7-Eleven Energy Shot Berry Review

I like how straight to the point this energy shot name is - 7-Eleven. No fancy names like Inked used here. I hope it doesn't surprise you when I say that I got this shot from a 7-Eleven located somewhere in Michigan for around $2.

I wish I knew which company made this energy shot because it definitely is not 7-Eleven. The shot cap says that this shot is only distributed by 7-Eleven. If you have some inside info, or are way better than using the Google than me, let me know which company actually makes this shot below.

Taste

The store I got this shot from only sold the berry one and as far as I am aware, there is another flavor out there which I will try hunting down on my next trip south.

The berry tastes like your generic energy shot flavor. It starts off extremely plasticky but the shot's acidity cuts through the horrible initial taste. The second sip reveals the true flavor - extremely sour, yet a little sweet mystery berries. I think there is raspberry and cranberry I can taste...but it is hard to say from all the plastic and sourness. Yes...definitely...maybe...raspberry and cranberry.

The finish is not bad at all. Initially you get a hint of the sweeteners, but within moments that goes away and you are left with a semi-clean finish thanks to the sourness with just a hint of something fruity and something sweet. Unfortunately after a minute or so, some of the sweetness comes back and stays for good.

Energy

There are 200 mg of natural caffeine, but there is also green tea extract and some other additives which probably bring up the total caffeine content up a little. The energy delivery is typical for this type of an energy shot - you get an initial jolt within a few minutes which is enough to rattle the brain, and the full effect doesn't come in for another 25-30 minutes.

While waiting for the kick, you get to enjoy a torrent of jitters so I don't recommend this shot for people who are planning on doing something that requires concentration and sitting still. It is great for physical work, though.

The kick lasts for around 4 hours and I did experience a mild crash at the end.

Overall, the shot is fairly cheap and pretty generic. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if this is a relabelled 5-Hour energy.

Scores:
Cost - $2 from 7-Eleven
Taste - 6.5/10
Energy - 8.8/10

Overall - 15.3/20...plastic flavor, great kick

Street King Energy Strawberry Lemonade Shot

Man, it has been a while since I had an energy shot. According to my trusty list of blog posts, it was in February when I had a NoDoz. In October when I was across the border loading up on groceries around the Canadian Thanksgiving, I came across a few new energy shots I purchased to review. I wanted to start off with Street King and this new (to me) extra strength energy shot. By the way, the "extra strength" is definitely not a gimmick and I will elaborate on this further down.

Taste

I am a sucker for sour drinks and foods and I love strawberry lemonades, so I didn't even have to think twice about getting a shot of this.

So is it really that sour? Yup...weeeelll, sort of. The initial sip introduces a blend of chemical/plastic notes to the tongue, but as you start to swallow, you get the expected lemony sourness. The second sip has almost no plasticy taste and more of the actual flavor. I strongly recommend taking a small first sip if you wish to actually taste the shot. If you are looking for that energy, then do it in a gulp or two. Also, if you let enough time elapse between sips, be ready to taste the plastic again.

Once the plastic flavor is out of the way, I struggled a bit to find the strawberries. The lemonade part is there and it is dominant. The strawberries for me were more in the aftertaste and they were very light. If you weren't actively seeking them, you might not even know they were there. This shout should be called just lemonade.

So...like many energy shots, there are some bitter notes from the caffeine (because there is just so much of it!!!) that manifest themselves near the finish but disappear relatively quickly in the aftertaste.

Overall, I thought the shot was easy to drink, but there are some plastic and light bitter notes that may not be appealing to some. The sourness definitely helps hide the chemical mix and doesn't taste too bad either (the lemonade part I mean).

Energy

Sooo, extra strength is 280 mg of caffeine. 280 mg!!!!!! Just for comparison, the last energy shot I had had only 115 mg of caffeine. A 5 hour energy? Only 200 mg. This Street King is like a 5 hour energy shot followed by a Red Bull...not that you should try something like this, but I am just trying to paint a picture here.

With 280 mg of caffeine, the kick is obviously fantastic, but the delivery is what is impressive. The initial wave comes in within minutes and the road to full caffeine absorption is almost entirely free to jitters. Yeah! I think only at one point I felt a little jittery, but that did not last long. Even with the full 280 mg of caffeine coursing through my veins, I was able to remain at my desk and focus on what I was doing. I feel like the energy can be put to a good use both for desk work requiring concentration and work requiring physical energy.

The kick lasted for well over 5 hours and there was no crash at the end. The effects were just slowly starting to wear off.

If you can overlook the plastic taste, this is definitely one damn good energy shot.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 from WalMart
Taste - 6/10
Energy - 9/10

Overall - 15/20...sour, some plastic, but damn the kick is great

X-Mode Energy Shots On Tap Review

X-Mode Energy is definitely something new and unique. The idea behind it is that you buy a box of this energy blend and you dispense and consume as much caffeine as you want. The box comes with a shot glass and a portable container resembling a chubby energy shot bottle.

This product is definitely not for everyone, but I know many people who prefer taking energy shots or drinking energy drinks to pure coffee. Some of these people buy cases from bulk stores so X-Mode is definitely a product that will appeal to them and helps with their needs. A small subscription box of X-Mode will set you back $30 for which you get 100 ounces. If you do the math, each shot will cost you $0.30. If you don't need a subscription, you can buy a single box for $40 which also has 100 servings.

An opened box of X-Mode will last around 180 days so even if you do not drink energy shots on a daily basis, $40 has your caffeine needs covered for 6 months. That's $6.67 on caffeine per month. This is a great deal in my opinion....but only if you actually take energy shots regularly or at least twice per month.

OK, so now that we have gotten the numbers out of the way, the next question is - how does it taste?

Taste

First off, if you are wondering, the liquid inside the box is pale pink. The aroma is that of cherries with a slight cough syrup note. The shot also tastes like cherries - sour at the start and sweet at the finish. The initial sourness is refreshing and helps get the shot down, while the finish gives you a long-lasting sweet cherry finish that hides any unwanted flavors from the active ingredients very well....except for a little tiny amount of bitterness you get right after you swallow the shot.

The cherry flavor is very well done, but I do have one big complaint about the taste - I find the finish way too sweet. Now, I only found it too sweet because I was sipping on the shot very slowly at first to dissect it. Each tiny sip elevated the sweetness to the point where it felt like I had just consumed some cherry flavored cough syrup. Later shots I consumed in a large gulp so this sweetness wasn't bad, but I need to caution you if you like to sip on your shots.

Once I had the shot, the makers of X-Mode suggested I tried it with club soda. Genius!!! I have been writing about energy products for 5 years now I have never thought about putting an energy shot into a glass of club soda or water or juice, or anything, to make it into an energy drink! I can't believe how obvious this was.

Well, how does it taste with club soda - SOO GOOOD. You see, the sweetness is cut back so much that the energy cocktail is like Vitamin Water. There is just enough flavor to get you to drink it, but not too much that your palate is saturated. I am going to have to start doing this with other energy shots.

Energy

The taste is way better than I expected, especially for a bulk product like this, but the beauty of X-Mode is in the energy delivery. Each ounce, or shot, contains 150 mg of caffeine. For comparison, a 2 ounce bottle of 5 Hour Energy contains 200 mg, which means that each ounce of 5 Hour Energy contains only 100 mg of caffeine.

Caffeine content is one thing, but what I judge energy products on is the delivery of this energy. X-Mode surprised me with its smooth delivery. To fully test X-Mode, I had only a few hours of sleep (just can't sleep on weekends, I am way too excited to have some free time) when I had my first shot. The sourness of the shot pepped me up instantly and I felt my mind clear up and focus within 10 minutes of taking my first sip. After another 15-20 minutes I felt the effects of the caffeine with very minor jitters. I was actually able to stay seated and focused at my desk and write this review. Sure, underneath it all I felt like I could explode with energy and run around the block, but 1 ounce of X-Mode got me to just the right point for me. If I had some physical work to do, I would probably go with 2 ounces, but 1 ounce did the trick for me. The effects wore off after 3-4 hours (the 1 ounce effects) without a crash or any other negative side effect.

I didn't expect much from a boxed energy shot mixture, but to be perfectly honest, I was pleasantly surprised - it financially makes sense to get one of these if you consume energy shots on a regular basis, this stuff tastes better and works better than most single serving energy shots. Genius idea.

Scores:
Cost - $30 for 100 oz subscription, $40 for a single box from X-Mode
Taste - 7.9/10
Energy - 8/10 to 10/10

Overall - 15.9/20 to 17.9/20...great price, great taste and damn good energy kick

Realtree Outdoor Energy Xtra Citrus Energy Drink Review

I bought this one along with all the other Realtree energy drinks a few months ago from the US, but this guy was hiding at the back of the fridge until now.

Taste

Xtra Citrus tastes like a Mountain Dew...almost. For the first moment or so it is Mountain Dew, but a moment after you get a lime note which bumps the overall taste up a notch and gives it a very refreshing character. However, then comes the sweet and sticky aftertaste which carries a messy melange of citrus notes making this flavor very generic. On the plus side, once the sweetness dies down, the lime notes re-emerge and linger for a while giving the drink a very refreshing and moderately long-lasting aftertaste....so confused here.

Energy

Like all the other Realtree energy drinks (Arctic Ice and Blaze Orange), this can contains 160 mg of caffeine and the energy comes in quickly with a dose of jitters and lasts for a few hours. 

Scores:

Cost - $3 from WalMart

Taste - 6.5/10

Energy - 8/10

Overall - 14.5/20...almost too generic citrus taste with a decent but rough kick

Rockstar Pure Zero Mango Orange Passion Fruit Energy Drink Review

Rockstar's Pure Zero Mango Orange Passion Fruit energy drink is a zero calorie version of one of their oldest varieties - Rockstar Juiced. I really had to dig into archives of my brain to remember where this long worded "Mango Orange Passion Fruit" flavor was previously used.

Unlike other energy drink manufacturer who just add the words "zero calories" or "diet", Rockstar has gone through the effort of updating the entire package from the color theme to the new textured can, yet still retains the original framework - the star and the vertical and horizontal names.

Taste

At first all flavors come at once resulting in a messy and fruity affair. After a moment, the mango comes out on top while the orange remains behind it giving the sweet mango flavor a bit of sourness. The passion fruit is present in the finish and feels surprisingly well defined at times. Like in the original Juiced, the mango is the dominant fruit all throughout.

The start of the can feels a bit flat to me as the flavors do not truly start to emerge until a quarter of the can through. Same goes for the sweetness - not much at first but it starts to build up and I found it too sweet near the end of the can.

With the exception of the sweetener aftertaste, the Pure Zero version is very similar to the regular sugar-full Juiced.

Energy

I originally reviewed the Canadian version of Juiced in 2009 , which contained 160 mg of caffeine. The Rockstar cans currently sold in Canada also contain only 160 mg of caffeine which makes it hard to compare to this Pure Zero edition since I bought it in the US where the cans contain a significantly larger amount of caffeine - 240 mg.

The effects of this Pure Zero are similar to all other Pure Zero cans - a quick perk followed by a gradual build up over the course of 30-40 minutes. The initial boost jolts the brain while the kick that comes in later is well behaved and does not make you want to bounce off the walls for hours. The kick lasts for 3-4 hours and finishes without a crash.

What can I say - another great Rockstar product.

Scores:
Cost - $2.99 from 7-11
Taste - 9/10
Energy - 8.2/10

Overall - 17,2/20...great taste, great kick