Earlier this week I wasn't feeling very well so I stayed home for the day. Not having planned for such occasion, I had little in terms of groceries at home so I was forced to go out and get something for lunch and dinner. While at LobLaws, I came across a few unfamiliar cans in the soft drinks isle - Ikkuma Boost. I had never heard of this drink before so like any good review blogger, I got a can to try.
What is Ikkuma?
I normally launch right into the review and write about flavor and energy, but this time I wanted to add a little intro section that explains what Ikkuma is, because I had some troubles getting answers at the grocery store.
Ikkuma is a yerba mate-based beverage with added ginseng and guarana, and sweetened with organic cane sugar. There are some other ingredients for color and freshness, but nothing crazy or bad that jumps out at me. Ikkuma is a Quebec-based company, which would explain why French takes the front seat everywhere on this label, for those who are wondering (I also wondered until I read a bit more about the company).
In addition to the Boost variety, there is also Chill, which is the anti-energy drink made by Ikkuma. Unfortunately there were only cans of Boost at LobLaws, but now that I know about Ikkuma, I will be on the lookout for the Chill.
Taste
Ikkuma Boost came in only one flavor - raspberry citrus. The beverage has a cloudy orange color and oddly enough smells like a carrot/citrus/tropical fruits V8 blend. The flavor is odd and multi-layered. You get an initial wave of the carrot-like flavor, which quickly turns into an earthier, yerba mate-like flavor, followed by trace amounts of slightly bitter ginseng and finally some a mild citrus note with a sweet raspberry finish.
The aftertaste is dry, earthy, and interestingly enjoyable with lingering subtle sweet raspberry notes. It is amazing how quickly the odd initial flavor is cleaned up by the finishing citrus/raspberry combo.
I am on the fence with this one. On one hand I do like the slightly bitter yerba mate/ginseng combo with a subtle fruity finish, but on the other I find the aroma and initial flavor to be a bit of a turn off. This is one of those drinks that you will either love or hate and if you like straight yerba mate, you will definitely like this. If you cannot handle pure yerba mate, you will not like this.
Energy
When I picked up the can, I wasn't expecting a lot of caffeine as I thought that this will be one of those drinks that gives you energy from vitamins, but to my surprise, there are 110 mg of caffeine in the can.
The energy comes in in rough stages. About 10 minutes after I consumed the first 1/3 of the can, I felt instantly energized. One moment I was feeling normal and then energized. There was no gradual change!
The instant energy was followed by a very mild case of jitters before the caffeine had fully kicked in not too long after. The caffeine kick was clean without any jitters or odd complications.
The kick lasted for about 2-2.5 hours and it ended on a clean slate without a crash.
Scores:
Cost - $2.24 on sale at LobLaws
Taste - 6.5/10
Energy - 6.8/10
Overall - 13.3/20...a new "love-it or hate-it" energy drink with a pretty decent kick
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