Thursday, October 2, 2008

Trek Nitro Blue Raspberry


Interestingly enough, foreign countries have their own take on American Gatorade, or even American Energy Drinks. Trek is Canadian Gatorade, which is pretty darn cool to me, finding it, although I've never even been to Canada. They then released their next wave of drinks named Nitro, which is fortified with taurine, caffeine, and B Vitamins and consisting of three general flavors. These flavors are Blue Rasberry, Grape, and Red Berry and have a ton of sugar, 71g in 20 ounces. Of course, all companies have their down times, and as you might now know, Trek has went out of business. I do recall trying Trek Nitro about 5 months ago and remeber it being insanely dull and way too sweet. I would say it took me a good few days to drink the whole bottle, as it took away all my craving for sweetness. Maybe my taste buds have matured, but if not, I know I'm in for a great deal of sweetness that I know will upset any persons stomach, like mine especially. Checking the sweeteners inside a bottle of Trek, I can easily see why this drink is dull, and too sweet. There's HFCS, as well as sucrose, and that is obviously too much for a sports drink. All I know is, if I were craving some sweet liquid to satisfy my need for sweetness and rehydrate me, it wouldn't be Trek. I really don't want to be choking on gumminess on the middle of the field.

Upon twisting off the handy cap with a hole type-thing for easy handling and peeling off the sealed plastic lid, I immediately find an aroma just like the Jolt Blue Raspberry, very pure berry. Just looking through the clear plastic, I note a blue color that is extremely deep, with no brightness whatsoever. Trek Nitro Blue Raspberry contains a flavor that is a bit of a let-down, having very little actual blue raspberry flavor, and just a sweet, sugary primary flavor, much different than the scent. Taking more sips, I feel just a bit tired already of the flavor, being just the same dull mild raspberry flavor with the sugary consistency of that stuff you feed to the hummingbirds. I had mentioned earlier, this stuff is meant to hydrate you and give you the energy you need for exercising, but I would not even attempt to use this throughout working out. It seems this is a drink that's good for the kids who like sugary sweet filled drinks, and just anyone else who isn't planning on doing anything physical. So in general, sure, it's a good, drink for the any day person, but doesn't accomplish it's psychical activity goal. On gumminess, I believe you know, it is a problem, but you know, with a lot of sugar comes a lot of gumminess. Since it's notably sweet, I've decided to come back when the drink is at room temperature to try it out. It tastes just a bit less sweet, and there is more of a corny flavor from the HFCS, with some raspiness from the berry. Overall, Trek Nitro failed to fulfill it's goal in making a sports drink, but it really isn't all that bad as just a plain old juice with energy ingredients.

On ingredients, Trek seems like just any other energy drink, standard ingredients. Trek's ingredients read as following: Filtered Water, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, natural flavors, citric acid, taurine, glucuronolactone, caffeine, inositol, niacin, FD&C Blue #1, and B Vitamins. Mostly standard ingredients, but as you see, HFCS and sucrose do not really mix, but just produce an offset sweetness. Per 20 ounce bottle, you get a massive 290 calories and an even larger 71g of sugar. I would always say how it's healthful to split these kinds of sugar-loaded energy drinks with a sibling or relative, or even a friend, you can also stow it away in the fridge and enjoy it later too. Based on what I felt an hour after drinking about 16 ounces, I can let you know it's just about the same kick you'll find from a Monster, but add another few ounces and the kick is just a bit better. The kick lasts about 3 hours and is mainly jitteriness, with very small amounts of focus here and there. All in all, I can't say I thoroughly enjoyed Trek Nitro drinking all of it, but I didn't find it as bad as I had prior to reviewing it. A helpful tip: if you're wanting a drink for refreshness during activities such as sports or exercising, do not seek out a sugary drink such as this one, just stick with plain old water and have an energy drink afterwards.

Taste: 7.2 - Not a bad blue raspberry flavor, but gets boring towards the end
Kick: 8.3 - Although it has standard energy ingredients, it is 20 ounces, which means it's got an above-average kick
Overall: 7.6 - I would say, stick with Jolt Blue Raspberry if you were up for a raspberry flavored energy drink

Reviewed by: Chan

No comments:

Reviewers

Jeffery "Jeff," Chandler "Chan"