REVIEW OF MONSTER JAVA MEAN BEAN

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 160 MILLIGRAMS PER 15 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

This truly is one Mean Bean! I acquired the Java Monster Mean Bean on Thursday and drank it Saturday morning at around 9:40. The first sip I took didn't exactly help me in finding the taste but after drinking it some more I realized it is a very smooth vanilla latte flavor with no medicinal aftertaste at all. This drink is 15 ounces, 1 ounce less than the normal energy drink size. So, at first I was simply pleased with the kick, until it really kicked in. I started playing some basketball and then got the urge to run around my house a few times and do some suicides. As a matter of fact, I was so energized that I ran a 5k (3.1 miles) on my treadmill-my new record! This is a great, no fantastic alternative to the morning coffee or tea. It has 160 milligrams and a bunch if other stuff but I can't get past simply how long it lasted! It has been 5 hours since I drank it and it still feels like someone stuck pins in my eyelids to keep them from closing. And to think that this drink has absolutely no medicinal aftertaste and all really makes me want to just give this drink an award! I forgot to mention before that after the 5k I felt fine, I was just sweating. I could have ran around 4 or maybe even 5 miles before I really got tired. This drink, for now, has the longest most consistent kick I have ever had. I just can't comprehend how long this has lasted! I know I have said this before but dang it I will say it again. this drink is down right amazing! And I forgot to say that this drink sits wonderfully in your stomach. Ok, finally I will conclude this by giving it a rating! Drum roll please.................10 out of 10!!!!! Yes, Java Monster is one of if not the best energy drink out there. Of course I don't know that for sure since I have a lot more to try but it will be very hard to beat this beast of a drink! I know that my fingers aren't shaking but it was the combination of taste and kick consistency that just mad me happy! Wow that was the longest review of my life, but it is finally over. Or is it?

REVIEW OF NOS

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 260 MILLIGRAMS PER 16 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 7.8 OUT OF 10.

This is the most caffeine I have ever tried in an energy drink. NOS Energy Drink has an incredible 260 milligrams of caffeine. So, at first NOS tasted like a Red Bull clone but after tasting it some more, I realized it is more of a carbonated sour orange juice. Now, this does sound pretty disgusting but it actually was pretty good. I drank it pretty fast, hoping I would get a good kick out of it. The kick is a little hard to describe but it is not really a bouncing-off-the-walls type kick you would expect from an energy drink with 260 milligrams of caffeine. There are a few reasons why the kick wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. The first reason is that the overall energy drink blend is less than average energy drinks. The average energy drink has a 3000 milligram energy blend were as NOS has just 1480 milligrams. The second reason is that I have become immune to the effects if caffeine which can be reversed by staying away from anything with caffeine for a week. I will also point out that NOS has a kick that almost goes gets better as you go on. It starts out slow and then gets better and better and better. This did not come without a price as I got a major headache which really was bothering me until I took some Ibuprofen. In a nutshell, I would describe the NOS kick as sort of a slight pick me up that gets better as you go. If you threw in a little physical exercise you would be pretty much good to go. So, to conclude I give the NOS energy drink a 7.8 out of 10 because I am being nice about the headache and I liked the taste. The kick did fall short but it does get better as you go on and as a bonus, there is no crash!

REVIEW OF MOUNTAIN DEW VOLTAGE

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 54 MILLIGRAMS PER 12 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 7.5 OUT OF 10.

I know, I know, Mountain Dew isn't an energy drink so why am I reviewing it? A lot of energy drink review blog spots are reviewing this new item from Mountain Dew because it has ginseng plus the regular 54 milligrams of caffeine you get from regular Dew. Unfortunately, ginseng is the third to last ingredient so there isn't that much of it in the drink. If you haven't figured out by now, my taste buds are very unacute( I know thats not a real word but I don't care) so I had a hard time detecting the taste. There is still that classic Mountain Dew citrus flavor that no one can copy. The drink is pretty sweet and you get this little carbonated buzz on the tip of your tongue that lingers for a bit and then goes away. I could not taste the raspberry flavor the can suggests but still id tasted pretty good. It's hard to decide whether I should compare the kick to a soda or an energy drink so I guess I'll do both. When compared to sodas such as Coke, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper which all contain about 35-45 milligrams of caffeine, Voltage easily has more of a kick. When compared to energy drinks such as Monster, AMP, and Rockstar which all contain 160 milligrams of caffeine, it does fall a bit short. So this drink is indeed an energy soda hybrid just like Diet Pepsi Max, Vault, and the now defunct MDX from Mountain Dew. So, to conclude this drink gets a 7.5 out of 10 because the taste was not too bad but the kick was just OK but I guess it depends what you compare it to.

REVIEW OF AMP ELEVATE

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 160 MILLIGRAMS PER 16 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 9 OUT OF 10!

My second review in the AMP line of products is the mixed berry flavored Elevate. It comes in a nice eye-catching blue 16 ounce can that gets you to really notice it. AMP Elevate says Blast of Mixed Berry right on it so I knew what I was going to taste. By mixed berry they mean, let's take a bunch of sweet tarts and dump some sour stuff on them, melt them to a liquid and call it a day. DO NOT GET ME WRONG! THIS DRINK TASTES VERY GOOD IF YOU LIKE SOUR THINGS!!! I put that in all caps because I want people to notice that it is not mixed berry but it is very good. So, AMP Elevate contains the basic 160 milligrams of caffeine per 16 ounce can. It also contains only 296 milligrams of taurine and 24 milligrams of L-Theanine which is something now commonly found in energy drinks. L-Theanine is supposed to give you added focus but there is so little of it in AMP Elevate that you just don't notice it. The actual kick however was astounding, right up there with the best of them. I was constantly repeating the same phrase over and over again. I kept saying things like OH YEAH! Basketball, basketball, basketball. Actually, one time I saw my basketball speeding down the road and I sprinted, you know, fast and I caught that thing in a jiffy! So to conclude, outstanding kick and great taste give this drink a 9 out of 10.

REVIEW OF VITAMIN WATER ENERGY

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 50 MILLIGRAMS PER 20 OUNCE BOTTLE.

RATING: 6.0 OUT OF 10

Energy drink or not an energy drink? That seemed to be the main question when I was drinking a Vitamin Water Energy. I guess it's an energy drink because it has b-vitamins, guarana and caffeine and I have seen other people review it. Vitamin Water Energy has tropical citrus written on it so I kind of new what I was getting into. The taste is pretty good and there are definitely some tropical flavors in their such as pineapple, mango, and I think some peach in their as well. I'm not sure if any of those fruits are actually tropical but that's what it tasted like. It only has 50 milligrams of natural caffeine from gaurana so it didn't give of much of a kick but it was noticeable. I would probably recommend Vitamin Water Energy to any sports drink lover that would enjoy a little extra punch. I know that this review is very short but there really isn't that much to say about it so I guess I'll conclude by saying I give the Vitamin Water Energy a 6.0 out of 10 because the taste was pretty good but the kick, well energy drink or not it was pretty poor.

REVIEW OF AMP RELAUNCH

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 160 MILLIGRAMS PER 16 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 8 OUT OF 10.

If you want to, you can think of this as sort of a a supercharged Mountain Dew Livewire. AMP Relaunch is my first review of the AMP line of products which included things like Traction, Elevate and Overdrive. So anyway the can says burst of orange citrus so I kind of new what to expect. Most would say it is just orange soda, but a closer examination shows that is a bit more than that. The orange is actually very light and you get this little citrus zing at the end. I kind of like the interplay between the orange and the zing. So it did go down easy and although it does slam the door a bit as it goes down, it is not bad. So as far as kick, well it was decent but not great actually. It contains 160 milligrams of caffeine but only 296 milligrams of taurine. To put that into perspective, the average 16 ounce energy drink contains 2000 milligrams of taurine. Now I will admit that my fingers are shaking a tiny bit but I am not sure that is from the caffeine. The Relaunch gets a hefty 8 out of 10 because it is my new best tasting energy drink.

REVIEW OF RED BULL

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 80 MILLIGRAMS PER 8.4 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 6 OUT OF 10.

So, I just could not wait any longer could I? Nope, I had to review Red Bull sometime or another and here is my review. Red Bull is the most popular energy drink on the market by far and is the one energy drink everyone knows about. Your parents might not know what NOS, Rockstar and Monster are, but they definitely know what Red Bull is. I don't normally talk about can design but I will point out that Red Bull is very mild and althought the blue and silver are nice it is still a bit boring. It is not edgy like Monster or AMP. Chances are that anyone reading this already knows what Red Bull tastes like, but for those of you who do not, well I will tell you. Red Bull has a nice apple flavor that is pretty tart. It is actually one of the most tart energy drinks I have reviewed. So anyway, I chugged the little 8.4 ounce bugger which has 80 milligrams of caffeine and......nothing. Red Bull does not do squat, at all. I was pretty tired after about 30-40 minutes of drinking it and I did not space it out;I chugged the thing and drank it as fast as I could. So sorry Red Bull but you have a terrible kick. So final judgement is a 6 out of 10 and that is pretty much all taste. I might have to review the 16 ounce size and review that but I will not because Red Bull is 8 ounces and everyone knows that, plus I am not going to waste my time drinking another one of these things you call "energy drinks".

REVIEW OF RIP IT POWER

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 200 MILLIGRAMS PER 16 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 9 OUT OF 10!

We all know going to the Orthodontist sucks so I thought why not cheer myself up by getting an energy drink? That energy drink is Rip It. When I first saw the price tag of just $1.09 for a 16 oz. can, I was taken aback. I thought that there would be quality issues and have a very poor kick. Boy was I wrong! As you know, my taste buds are not that acute so I had a very hard time detecting the taste. I did, however, notice a lovely sour bite at the end that lingers for a while. In fact, I'm not even sure there really is a flavor to it but I can tell you that this is one of the best tasting energy drinks on the market. Rip It's kick was outstanding, this thing contains 200 milligrams of caffeine! My energy level shot up fast and did not decline until 3-4 (possibly 5) hours later. Even though I spaced it out a little by drinking the whole thing in about 90 minutes I still got a major buzz that caused me to want to ask my teacher if I could go run a marathon. And to think this bad boy was only $1.09 is pretty incredible. I am very happy with Rip It's taste and kick and how they produce such great results. I am going to, without a doubt, give this drink a 9 out of 10 because of the tremendous kick and almost unbeatable taste. If the kick was just a little stronger, It would have gotten at least a 9.5 if not a perfect 10.

REVIEW OF NO FEAR

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 174 MILLIGRAMS PER 16 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 7.5 OUT OF 10

This is my review of No Fear Super Energy Supplement. Let me start with the fact that this is my first 16 ounce can and my first mainstream review. With that in mind, here is how it went: I did not drink the whole 16 ounce can but no worry, I still managed to calculate the caffeine total which was around 130.5 milligrams(the full can is 174 milligrams). So the taste was pretty good. It had a nice fruit flavor with a pleasant but a little strong sour aftertaste. I noticed a tingling sensation on my lips that was from God knows what. So the taste was pretty good but what about the kick? For 130.5 mg of caffeine, it was not that good. I do not know if energy drinks do not work for me or if I need even more caffeine. After all, this is the most caffeine I have ever reviewed. On a positive side, It did increase my endurance a little but there was no sitting energy. Sitting energy means that you are doing nothing and you are very energized. For this, I had to make it work again by getting involved in physical activity. All in all, I give this drink a 7.5 out of 10 because the kick was not all that good. Maybe if I drink the full 16 ounces, the rating would go up to 8.0 because the taste was pretty good.

REVIEW OF BLUE SKY BLUE ENERGY

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 80 MILLIGRAMS PER 8.3 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 7.7 OUT OF 10

This is my review of the Blue Sky Blue Energy drink. This wonderful 8.3 ounce can contains a good 80 milligrams of caffeine. I actually had no idea this drink was that easy to find, but I saw it at Meijer and was like what the heck I'll try it. So at around 11:00 in the morning I cracked open the blue can and got a whiff of the classic energy drink smell. The smell of artificial berry. The drink says it is wild berry in flavor but they are so wrong. It is the classic Red Bull artificial berry flavor with a slight bitter aftertaste. Delicious! This drink goes down very well and the aftertaste stays in your mouth for a while. At first I thought, oh boy here we go again. another non-working energy drink. Then I had an idea. I went downstairs and ran 1 mile on the treadmill....with no music. And let me tell you something, that was the easiest mile I ever ran. But I wasn't done yet, so I ran outside and shot some baskets. Then I ran around my house a few times and wham! This thing starts to work and increases your stamina. Maybe I was exaggerating on the "wham" part but you get what I'm saying. I figured out why the XS gold didn't work. It's because you kind of have to "make it work" buy getting involved in some physical activity which is why I would wanna drink won of these babies before I go to crew. It is 1:18 P.M. now and the effects are slowly dying off. I should crash at roughly 2:00. Don't get me wrong, 3 hours of energy is pretty good and I would recommend it to someone who might not be able to make it through the full 16 ounce energy drink. So, all things considered, I will give this this drink a healthy 7.7 out of 10 because the taste could be a little better and the kick could be better too. In order for a drink to get a 10 out of 10, the drink must taste fantastic and have a bouncing-off-the-walls type kick. Blue Energy simply fails to do that but hey, it's only a 8.3 ounce can give it a break will ya! And as far as I can see, 7.7 out of 10 is alright with me!

REVIEW OF XS GOLD

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 83 MILLIGRAMS PER 8.4 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 6.5 OUT OF 10

My next drink I will be reviewing is the same drink my mom gets from the company she works for. However this is no ordinary XS, this is XS Gold with something called Essentra , which is supposed to help mental and emotional balance. The Gold had a fruity taste to it with sort of an awkward texture and aftertaste. I can not seem to find out exactly what fruit flavor I was tasting. The reason for the awkward texture and aftertaste is probably because of the unbeatable 8000% vitamin B12 and 300% of Vitamin B3 in only an 8.4 ounce can. And yes, you did read those numbers correctly. As for the kick, well this baby has 83 milligrams of caffeine which is about the same as a Red Bull but it was sub-par. All it did was speed up my heart rate and try to do me in. I swear if you were involved in a vigorous activity you would be at risk of redlining, which is when your heart goes over 180 beats per minute. The energy only lasted roughly 45 minutes to an hour which is not that good. I crashed, but it was not terrible, thankfully it was during 2nd hour and we did nothing in that class.However, there was still just a little bit of energy left. Now some of you are probably thinking how come the other XS energy drink gave you energy and not this one? The answer, my friends, is unknown. I have no idea why this drink did not give me all that much energy. All in all, this drink is between average and a tad below average. The taste was just okay and the kick was sub-par. I give this drink a 6.5 out of 10 because of the awkward texture and aftertaste and because I think that 8000% vitamin B12 is serious overkill.

REVIEW OF XS COLA BLAST

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 83 MILLIGRAMS PER 8.4 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 8.5 OUT OF 10.

My next review will be of the XS energy drink. I know, I know XS is not exactly the easiest drink to find, but my mom works for a company that sells them so she brought it home and I was thinking I am not going to let it sit there so i chugged it down and this is how it went: This 8.4 ounce can contains 83 milligrams of caffeine. The flavor i had was Cola Blast which tasted a lot like a Diet Coke because it had no carbohydrates and no sugar. XS uses artificial sweeteners but i do not believe there is any aspartame. As far as the kick goes, i was not bouncing off the walls but i was very alert and motivated. The XS also comes in fruit flavors as well as tea flavors. I would recommend the XS for people who want a nice pick-me-up beverage. I give this drink a wonderful 8.5 out of 10.

REVIEW OF VAULT

CAFFEINE CONTENT: 69 MILLIGRAMS PER 12 OUNCE CAN.

RATING: 7.0 OUT OF 10.

The first drink I will be reviewing is called Vault. Vault is a hybrid energy soda, whatever that means. Anyway Vault has two awesome slogans: "Vault! Get to it!" and "drinks like a soda, kicks like an energy drink." So the Vault I had, the 12 ounce, contained 69 milligrams of caffeine. It tasted like a citrusy Mountain Dew with a unique aftertaste, almost like an aspartame-ish flavor. Vault drinks like a soda but it does not kick like an energy drink. I crashed almost immediately after drinking it. If I were you, I would get Vault Zero. It has no sugar and the 20 ounce contains 116.6 milligrams of caffeine which gave me a good boost. Overall, this is not a bad drink as far as taste. As for the kick, it needs some work. This drink gets a decent 7 out of 10.