Xyience Xenergy Cran Razz

Previous experiences with Xyience have been a roller coaster ride. Being that most of the Xyiences are reviewed, I can conclude that you will not really know if you like it until you crack it open for yourself. What I'm trying to get out to you is, you have to select certain Xyience drinks because, really, some are terrible and some are amazing. My last encounter with Xyience was the Blu Pom, and I thought it ranked up there with the best sugar free energy drinks. Prior to that, however, I've tried the Big Apple, and the Pink Lemon, which were just plain disappointing. It may be because I love the Blu Pom, but something told me to review this one right now and it was the first drink to pop into my head. So, digging through my pile of energy drinks, I found the Cran Razz and immediately pulled it out with great hope. Xyience Xenergy appears to be a Japanese/Chinese energy drink company, being that there are Asian symbols on the can, but what really makes me laugh is that it's the official energy drink of the UFC. Xyience makes their logo stand out in an odd way because it's some sort of bar code, but it looks pretty neat to me. Okay, well that just about concludes the intro, let's taste it out.

Tearing open the tab and hearing a loud 'Pop' indicates it's time to go in for a scent. As I do, I find a nice blend of genuine cranberry, with a blast of wild berry, reminding me generally of the BooKoo Wild Berry Zero Carb. Pouring it into the glass, I was a bit unexpected of the color, being a dark and fluorescent purple hue, although I had thought it would be light red because of the berry combination. After swigging the drink from the glass, I can't say much positive thoughts of it as it tastes like a bland artificial cranberry-raspberry mixture. I'm trying the oh-so-helpful method of swishing it around in my mouth to see if I can find any real flavor, and I do. If you were to do this, you'd taste a more in depth sweet cranberry-raspberry flavor, with a nice, sour bite to it. It took me quite awhile to find out what this drink tastes most like...once I've figured it out, I feel pretty good. It tastes almost exactly like the Crunk Sugar Free, without the herbs and technical details to go along. Curious to find more flavor, I drink half the can to find that now, I am adjusted to the flavor and it appears to be more up front and a whole lot better. Numerous times have I had drinks like this, they start off either bland or nasty, but as you progress through the drink, you find it tastes pretty darn good. I would say that's the case with this Xyience energy drink. It's aftertaste is light on the tongue, being some artificial sugar and a bit of sweet, fruity flavor. On gumminess and carbonation, both of them are light, nothing too serious but pure enjoyment. Overall, this has to be the first Xyience that was in between great, and in between not-so-great. It has the flavor it needs and the potential to be ranked up there with the sugar free gods, just not enough of it.

Xyience packs some nice and decent ingredients in one can, most of them being relevant, and others not necessary. Here's the complete list of all the ingredients in a can of Xyience Xenergy: filtered carbonated water, citric acid, taurine, sodium citrate, natural flavors, fruit and vegetable juice for color, gulucuronolactone, caffeine, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, D-Calcium pantothenate, guarana, Sucralose, ginseng, L-Carnitine, inositol, niacin, acesulfame potassium, pyridoxine hydrochloride, and cyanocobalamine. I just said how some ingredients weren't necessary, some in particular are Sucralose and fruit and vegetable juices. I'd like to see a sugar free drink sweetened with just good ol' acesulfame potassium, none of that artificial junk. No energy drink company but Xyience puts fruit and vegetable juice in their drinks, which really doesn't make a difference compared to all the other colors I've seen. In one 16 ounce can, you don't get any calories, nor do you get any sugar, but you get 30mg of potassium. The proprietary blend in a whole can (caffeine, guarana, ginseng, etc.) is 2,680mg, which is pretty weak, compared to a Monster. I can't argue with that because Xyience packs their drinks to give off a nice, long-lasting kick, that's just plain great. All in all, I wouldn't say Cran Razz is their worst drink, but it's definitely not as great as the Blu Pom. In fact, as a side note, if I were feeling kinda mellow, this is definitely a drink I would go for.

Taste: 7.4 - Nice, smooth, sour cranberry and raspberry flavor, I would most recommend this if you're just getting into energy drinks yourself
Kick: 8.2 - Once again, a great Xyience-brand kick always follows
Overall: 7.7 - My quest to try all the mysterious Xyiences moves on...

Reviewed by: Chan