What better thing to do on a scorching-hot day over here than to review an iced coffee? I was so relieved to pull one of these out of the refrigerator after putting it off for a few weeks. It's a fairly new energy drink, coming out mid to late June in most places, but over here it came out early June. Starbuck's released the energy drinks in three new flavors: Vanilla, Mocha, and Coffee, but some said they were a fail due to the amount of Splenda in the drink. I have only had the Vanilla, and I thought it had a mediocre flavor, tasting real artificial, but the kick made up for its lack of flavor. If you want to head over and get one of these for yourself, prepare to pay a bit extra because Starbuck's is one company that charges quite a bit for their drinks. This can has a smooth coffee-brown background, looking as if it's mixed with chocolate, hence the Mocha favor I'm reviewing. I'm going to cut this paragraph a bit short because the can is warming up and my ice is melting...
I open up the can, and to my delight, I smell a fresh-brewed coffee aroma with some chocolate blended in. This Starbuck's energy drink comes out of the can a light brown color, similar to all the other coffee energy drinks out on the market. If Jeff, as well as many other people are telling the truth, I should take a drink and be upset. For starters, this drink is noticeably thicker in the mouth than your average Java Monster. I next notice a somewhat weak Mocha flavor that is supposed to resemble a chocolaty coffee taste, but fails. It goes down really smoothly with no aftertaste, except that of a minor fake sugar taste. I do think this drink is much better than what energy drink fans claimed it to be like, but I think it's just missing essential coffee flavors that remind us of what coffee's all about. After a few more sips, I notice more of a less sweet flavor that draws you away from that artificial primary sweet flavor. Obviously, it's not carbonated, so we can skip this part. I was surprised to find a decent amount of gumminess after downing most of what's supposed to be a coffee flavor. In my mind, it tasted better than Rockstar's Mocha energy drink, but didn't compete with Monster's Mean Bean and Big Black drinks.
As for ingredients, this non-carbonated drink's got Starbucks brand premium roasted coffee, reduced fat milk (Semi-sweetener), skim milk, 'sugar', maltodextrin (Semi-sweetener), dextrose, taurine, natural flavor, cellulose gel, ginseng, L-carnitine, Vitamin C, guarana, sucralose, vitamin B, and caramel color (Gives it that smooth light brown color). Per can, you get an average 200 calories, which isn't bad at all, considering its pretty sweet and only 26g of sugar. The sugar amount is less than half of what an average (Monster, Rockstar, Amp) energy drink is, I could live with that. In terms of energy, you get 2000mg of maltodextrin, 1800mg of taurine, 325mg of ginseng, and 90mg of guarana. You may be thinking where in this paragraph I mentioned how much caffeine is in this drink, I'll tell you, even though it's not listed, we know it to be around 150mg, which isn't bad. With this 15oz coffee, packing 150-something milligrams of caffeine and Taurine, Ginseng, Guarana, and B Vitamins, you get an explosion that'll keep you wired two and a half hours. Okay, so it was just an average coffee energy drink, but still I really enjoyed every sip. Go out and try one for youself, you may like it, you may not.
Taste: 8.2 - Once again, any coffee energy drink is to my liking, but I'd have to speak not only for myself, but as well as the consumers willing to purchase it
Kick: 9.2 - A great, long-lasting kick
Overall: 8.6 - Although it'll cost you roughly $2.60, it might be worth it
Reviewed by: Chan
3 comments:
This drink was terrible. Now, I will preface my review with this: I am not an energy drink consumer, but I love coffee. On average I have about 6 or 7 cups a day. I know this isn't the same, but I was having one of those "need a pick me up BEFORE the 1st cup" kind of mornings.
So I grabbed this out of the fridge and opened it up, with my eyes open to how great or terrible this could be. I poured it in a glass and first noticed how thick it was. It kinda put me off, but I decided to go for it anyway...I'm a big girl, I can take it. Even if it did seem closer to the consistency of an ice-free milkshake...I sipped at it for a few moments for tasting purposes, and realized I didn't mind the taste; but, I was still a little put off by the thickness of it. Yet, I kept drinking thinking I can get through this and get to the pick me up I needed...I should have listened to my instincts. I got sick half way through.
I literally became nauseous half way through the drink and ended up pouring the rest of it down the drain. I still don't feel right, and it's been about 8 hours. It made me need to vomit, but I couldn't get anything up, so I just felt ill. I got a headache. Later on during the day I began to itch [may have been a side effect of the guarana.]
Long story short...I do NOT recommend this drink. If you don't drink energy drinks, even if you love coffee, you might have a problem with this one. Because even though the title says "coffee" :) and "mocha" :) ...you would think "drinkable" :) , and it's not. [It seemed like Ovaltine for Adults on Crack...if that makes any sense--thick consistency and near-choco-like taste.] Buyer Beware: it might make you sick, too. Not worth it. -3 stars...out of 5. [Thank everyone it was free, because my roomie works at Starbucks! If I would have paid for this?!...you don't even want to know... :( ]
It probablymade you sick halfway through because each can is two servings. Oh, and the rediculously harmful amount of taurine at 1800mg per can. Taurine causes liver damage as well as other medical conditions. To put this in perspective, another energy drink, on the market (AMPenergy) has 14mg of taurine.
that junk made me sick halfway through it too. bad headache and tummy issues. super gross.
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