Hardcore Energize Bullet Orange Mayhem Review

I stopped by 7-11 last night in search of new and exciting energy drinks only to find that the same old stuff are there. I did see a bunch of Hardcore Energize Bullet shots laying around so I decided to pick one up since so far I have reviewed only one of the flavours - Black Rush. I paid $2.99 for this shot, but I remember these being $3.49 at the very same 7-11.

After going over some of the writing on the label, I saw the use of "Liquid Energy Drink" as a description of what this thing is. Weird, does that mean it is not an energy shot, but rather a very tiny energy drink? After all, it is only 85 mL. I better call it both a big size energy shot and a pocket energy drink.

Taste

I was not very impressed with the aroma that hit me upon opening the bullet. It was a sharp, chemically enhanced scent vaguely reminiscent of orange crush. The taste wasn't as bad, but the chemical orange flavour had a lot influence. The shot/drink starts off very watery, but quickly a bitter note comes in followed by a mildly acidic one, which brings some of that orange flavour. The finish is diet-like with mild orange tones. Following the orange finish, a bitter and a sour note seem to trade places every 10 seconds for a couple of minutes. The first sip took care of about 1/3 of the bullet and numbed most of my tongue. The rest went down easy, but numbed my tongue even further. Overall, this has a passable taste and the bitterness is at a very decent level considering that there are 300 mg of caffeine stuffed in 85 mL.

Energy

As mentioned, there are 300 mg of caffeine in the shot and the "works in five minutes" statement is somewhat true. Just over 5 minutes after my first large gulp, I felt a huge jolt. I was a bit tired and groggy, but all of the sudden I felt awake...physically, not quite awake mentally. The energy delivery goes through an initial calming and focusing period, which lasted about 15-20 minutes for me and then came in the caffeine, which made me wish I was doing something physical so that I can use its potential.

Unfortunately the potential did not last very long, which surprised me since there were 300 mg of caffeine. I was jittery for a while at first, but within 2 hours everything was gone. I was feeling OK and there was no crash, but I was not energized. I was a bit disappointed since I remember the last one I tried performed very well.

Medicinal Ingredients:

• Caffeine - 300 mg
• L-Tyrosine - 200 mg
• Glucuronolactone - 200 mg
• Panax Ginseng - 20 mg
• Magnesium Gluconate - 1.2 mg
• Vitamin B6 - 10 mg
• Vitamin B1 - 5 mg
• Policosinol - 4 mg
• Rhodiola Rosea - 0.5 mg
• Folic Acid - 0.2 mg
• Vitamin B12 - 0.003 mg

Non-medicinal ingredients: deionized water, malic acid, natural & artificial flavours, sodium bicarbonate, sucralose, acesulfame potassium, FD&C yellow #5, FD&C red #40, FD&C yellow #6

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 from 7-11
Taste - 6/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 14/20...not as good as Black Rush in my opinion, but still does a pretty decent job