Rockstar Tropical Punch Shot

With energy drinks on the rise, companies have to think fast for a new flavor. Once all the flavors are covered and being sold, they move onto the next generation of energy, 2-4 ounce shots. Shots are pretty convenient because they're obviously smaller, have less sugar, are more powerful, and are just less to drink if you need the energy right now, right here. So, when one company starts the trend, soon all the rest like Rockstar, Monster, and Amp fall in line to do the exact same, just their version of it. So far, I know Monster and Amp have created and released their energy shots, yet I have not spotted one. All I've seen is this Rockstar Tropical Punch, and the original Rockstar shot, so it's cool until I can find the other few out there. I also have word that CRUNK!!! has recently released their newest flavor, CRUNK!!! Berry; I really hope to find one of those too and review it with Jeff immediately. Well, following Rockstar's tropical 16 ounce energy drink's scheme, I see a design of just red, white, and black. Red, being on the cap and in the star; black being on the background; and white lettering. One thing I notice on the brim of the bottle is the caffeine content, 200mg. Some will argue that that is powerful, but I for one, believe that it is not powerful enough to sustain the same boost an energy shot would usually give.

Twisting the cap open, I dig deep for a scent that's almost exactly like the regular Rockstar Tropical Fruit, but all the scent packed into one shot, thus making it much more potent. It's color
oddly clear, though I may have been over expectant for a red or similar to red color. Before I taste it, I have to remember that it's a shot, or in other words, it's not meant to be sipped. So, I'm just going to down the 2.5 ounces now and describe the flavor as best as I can. Bottoms up! Okay, so chugging it was not the greatest idea in the world...After swigging an ounce my face turned almost priceless, twisting and jerking. As I take a smaller sip, I analyze a smooth and up front wild berry/cherry flavor for just a split second, and shortly afterwards, you find an overbearing extreme bitterness. I'm not talking about just a mild bitterness you find in handfuls of energy drinks, I'm talking uncontrollable bitterness, like nothing I've come across so far. The flavor spreads quickly throughout your mouth and pinches the sides of your cheek as well as the back of your tongue and down your throat; it's pretty intense. If I may recommend one thing about this energy shot, it's to down this real quickly to avoid this fake, bitter flavor. As I top off the minute bottle, I surely find that same berry and bitter combination, but this time with a bit of citrus added to the aftertaste. All in all, I really don't like rating the taste of energy shots because that's just how they are, so I'll just let this one slide, like I do with most others.

Ingredients-wise, I haven't glanced at anything on the back of the bottle, so I'm not too sure what to expect, other than standard Rockstar ingredients. I would be extremely impressed if this had ginkgo biloba; let's find out... All it's ingredients are listed here: purified filtered water, taurine, natural flavors, malic acid, phosphoric Acid, caffeine, sodium citrate, benzoic acid, sorbic acid, L-carnitine, inositol, milk thistle, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hyrdochloride, acesulfame potassium, guarana seed, neotame, ginseng, Sucralose, red #40, and cyanocobalamin. Sadly, there is no ginkgo biloba, but knowing Rockstar, there's a legitimate reason behind it. All the main energy ingredients are listed as one of the last, which shows Rockstar focused mainly on giving what is called a "caffeine kick", which, as you may or may not know, gets you jittery for a short period of time and releases a crash. I truly hope this shot doesn't give that effect. For a sugar free drink, I was surprised to see all the artificial sweeteners listed near the bottom of the list, so that goes to show what kind of flavor you receive drinking this, natural-fruit flavors. Again, there's about 200mg of caffine for 2.5 ounce bottle, no calories, no sugar and an energy blend of roughly 1.44g (That's 1440mg). Coming back about an hour later, I determine this kick is about 60% jitteriness, 20% focus, and 20% alertness. Good statistics, though I'm pretty sure I'd find more focus with a hearty amount of ginkgo biloba in the mix. Overall, Rockstar nailed the energy shot, for the most part, until I can grab a Wild Berry Shot.

Taste: 3 - So what? The flavor in shots are usually neglected anyways
Kick: 9 - Great, steady kick so far; mild crash ~four-five hours later
Overall: 9 - To crown a winner of shots, I'll have to find the other major products...but for now, I recommend this one

Reviewed by: Chan

YJ Stinger Pounding Punch

After waking up early, I want to rid myself of my morning grogginess and a great way to do that is having an energy drink. Out of my small inventory of drinks, I decided to try out the YJ Stinger Pounding Punch, a drink I have long waited to review because better drinks always came first. But this morning, I chose this drink because of the things I've heard aobut it. Taurine Rules mentions that it tastes like cough syrup, which I'm interested in, because that likely means some extemely artificial flavors like artificial grape or cherry. I couldn't tell you why, but reviewing an energy drink with these familiar flavors. I don't want to waste any more time; I want to tear in.

Boy, it's been a while since I've popped open a small 8oz can. This thing feels tiny in the palm of my hand. When I take a whiff, it's another one of those familiar childhood scents, like a frutier, kiddie version of Hawaiian Punch. The tropical flavors in the punch, whatever they may be, are prominent and give this drink a delightful zing. So far, I'm quite pleased. Smelling once more, I may pick up some guava, but I doubt it since I don't expect YJ Stinger to incorporate guava into any of their drinks. Unlike many reviews I have read, I don't believe this tastes like cough syrup, but it is very familiar and I can't put my finger on it. I guess it's just one of the many distinct yet common flavors floating around in many budget drinks. After a few more sniffs and sips I finally have the flavor worked out; this drink tastes like and smells like artificial grape and strawberry, like the kind of strawberry you taste in strawberry mousse and the kind of grape in grape soda supporting it. In my opinion, this really isn't bad, and when I sip, the light carbonation creates a tingling sensation that works quite well. As I pour this out at the last minute, the color reveals itself as a pink/red, just like the color on the can. Halfway through the can, I feel very little gumminess which is a good thing, meaning this drink is very thin. And, yes, it's true that when you sip, you taste a small amount of vitamins in the drink, though, in my mind, it only complements the flavor. I'm going to be thoroughly enjoying this for the time it lasts.

As for kick, I can't say this has a great effect. Just like the other YJ Stingers, there's very little kick, and even only a bit of alertness. Based on the kick, I can't recommend this to anyone, really. In any case, here are the ingredients: Carbonated Water, HFCS, Citric Acid, Caffeine, Taurine, Ascorbic Acid, B Vitamin Stack (Pantothenic Acid, Niacin, Pyrodoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine, Biotin, Cyanocobalamin, Yerba Mate, Guarana, Ginseng, Red 40, Natural and Artificial FLavors, Potassium Sorbate.

It's not a spectacular ingredients list, however I hadn't expected to see Yerba Mate in this. No matter, this ingredients list looks typical of a cheap energy drink, lots of sugar, energy ingredients in small amounts. What else is unspectacular is the amount of sugar: 32g per serving, which I find to be over-the-top, however, you'll find that many drinks are highly sweetened such as this. Per serving there are 130 calories. Overall, I like this drink for it's familiar flavor, but I know that this could be the reason many others dislike it, and the boost is truly lame and nearly unnoticable. I'm not quite sure what to say, but most people probably won't like this.

Taste: 6.7 - Very familiar fruit taste you may remember as a kid
Kick: 4.2 - Nearly unnoticable kick, comparable to a Sprite
Overall: 5 - Not quite an energy drink

Reviewed by: Jeff

BooKoo Punch

I haven't had punch in a long time. Probably the last punch drink I had was a Hawaiian Punch, more than 6 months ago. Since I haven't had it in so long, I really don't remember what's in it. My best guess would be a bunch of fruit juices mixed together. The most specific definition I can find of what belongs in punch is fruit juices with or without alcohol mixed in. The distinct flavor of what we generally associate with punch is a mystery to me, and I'm looking forward to being refreshed with the BooKoo Punch. Examining the contents of the can, I notice a few things. The sugar content seems slightly high at 29g per serving, and the sweeteners are HFCS and Dextrose, which is odd. I thought Dextrose was the kind of sugar they pack together to make those hard, powdery lego candies, but now the internet is telling me it's just another name for or form of Glucose. Confusing. Anyway, I think it's worthy mentioning that there are no fruit juices in here whatsoever and that this contains sucralose. As if 29g of sugar wasn't going to sweeten it enough, BooKoo threw in sucralose. This might be another one of those drinks that is only good cold or over ice. I'll try both.

My first whiff is indeed of that characteristic fruity punch flavor. There's definitely a little grape, possibly some orange and lime and a lot of cherry or strawberry. The smell is incredibly pungent, almost overpowering; very close to Hawaiian Punch. I was expecting this to be pure and slightly opaque red, but instead, it's slightly different, being the color of maraschino cherries, clear red-pink and flourescent. Compared to many energy drinks, it seems much less carbonated, but that's likely true because of how terribly sweet this is, forcing you to take very small sips. I mean, we all know how sweet Hawaiian Punch is, but this tastes even sweeter, especially while it's hot. And something about it gives your teeth that "eaten-away" feeling just like fruit juice does, possibly the massive amounts of sugar in here. I think the only thing that might save this drink's reputation is putting it over ice. So I have my glass here of cold, clear ice and I poured the BooKoo Punch in. It doesn't have much of an effect as it taskes some time for the BooKoo to melt with the ice. After a little while, I notice that the ice does tone down the sweetness and makes it much better, but that same punch flavor has admittedly gotten old. Just like all of the other BooKoos I've tried, this one must be over ice to be enjoyed, at least in my opinion, because I would not be able to drink this down without it. Because just like Capri Sun, BooKoo is hard to enjoy hot.

I didn't quite "drink this down." It was more like sipping it for a good hour, because it was so unbearably sweet. Now, I looked at the supplement facts, and there are 29g of sugar per serving. Normally, 29g per 8oz doesn't make a drink this sweet, but when you look down in the ingredients, the second-to-last ingredient is sucralose. Not surprisingly, sucralose takes this drink's sweetness level way too far. Besides sucralose, the drink is sweetened with HFCS and Dextrose. The rest of the ingredients include citric acid, natural flavors, D-glucuronolactone, caffeine, sodium benzoate, inositol, L-carnitine, potassium sorbate, and red coloring, along with niacin, B6, B12, Pantothenic Acid, 2060mg total of taurine, and 206mg 0f panax ginseng. These energy ingredients don't look quite strong enough to provide a boost as sick as a Monster. And what weakens it even more is the fact that it's too sweet to finish within an hour or so for most people. I've never been crazy about punch, and this drink doesn't change that.

Taste: 6.4 - Decent punch flavor, but you don't want all that sweetness
Kick: 6.5 - Kick diminished because of the sweetness
Overall: 6.7 - I don't want another of these

Reviewed by: Jeff