NOS Charged Lime Energy Drink Review

This is a brand new NOS flavour that recently arrived to 7-11 and some local convenience stores. It seems strange to me that I could only find the sugar free version of this flavour since I know that  there is a sugary one as I have read some reviews from south of the border. But trying something new (anything new) is always better in my opinion than not trying something new.

Taste

The taste starts off on a bit of an odd note - over carbonated, sugar-free, lightly lime flavoured beverage...if that makes any sense. Essentially there is no taste at the start of the sip, however, as soon as the carbonation dies down in your mouth, the drink's true flavour emerges. As its name suggests, the main flavour here is lime. But wait! There is more! Alongside the lime flavour is an orange/tangerine note which starts off barely noticeable, but towards the finish really pops. Some lingering notes can be detected in the aftertaste, but for the most parts sweet lime and sweeteners dominate.

The sweetener aftertaste is not too bad as the lime gives it a bit of a refreshing character, but it is still there reminding you that you just consumed something with only 20 calories. I just wish this energy drink had a bit more citric acid to give it a bite.

Energy

In true NOS nature this can contains a higher than normal amount of caffeine when compared to the other 473 mL cans on the same shelf - 194 mg to be exact. I know this is not as great as the original NOS sold in Canada years ago at 250 mg per can, but beats the majority of the other drinks that contain around 150 mg to 160 mg.

The delivery is very typical for such a drink - you start to feel awake within 10-15 minutes and within another 20 to 30 you feel very energized. I had a decent amount of sleep so I felt excellent once the caffeine kicked in. Since this is a sugar-free energy drink, I did not experience any jitters.

The kick lasted for about 3-4 hours and there was no crash at the end, which I always favor. Yesterday afternoon I had a can of a popular sugar energy drink and crashed very bad early evening.

Scores:
Cost - $3.49 from 7-11
Taste - 7.8/10
Energy - 8.5/10

Overall - 16.3/20...decent flavour, excellent kick