Xtazy Cranberry Blast

Well, lookie here. I've got the Xtazy Cranberry Blast. Chandler and I have heard great things about this line of drinks, and we were, for a long time, easily able to find them. I finally couldn't resist and had to get this. It has a simple and very nice can design, with a black can and the top and bottom being the color of the flavor. For some reason, it calls itself a Guarana-based Energy Drink, which I don't fully understand at he moment. I'm not sure just what makes a drink based on Guarana. I took a quick look at the ingredients in order to see whether Guarana is high in the list, and it is. It goes: Filtered Carbonated Water, HFCS, Taurine, and then Guarana. That's a good thing to see, meaning it's going to have a large amount of that potent, energy-giving berry, Guarana. In fact, it has 900 whopping mg per serving, 1200 total. Dang! That is absolutely the largest amount of Guarana I have ever seen in an energy drink. Now I'm convinced this is going to pack a major punch.

The drink comes out of the can a very bright and saturated red. I mean, it's really, really red. The smell goes along with the color, smelling like grape juice and cranberry. I'm liking it so far. I took a sip and I sort of felt disappointed. Instead of the kind of rich, crisp sweetness you'd get from Glucose and Sucrose, you end up tasting dull HFCS. It is by no means terrible, just not as good as it could be, in my opinion. If you're used to regular soda that uses HFCS, you'd probably be fine. Anyway, there definitely is the presence of cranberry in this drink and not so much grape. The aftertaste is more bitter and earthy like cranberry, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It is quite lovely, actually, adding richness and depth. But now that I think about it, it might not be the cranberry so much as the Guarana. After all, it is the number 4 ingredient. Perhaps the Guarana Seed Extract is the cause of the earthiness, and I like that. The carbonation is truly light and pleasant, adding texture. I don't like carbonation that gets in your face and ruins the flavor. This isn't the case here. As for gumminess, I don't detect much, and what is there isn't a big deal. Overall, it's not a bad drink at all, it just could do better on the taste department. Now I'm waiting to find out what kind of boost I'll feel. Time to buckle my seatbelt.

Woah, I hadn't even noticed I was already affected, after I was about halfway through. I was, just earlier, so sleepy I wanted to take a nap, but now, I'm totally hyped. I noticed the kick even as I was walking around after finishing the last paragraph. It's like a total rejuvination, giving you energy so suddenly and so much. My quick workout was fast and didn't leave me breathless. This thing is just energy and more energy. And that figures. The energy ingredients in this drink include Guarana (900mg per serving), Panax Ginseng (25mg), Inositol (50mg), Milk Thistle (25mg), Ginkgo Biloba (15mg), L-Carnitine (50mg), and Taurine (1000mg). Quite a potent and diverse mix of supplements. I really like the use of Ginkgo Biloba because of its focus-giving effect. However, I'm quite sure it won't affect me as much as other drinks with the ingredient, because there are only around 22mg of it. Chan and I are definitely getting more of these.

Taste: 7.5 - Very nice above-par cranberry
Kick: 8.5 - Agressive and above average kick
Overall: 8 - Great one to slam down anytime

Reviewed by: Jeff