NOS Fruit Punch Energy Drink Review

NOS Fruit Punch is finally available in Canada and I got myself a can of it. I found it at a convenience store, which usually carries more energy drinks than any 7-11 or Mac's in the area. The bad news is that most of the drinks cost extra. I paid $3.49 for this can, but I am sure I can find it soon at other locations for $2.99.

The energy drink is red in color and has the typical fruit punch aroma. The taste is not bad, but nothing very exciting. It tastes a lot like a cheap fruit punch flavoured juice. It is a combination of berries and cherries with the latter being the dominant flavour. Personally, I am not a huge fruit punch fan unless there is some sort of a sour twist from concord grapes or cranberries. The drink is, of course, sweet, but not as sweet as some of the other ones at the start or even half way through. By the end of the can the sweetness does build up but it is not something unbearable. There is no unpleasant taste from the energy ingredients.

Like the other cans of NOS, this one contains 250 mg of caffeine and a lot of sugar, which should be more than enough to keep you going for several hours. I got a sugar rush with some jitters shortly after starting to drink this. The caffeine kicked up around 30 - 35 minutes later and I was feeling wide awake, but still a little jittery. My legs were shaking, but at least I had my desk to cover this sugar effect. After another 15 - 20 minute all the caffeine kicked in and I had the urge to get up and walk around, NO, to run around. The energy kick lasted for 4-5 hours which was fantastic. At the end, though, I experienced a mild crash, which I had to fix by drinking some black tea.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Taurine - 2,000 mg
• Caffeine - 250 mg
• Inositol - 200 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 4 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 12 mcg

Non-Medicinal Ingredients: carbonated water, sugar/glucose-fructose, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium phosphate, potassium phosphate, natural flavour, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, panax ginseng root extract, colour, calcium disodium EDTA, sucralose.

Scores:
Cost - $3.49 CAD for a 473 mL can, but you can probably find it for $2.99 at a 7-11
Taste - 7.5/10
Energy - 8.8/10

Overall - 16.3/20...not bad, tastes like a fruit punch flavoured soft drink and has a lot of caffeine