RATING: 6.7 OUT OF 10.
When a company replicates the flavor of Red Bull, it is usually because their product development team is too lazy to come up with any other flavor. This is not the case with Roaring Lion Energy Drink. As a matter of fact, Roaring Lion is supposed to taste identical to Red Bull because it is marketed as a Red Bull alternative. Even the name is relatively similar, with an adjective followed by the name of an animal. Although I must admit, I like the name Roaring Lion better.
Roaring Lion is packaged in a blue 16 ounce aluminum can with minimal text. Roaring Lion pulls off this clean look without making the can look naked. As far as flavor goes, I knew exactly what I was getting into. The only question was, how close is it to Red Bull? Actually, it is quite close, but certainly not an exact replica. Roaring Lion has more gumminess to it, making you more susceptible to cotton mouth. If I had to pick one solely based on taste, Red Bull would win in a photo finish.
Inside each can of Roaring Lion, you will find 180 percent daily value of vitamin b2, 200 percent daily value of vitamin b3, 90 percent daily value of vitamin b5, 400 percent daily value of vitamin b6, and 140 percent daily value of vitamin b12. You also get 152 milligrams of sweet caffeine and an undisclosed amount of taurine, glucuronolactone, and inositol. Compared with Red Bull's energy blend, this takes the top spot.
152 milligrams of caffeine is just 8 milligrams under the industry average, so the difference is basically negligible. You can still expect to receive a moderate increase in alertness and wakefulness. I personally did not notice a hefty increase in energy, but my caffeine tolerance may have something to do with that. Bottom line, this will probably give you the same effect as the 16 ounce version of Red Bull.
I suppose the obvious question now is, which is better? Roaring Lion or Red Bull? Well, for flavor, I prefer Red Bull's smoothness over Roaring Lion's excess gumminess. On the energy blend side of things, Roaring Lion takes the cake with more b vitamins. Both drinks have basically an identical level of effectiveness, albeit Roaring Lion has 2 milligrams of caffeine more than Red Bull's 16 ounce version. Finally, there's price. Without getting into the details, Roaring Lion is much less expensive than its identical twin. All things considered, the price is the deciding factor in this match up, and Roaring Lion pulls off the victory.
