Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Jetset Club Soda


Jetset sure does come out with some odd energy drink flavors. A local Bevmo came in handy as I picked up a few Jetsets to review, and today the lucky Jetset is the Club Soda. I've been so curious to try the Jetsets ever since I heard about them about a half a year ago and right now I'm extremely pumped up and ready to crack it open. Jetset does a nice job in can designs by having shades of blue spiraling back and behind the logo which is vertically streched across the can in a casual font. Club Soda is printed below it in a simple bubble-like white font while Energy is stenciled in a lighter blue shade and in all lowercase letters. I like how Jetset put random clocks on the top of the can like the times from San Fransisco, Dubai, Ibiza, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Buenas Aires, Miami, Tokyo, London, Las Vegas, Rio, New York, Chicago, and Rome. Jetset separates themselves in can size because they use an odd 10.5 ounce can, which is pretty cool. I remember back about a month ago when I reviewed the Jetset Original, I was deeply disappointed in the lame artificial Red Bull taste and did not recommend it. Well, we still have quite a few Jetsets to come, there's plenty of time for them to be redeemed. In the meantime, let's crack this one open and check it out.

I crack it open with joy and dive my nose in to get no scent whatsoever, but a heck of a lot of bubbles and fizzing. The color isn't surprising being just clear, like carbonated water, but a lot more fizziness and a large foamy head. The flavor let me down, tasting nearly bland, just water and carbonation with just a little bit of classic Monster flavor. The sweet Monster flavor attacks the taste buds instantly after taking a sip, but then a swarm of bitterness rises and takes over, resulting in a bland can of carbonated club soda. I understand that this is a mixer for alcoholic beverages, but as an energy drink, this is a piece of junk, literally. The aftertaste is really nothing but minor bitterness, nothing drastic. It's heavily carbonated, which makes it extremely hard to sip more than a quarter of an ounce at a time. In fact, I noticed those little gas bubbles jumping a few inches out of the drink and into the air, that's a first in energy drinks. It's not gummy because it doesn't really use any sweetener, not even sucralose or acesulfame potassium, nothing. Overall, if you don't plan to mix this drink with anything, or in other words, just drink it straight out of the can like me, just don't buy it. Trust me, with the $2.00 you use on this, you're better off with a Monster flavor.

It has basic ingredients listed from the top: carbonated water, citric acid, taurine, caffeine, mineral blend (sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, sodium citrate), inositol, guarana, ginseng, niacin, pyridoxine HCL, calcium pantothenate, and vitamin B12. I wish it were sweetened just a bit more, although I know it's club soda, it really could have used more of a zing. Per can, you don't get any calories, nor do you get fat, sugar, carbs, nor protein. At least it wasn't loaded with calories because that would have been pretty big waste, for no flavor. Taurine is a standard 1000mg (1300mg per can) per serving, inositol is 50mg(65-70mg), ginseng, is 25mg(35-40mg), caffeine is a whopping 120mg(130-135mg), and gurana is only 25mg(35-40). The kick is pretty good so far, especially with that guarana and caffeine amount in that can, not bad at all. This is one of the first times I've reviewed a drink where the kick is better than the taste. Hey, that's how it goes I guess. All in all, if you're not a drinker, you'd better stay away from one of these and just head for a Monster, seriously.

Taste: 3 - Eh, way bland; it's pretty hard to find a flavor buried under all that bitterness too
Kick: 7 - the kick is pretty good; I like the amount of caffeine they put in one of these
Overall: 5 - Forget about this one, Jetset really needs to improve their drinks if they want to be classified as a good energy drink company...

Reviewed by: Chan

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Reviewers

Jeffery "Jeff," Chandler "Chan"