Rockstar Xdurance Energy Drink Review

They are finally here - the new batch of Rockstar energy drinks. I will kick off the series of reviews with the Rockstar Xdurance, which is labeled as a performance energy drink with only 20 calories. Seems like a lot of big players are focusing on sugar free drinks.

I also like how the Rockstar can design has changed so much since the first can came out. These ones stand out a lot more and look much slicker.

Taste

The label states that this tastes like blueberry, pomegranate and acai...and it sort of does. A slightly tart pomegranate favour kicks off the drink, which is then followed by a sweet and mellow, strong tasting blueberry flavour that stays all the way until the finish. There is very little acai and it is noticeable only here and there with there being the aftertaste.

There is an odd perfumy flavour which appears close to the start of each sip but then disappears until the aftertaste. As part of the aftertaste this flavour is very strong and combines with the blueberry taste to form some sort of a floral, blueberry combo that is very similar to Monster Rehab's Protean. After a minute or two this flavour develops a creamy, yogurt like character making it very similar to Protean. Unlike the Protean, though, this drink is not dry (at least not for about 10 minutes after you have finished the can) nor is it chalky, so I may consider this a slight improvement over Protean.

The sweetener taste almost gets lost thanks to the floral/creamy blueberry aftertaste, but only at the start. Give it a few minutes and once the aftertaste starts to disappear, the sweetener comes out on top and lingers for a while.

Though this is very similar to Monster Rehab's Protean, I do prefer Protean's taste.

Energy

There are 160 mg of caffeine in the can, which is pretty standard for a Rockstar drink. The effects are noticeable within 10 to 15 minutes and vary depending on how quickly you drank the beverage. I drank mine quickly so I felt awake and very energized very quickly. I even experienced some jitters around the 15 minute mark, but they were short lived.

The real energy comes in a bit later and it is very smooth now that my jitters have subsided. The energy lasts for a few hours and there is no crash at the end.

Another great Rockstar addition, though a bit late.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 from 7-11
Taste - 8.5/10
Energy - 8/10

Overall - 16.5/20...similar to Monster Rehab Protean in terms of taste