste - 5.5/10
Energy - 6/10

Overall - 11.5/20...a battle between the mint taste and the energy blend taste with no apparent winner, but a single loser - you. Taste aside, the mints will give you a decent boost so they do work

Jones 24C Mandarin Orange Review

I honestly did not know that Jones made anything else other than delicious soda until a few days ago when I found this at T&T. I normally don't look twice at flavoured waters, but this caught my eye because it was placed right next to all the Jones' sodas and not with all the other water products. The cost was low too - $1.69 CAD for a bottle - so I decided to get one and try it. Just like the Glacéau Vitamin Waters, these ones also come in the same bottle type and bear a similar label.

The first thing I noticed about this beverage is the strong mandarin aroma. Unlike the aroma, the taste is weaker, because, well...because this is just flavoured water. The good thing about the taste is the sourness, which makes the overall experience quite refreshing. I am not sure if it is what I ate before I tried the drink, or the drink itself, but there is an off-putting undertone similar to orange seeds. This taste disappears quickly, but it is just something not very pleasant.

Scores:

Cost - $1.69 CAD for a 591 mL bottle

Taste - 7.2/10

Overall - 7.2/10...I will stick to the sodas

Treehugger Premium Organic Lime Lemonade Review

A few months ago I came across the treehugger Orange juice, which I thought was made by the popular blog treehugger, but was disappointed to learn that this was not true. The juice was OK, but I thought it was not worth the $2.99 price tag. Well, a couple of days ago I found the treehugger lime lemonade, which was priced at only $1.39, less than half the price of orange juice. I decided to get a bottle because it was cheaper than the Minute Maid lemonade. The price was suspicious at first, but carefully read the label and determined that the juice was not past its expiration date.

Remember to shake these juices as there was a lot of pulp and sediment at the bottle. Once I shook it, the color changed from pale and clear yellow, to a cloudy pale yellow which made the beverage resemble lemonade. The label states that the lemonade is "an elegant blend of Organic Tahitian limes and Organic Sicilian lemons: Not too sweet & not too sour...just perfect!" I would almost agree with this if the lemonade was a tad less sour. The sweetness level is...well...perfect, but the beverage is a bit sour. I like sour things, but towards the end of the bottle, my jaw was clenching. Despite the sourness, I find this lemonade to be much more enjoyable than many of the other lemonades that come in similar packages and are sold at convenience stores or gas stations. Good job, I like this better than the orange juice.

Scores:
Cost - $1.39 CAD for a 355 mL bottle
Taste - 8.5/10

Overall - 8.5/10...better than other lemonades that some in similar packages

Arthur's Smoothies Green Energy Review

I love smoothies like this one. They are thick, rich in flavour and contain tons of vitamins. This particular one says that it contains 2 Canada Food Guide servings of vegetables and fruits per 250 mL. Since the bottle is 325 mL, then there are 2.6 servings in this container. The ingredients list is really good - apple juice, banana puree, passionfruit juice, plum puree, lemon/lime juice, spirulina powder, flax seed oil, barley grass powder and wheat grass powder. Having such ingredients, the smoothie has a short shelf life. I got this from T&T and paid only $2.09 for it.

The smoothie has a fairly uninviting dark green, muddy color. But once you get over the look, the drink is fantastic. The aroma is combination of apples, bananas and lemons with some faint passionfruit hints. The drink is very thick and quite filling. The taste is similar to the aroma, but the plum flavour becomes noticeable. The aftertaste is banana heavy and dries up the mouth. There are a couple of things about the taste I should mention, things that I wasn't expecting. First, it is not as tart as I expected and second, it is a bit sweeter than expected. Half way through the bottle I was experiencing a sugary build up in the back of my throat. Overall this is an excellent smoothie with an excellent price, but I think that the Starbucks comparable smoothie is a tad better. I just have to get another one of those some day and review it.

Scores:
Cost - $2.09 CAD for a 325 mL bottle
Taste - 9/10

Overall - 9/10...excellent drink with a killer price

Venga Brainstorm Review

I started seeing this product this summer, but never considered buying it until just yesterday. I thought that this is something similar to Vitamin Water, but it turned out to be a "non-carbonated tea infusion, enhanced with fruit juices and vitamins." Look at all the good stuff in this drink - rooibos tea, gingko biloba, panax ginseng, antioxidants, vitamins B1, B6 and B12. The beverage is not as expensive as energy drinks, but is not as cheap as most vitamin waters at $2.59 per 532 mL bottle.

Upon opening the bottle I was greeted by a sharp pomegranate and blueberry aroma with a medicinal undertone. The taste is much, much better. I wasn't able to detect the presence of ginseng, gingko biloba or rooibos, but the taste of pomegranate and blueberry is very strong. The drink is sweeter than vitamin waters, but it is not as sweet as the juice equivalents so you can drink the entire bottle without experiencing a sugar build up. Towards the end of the bottle, I was, however, experiencing a ginseng taste build up in the back of my throat. It is not an unpleasant taste, but it is just there. The aftertaste is fairly good - a bit sour with hints of pomegranate and blueberries. Overall, this is a fairly good drink, but it does not have the same effects as a can of Red Bull or Monster. I even think you would be better off drinking an energy shot to gain that "mental advantage". Not only will you have to drink less to feel energized, you will not feel bloated at the end.

Scores:
Cost - $2.59 CAD for a 532 mL bottle
Taste - 8.9/10

Overall - 8.9/10...can't compare it to energy drinks and I didn't experience any brain stimulation, but the taste was pretty good

X-Ray 6 Hour Energy Shot Review

The first thing I noticed about this shot is the top portion of the label where one finds the following sentence - "Glow in the dark bottle!" Seems kind of pointless, but the label does glow in the dark. And when I say the label glows, I mean the skull on the label glows. It seems like it would have been more effective and cool, if there was a face instead of the skull, and the face was painted in a way that when it glows, one would see a skull and not the face. Think about it Martoon! Well, lets continue on with the review. The shot is not cheap or expensive, it costs $2.99 CAD, which is the same as most other energy shots. It comes in the same bottle as the NRG and 5 hour energy shots so it is not as innovative as the Beaver Buzz shot.

The energy shot is pink and clear. It smells like berries and apples with a citrus punch. This does not taste bad, but it tastes like one of the 5-hour energy shots. The berry flavour is easily noticeable, but what I wasn't expecting was the sour finish, which stings the tongue a little bit. In fact, this shot is so sour, that the berry taste is overpowered the moment it hits the tongue. The shot is quite watery so almost nothing, other than the artificial sweetener taste, clings to your tongue and lingers. This is not a bad tasting shot and the sour level does help it a little. I can definitely drink this if I have to.

Expect to find 150 mg of caffeine in each 60 mL bottle. That is the same as pretty much most of the popular energy drinks - Monster, AMP, Full Throttle, Rockstar - and since the shot costs the same, the choice is really between consuming 473 mL of a sugary, carbonated drink, or just taking a sour shot.

Like many of the energy shots I have had recently, this one helped me focus at first, but then when the entire amount of caffeine was absorbed by my body, an over-caffeinated feeling took over. Amazingly, the over-caffeinated feeling lasted mere minutes and I was back to feeling focused and very energized...but not so energized that I wanted to climb walls and jump around the room. This level of energy and focus lasted for about 2 hours, which, no matter which way you look at it, is less than the promised 6 hours.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 CAD for a 60 mL shot
Taste - 6/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 14/20...decent tasting and performing shot, but in a tacky container with an equally tacky name

Beaver Buzz Energy Shot Review

Lately I have been populating the energy shots section of this blog. That is because I have run out of energy drinks to try. The province of Ontario is not the best place to find many and/or unique ones so now I am trying energy shots. I hope by the time I run out of energy shots to try, some new energy drinks would have made their way into the province. If not, there are always caffeinated candies and gum to try.

I love the Beaver Buzz line. Sometimes I pick their beverages over Red Bull, which has been my caffeine staple in the last 5 years. I finally decided to suck it up and try their shot, which is based on the Beaver Buzz Core Energy drink. I expect this to be somewhat similar in taste, just more concentrated. I also have to comment on the container as it is quite unique. Many other energy shots share the same containers, but this one stands out. The clean, solid black label helps it a bit too.

The shot has a weird red color with orange hues and has a smell similar to that of Beaver Buzz Core Energy and Monster. Wow, this tastes great. It is like a mellow tasting, non-carbonated version of Core Energy with a slight citrus undertone. I would even say that the taste has improved with the shot. And unlike other energy shots, this is not sugar free, which is why it tastes so good. There is not artificial sweetener taste, just the pleasant, slightly sweet taste of the shot. I highly recommend this.

I love the "Recommended Dose" instructions on the back of this shot. It says to drink the whole bottle for full energy buzz, or drink half for moderate energy. The 60 mL shot contains 121 mg of caffeine, which is nothing to be impressed with. The energy shot started working within minutes. I felt awake and energized, yet calm and focused. Sadly this didn't last very long and my system was flooded with caffeine. I was over-energized, but luckily that lasted 20 or so minutes and I was back to feeling just awake and energized. The caffeine may not be much, but the shot works well.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 CAD for 60 mL
Taste - 7.8/10
Energy - 7.3/10

Overall - 15.1/20...great tasting, works well enough. This is a great compromise between taste and buzz

Inked Berry Energy Shot Review

Continuing with the Inked energy shots line, today I am trying the berry shot. I got this energy shot from 7-11 for $2.69 CAD.

Twisting the top open I was not greeted by the most pleasant aroma in the World. It was a combination between cough medicine, Red Bull and concentrated berry syrup. The taste is similar to the Inked Citrus shot, but with this one you can taste the flavour. The taste is slightly sour at first, but the bitterness is overwhelming. In fact, it is so overwhelming that it stays in your mouth for quite some time. The berry taste manages to emerge once again the finish, but for a very brief period of time. Long after you have downed the shot, traces of the berry flavour battle it out with the bitterness and the other energy ingredients. The taste of berries comes and goes for a few minutes, but overall it is very weak. I think this is a notch better than the citrus shot, but it is still not a very good tasting energy shot.

Just like the other Inked energy shot, this one contains 150 mg of caffeine. I got a decent energy boost within 15 minutes, but just like the other Inked shot, it soon became overwhelming. I was jittery for a while, but once the jitters subsided, I was feeling energized for a long time. Great energy boost, if you are OK with the taste.

Scores:
Cost - $2.69 CAD
Taste - 3.7/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 11.7/20...meh, it is a choice between energy and taste

Pocari Sweat Review

I picked this up from the local Korean store last night for only $1. I couldn't pass the opportunity to try a drink with the word "sweat" in its name.

OK, the drink does not smell horrible, in fact, it smells very good - of grapefruit. It also has a grapefruit taste, which is fantastic. Though the main flavour is grapefruit, there is also a chalky undertone, which I cannot explain. It doesn't change the taste dramatically, but it lets you know that there is something else in the drink. The beverage is not carbonated and is lightly sweetened so that there isn't any sugar build up. The aftertaste is clean with a mild grapefruit note. Overall this is a pretty refreshing drink, which I wouldn't mind buying again since it is only $1.

Scores:
Cost - $1 CAD for a 245 mL can
Taste - 9/10

Overall - 9/10...great taste, great price, great name - Pocari Sweat

Inked Citrus Energy Shot Review

The time for me to try the Inked energy shots has come. I went to get a couple from 7-11 yesterday regretting not doing this the last time they had their 2 for 1 sale. I paid regular price - $2.69 CAD for each shot. The price is not too high and not too low, it is right in the middle. The bottle, in which the shots come, is identical to that of the Fuel Cell energy shots. Unlike the Inked energy drinks, the shots don't have individual names, they go by flavour.

After a vigorous shake, I twisted the cap off and was greeted by an aroma somewhere between cough medicine and Red Bull/Red Rain. I don't know what to think of the taste as it is neither bad nor good. There isn't any flavour at all. The shot is bitter but fairly neutral so I cannot say it tastes like cough medicine. Towards the end of the container I was able to detect a sour hint of citric acid, but that was quickly overpowered by the bitterness. The worst part of the shot is the bitter sensation it leaves on your tongue. Unless told, I would have never guessed that this was supposed to taste like citrus fruits.

Unlike the Red Rain shot I had yesterday, this one has a lot more caffeine - 150 mg to be exact. That amount is equivalent to the one present in the Inked energy drinks so in the end the dilemma is if one should drink 473 mLs and somewhat enjoy the taste, or suck it up and slam down 71 mLs. Too bad the label does not promise mental clarity and focus, because that is exactly what I was experiencing before the 150 mg of caffeine found their way through my system and delivered a torrent of energy. OK, it wasn't a torrent, but more of a gradual flooding as at first I was awake and energized but then I was overwhelmed and slightly jittery. The jitters lasted for quite sometime and the energy boost lasted even longer. It is now 4 hours after I took the shot and I am still feeling pretty energetic. Not a bad shot.

Scores:
Cost - $2.69 CAD for a 71 mL shot
Taste - 3.5/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 11.5/20...I know I said that the taste was neither bad nor good so I should have given it a 5, but I decided to be tough. A 3.5 means that you can drink it without regretting the purchase you made, unlike Ice Blue Chill NRG shot or Fuel Cell Appleberry shot

Red Rain 12 Energy Shot Review

I have no idea why this energy shot contains "energy drink" on its label, it is clearly a shot. For a Red Rain shot, I was expecting the label to be the same color as the regular Red Rain and not this dark red/burgundy/brown color. I got this from 7-11 for $2.50 CAD. I have seen the shot other places and the price varies between $2.50 and $2.99.

This is probably the hardest to open energy shot I have had. The perforated line near the top did not work and I ended up just ripping a small piece off the top. After a 30 second struggle and the use of my Swiss Army knife, I got the top part of the label off. When I opened the cap, I did not receive a warm greeting and the look of the top of the bottle did not really make me want to put my lips anywhere near it.


For the sake of experimentation, I forced myself to soldier on. The shot smells vaguely like the regular Red Rain with a strong scent of dirty mop water. The shot itself does not taste bad and I can notice that the standard Red Rain/Red Bull taste is present. There is a slightly vile taste added on top of the Red Rain/Red Bull taste from all the energy ingredients, but overall it is not as bad as some other shots (Ice Blue Chill NRG and Mandarin Orange NRG). The finish is sour at first with a touch of that energy mixture skunkiness, but that disappears fairly quickly and the only thing left to remind you of the energy shot is the sour taste and feel.

This energy shot contains only 80 mg of caffeine, which is the equivalent of a small, 250 mL, energy drink. In fact, the regular Red Rain contains the same amount of caffeine. When faced with the decision which to pick, I would definitely go for the can of Red Rain as it is a bit cheaper and tastes much better.

The shot started to work within 15 minutes and I started to experience what the bottle told me I would experience - mental clarity. Did I feel more focused? Perhaps at the first, but soon the full effect of the 80 mg of caffeine kicked in, which really destroyed the initial experience of mental clarity and focus. Good thing this only contains 80 mg, or else I would have been focused on climbing the walls. The rush subsided relatively quickly and I was back to experiencing mental clarity for about 40-50 minutes. So here is a tip from me - wait out the energy rush, then use the mental clarity and focus to do some work.

Scores:
Cost - $2.50 CAD for a 60 mL shot
Taste - 5.6/10
Energy - 6.5/10

Overall - 12.1/20...does not have as much caffeine as other energy shots, but this really provides mental clarity and focus, though only for less than an hour

Bawls Geek Beer Review

The first time I had Geek Beer was a year ago. I stopped at the only gas station/convenience store on a long stretch of county highway, at least 100 km away from the nearest city, and I was surprised to find the store stocked with various energy drinks. That was the last time I saw and had this beverage, until last week. I found a well stocked energy drinks display at a near-by convenience store, which also had Geek Beer for $2.59 CAD per bottle.

I like the color of the bottle - brown - very similar to real beer bottles. The drink is very carbonated and a bit creamy. Unlike other root beers, this one doesn't have many taste ingredients to give it a rich character. It tastes a lot like mass market root beers, such as Barq's and A&W's. The taste is sweet with hints of caramel and the finish is sweet at first, but clean in the long run. More importantly, it is not tainted by the energy ingredients, which makes this an enjoyable drink. I like the taste, and I think this is easier to drink than the original Bawls, but I cannot see myself drinking this on a regular basis.

The bottle does not bear an indication of the amount of caffeine in the bottle, but after a quick look on the ThinkGeek website, I found that the bottle contains 80 mg of caffeine. I wouldn't call this a "high caffeine" guarana root beer, just caffeinated guarana root beer. That's the same amount of caffeine a small can of Red Bull contains, which can give some people a rush, but not me, or any caffeine addicts. If I need a small boost, I go for 80 mg drinks, but if I need to wake up, I need at least double that. I started to feel the effects of the caffeine within 20 minutes of taking the first sip, but the energy boost lasted for just over an hour. On the plus side I did not experience a crash.

Scores:
Cost - $2.59 CAD for a 296 mL bottle
Taste - 7.9/10
Energy - 6/10

Overall - 13.9/20...I think this is more of a niche drink than a mass market one. It tastes good, but it does not have enough caffeine to satisfy the cravings of a caffeine junkie