Red Rain 12 Energy Shot Review

I have no idea why this energy shot contains "energy drink" on its label, it is clearly a shot. For a Red Rain shot, I was expecting the label to be the same color as the regular Red Rain and not this dark red/burgundy/brown color. I got this from 7-11 for $2.50 CAD. I have seen the shot other places and the price varies between $2.50 and $2.99.

This is probably the hardest to open energy shot I have had. The perforated line near the top did not work and I ended up just ripping a small piece off the top. After a 30 second struggle and the use of my Swiss Army knife, I got the top part of the label off. When I opened the cap, I did not receive a warm greeting and the look of the top of the bottle did not really make me want to put my lips anywhere near it.


For the sake of experimentation, I forced myself to soldier on. The shot smells vaguely like the regular Red Rain with a strong scent of dirty mop water. The shot itself does not taste bad and I can notice that the standard Red Rain/Red Bull taste is present. There is a slightly vile taste added on top of the Red Rain/Red Bull taste from all the energy ingredients, but overall it is not as bad as some other shots (Ice Blue Chill NRG and Mandarin Orange NRG). The finish is sour at first with a touch of that energy mixture skunkiness, but that disappears fairly quickly and the only thing left to remind you of the energy shot is the sour taste and feel.

This energy shot contains only 80 mg of caffeine, which is the equivalent of a small, 250 mL, energy drink. In fact, the regular Red Rain contains the same amount of caffeine. When faced with the decision which to pick, I would definitely go for the can of Red Rain as it is a bit cheaper and tastes much better.

The shot started to work within 15 minutes and I started to experience what the bottle told me I would experience - mental clarity. Did I feel more focused? Perhaps at the first, but soon the full effect of the 80 mg of caffeine kicked in, which really destroyed the initial experience of mental clarity and focus. Good thing this only contains 80 mg, or else I would have been focused on climbing the walls. The rush subsided relatively quickly and I was back to experiencing mental clarity for about 40-50 minutes. So here is a tip from me - wait out the energy rush, then use the mental clarity and focus to do some work.

Scores:
Cost - $2.50 CAD for a 60 mL shot
Taste - 5.6/10
Energy - 6.5/10

Overall - 12.1/20...does not have as much caffeine as other energy shots, but this really provides mental clarity and focus, though only for less than an hour