Emerge Energy Drink Review

First there was Bone Chillin' and now there is Emerge. Both are made by Cott and both are sold at WalMart for $3.97 for a 4 pack. Except Emerge is also sold in the UK and is, according to the label, the "#1 Value Energy Drink in the UK!" After reading a few search results, I think it is true - you can get a can for as little as 30p. Crazy cheap! And knowing Cott and their products, I expect a Red Bull clone with some more citric acid and a watery mouthfeel.

Taste

So is it a Red Bull clone? Very close to being one, but not quite. I am a bit surprised...pleasantly. Sure, there is some of the all too familiar scent, but once you take a sip, you will discover that it is similar, but not close to being a Red Bull clone like Red Rain or Red Rave.

No, this is almost an unique energy drink and I say that because you still get whiffs of the berry/citrus/candy Red Bull flavour, but the added acids turn those from the sugar ball they are into a crisp package. The best way to describe this energy drink is if you were to take a Red Rain, or Bone Chillin', watered it down a bit, added some lemon/lime, some acids (mostly citric) and brought it up a carbonation level. The candy sweetness that Red Bull exhibits is gone, but the acceptable level of acidity has been destroyed. Halfway through the can I could feel my teeth eroding. Sure, this makes the finish crisp and the palatte clean, but what about my teeth?

This may sound like complaining, or negative points, but in the end, I still enjoyed this drink very much. In my opinion, Red Rain was the perfect value Red Bull clone (Bone Chillin' is essentially the same), whereas this is just a more acidic and less flavourful version of it. For $3.97 for a 4 pack, you have nothing to lose - go and get one.

Energy

Unfortunately, there is less caffeine per mL here than there is in a can of Bone Chillin' or Red Rain. There are 142 mg, which falls short of the 0.32mg/mL a can of Red Bull and Red Rain offer (that is 80 mg per 250 mL), but not by much.

The effects are essentially identical - sugar rush within 5-10 minutes and if you drink the whole can at once, you will experience some minor jitters. Sip is slow and you will skip the jitters. I went from drowsy on a Sunday morning, to energized and ready to go enjoy the sunny day in about 20-30 minutes total...just about when the caffeine was starting to really kick in. I got a decent 3 hours out of the can and then I felt normal and almost borderline tired. Yep, almost experienced a crash there. I think if it was later on in the day and I didn't have much energy to start with, I would have definitely felt the crash at the end.

Again, for $3.97 for a 4 pack, this is a pretty decent energy drink.

Scores:
Cost - $3.97 from WalMart for a 4 pack
Taste - 8/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 16/20...solid value energy drink