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