Cheetah Power Surge Fruit Punch

Fruit Punch is one of two new Cheetah Power Surge flavors that recently came out. The other is watermelon and to be honest sounds much more original and interesting, but I am saving that for another post.

I found both at a Foodland store outside of Waterloo for $1.49 each. I haven't seen them yet other places, but I am sure stored that normally carry Cheetah will carry these two soon enough.

Taste

The taste is very sour and amazingly refreshing and tasty when drinking it cold...especially after a night of drinking. Like most other fruit punch flavoured beverages, it is hard to tell the individual fruits apart, but the overall combination comes together nicely. Once you have finished drinking is when some of the nasty and typical Cheetah notes start to emerge starting with the saltiness of the drink and some of the energy ingredients, which are then covered up by more salt. Fortunately the saltiness is intense only at the finish and doesn't linger for too long. Give it a few moments and it will disappear, leaving just an intensely sour aftertaste that is also quite refreshing.

Why am I talking about salt so much? Well, if this is your first time drinking a Cheetah, or thinking about drinking one, be aware of the 500 mg of sodium each can contains. According to the label, that is about 21% of your daily recommended dose. This is a little odd, but it does work in this case.

Energy

Again, if this is your first experience with a Cheetah drink, pay close attention to the "Caffeine Free" text on the label because there isn't any caffeine in the can. The active ingredient is ginseng and works OK for something that doesn't have caffeine, but the drink does not pack the punch of caffeine-full energy drinks.

I instantly felt awake when I took a sip, but that might have been a combination of me being thirsty, tired and the drink being cold, refreshing and sugary. Over the course of the next 30-40 minutes I started to feel gradually more energized, but it never got to the same point I could have gotten to with a coffee or a caffeinated energy drink (duh), but for something that is caffeine free, it did work OK. Also, there were no jitters, which is always a big plus in my book. I think these drinks are better suited for people seeking a kick but are caffeine sensitive.

I have to give this a slightly higher energy score simply because it has no caffeine yet it still did OK.

Scores:
Cost - $1.49
Taste - 7.8/10
Energy - 6/10

Overall - 13.8/20...very refreshing even with the 500 mg of sodium