Hype

Well, the original Hype. I've always admired Hype, but so far, they haven't impressed me, to be honest. I'm hoping the regular Hype can make up for the mediocre Enlite. I love the sleek and elegant can design with the vertical blue "HYPE" going up the side and the stylish metallic background. I haven't had a full-on energy drink in a while, and this one will surely get me going. I don't know what else to say; I'm eager to open this can.

Ooh, it smells a bit like a Crunk, when I think about it. The vitamins are prominent in the aroma, with some sort of herbal quality to it. The color, I found, is a bit similar to apple juice with red and brown mixed in. The taste didn't wow me immediately, but it's okay, I guess. It's a more complex and intricate flavor than I've found in many drinks. It starts out tasting sweet on your tongue and turns into an acidic sourness that resembles the tartness of a raspberry. Halfway through the acidity come the vitamins. Vitamin B is prominent as well as Vitamin C in this drink. The aftertaste left is sour and yes, a bit nutty. I'm sure if it were cold, the vitamin taste would be gone and it would be very refreshing, that's for sure. However, I don't find this to be an addicting and really tasty drink. The MFP was far more flavorful, I believe, with that very pleasant flavor, reminding me of caramel and having a delightful sourness to it that went well with the sugar. I'm very sad and disappointed about the regular Hype because the flavor didn't really grab me and I no longer believe in the saying that recommends you buy Hypes in twos.

The thing I like about the packaging is that the whole design is sideways on the can; very stylish. The first thing I look for in the labelling, usually, is the amount of sugar. The Hype has 27g of sugar, the same as a Monster, less than an Amp, more than the Java Monsters. Knowing the grams of sugar in a drink is a good guage telling how sweet the drink is going to be. When I drank this, I thought it actually tasted not as sweet as a Monster. I'm not sure what caused that. Now, the energy ingredients: taurine (amount undisclosed), ginseng and guarana extracts (amount undisclosed), Caffeine (amount undisclosed). I wish Hype would give us the amount of these ingredients, because it's always fun to compare the amount of ingredients in different drinks. If you want to do it another way, you could say taurine is number 5 in the list, ginseng and guarana are number 6, and caffeine is number 9. I can't be sure, but I have the feeling there isn't very much of any of these supplements in here. However much is in here, it did give me an adequate boost, but I noticed a nasty crash at the end of about two hours. This isn't my favorite drink, but I can tell many other people would probably like it. I didn't think it would be so, but I have to say, Monster still remains my favorite energy drink.

Taste: 7 - Complex; perhaps too complex for me
Kick: 7 - Crashes aren't good
Overall: 7 - Not my favorite, but you have to try it for yourself

Reviewed by: Jeff

Hype Enlite

Hooray! The Hypes came in yesterday and Chan and I were totally excited to try them. Hype, if you don't know, is a Canadian brand and I would consider it sort of a 'gourmet' drink, because of its refined appearance. This exact drink, the Hype Enlite, is the low calorie version of the drink. There are only 10 calories per serving, which I consider to be pretty good. I don't want to waste time on the intro; I want to tear into this thing.

I tore the can open and poured it out. It didn't surprise me to see that the color was like transparent rosy pink. The smell is very reminiscent of aromatic flowers. From the smell, I think this drink is very feminine-friendly. However, the taste differs. The taste is quite similar to the Jones energy and many other budget energy drinks I've tried. It's like that artificial berry-apple-pear bubble gum you hear about so often. Actually, it's like a slightly better version of that and it must be all right because I've already finished it. The aftertaste leaves just a bit of artificial sweetness. It could be due to the acesulfame potassium, or acesulfame k, a common artificial sweetener. That's what's giving it a sort of metallic aftertaste. I couldn't pin down the flavor before I finished the can, sadly, so I'll just sum it up as a sweet, flowery taste with mildly artificial and subtle sweetness. In this small 8oz can, there's no gumminess, which is very good, and the carbonation, I think, is just a little too much, but okay. It isn't the best energy drink, but it beats mediocre drinks like Red Bull and Rockstar by far. I'm hoping the regular Hype is at least as good as this.

In the can, I found a respectable blend of energy ingredients. I haven't seen Taurine in a drink in a while, so it took me by surprise just a bit when I saw that there are 1000mg in the drink. It's the standard dose per one 8oz serving, so it's all right in this 8.4oz can. Caffeine comes next, in an 80mg dose, which is the average. Following those two energy ingredients is an array of B vitamins, which you can expect to see in every drink. I believe B vitamins are supposed to help with absorbtion and metabolism. Now, in the Non-Medicinal category, I see sugar and/or HFCS after carbonated water. That's what you'll see stated in many sodas as well, instead of plain sugar or HFCS. The reason is because some bottlers might choose to sweeten the drink with sugar instead of HFCS, giving a drink that crisp, brighter taste. I have no way of knowing which one was used in this drink. After that, it reads "citric acid" and "natural flavours." I caught that right when I saw it. "Flavours" is the English or Canadian spelling of what we spell in America "flavors." That tells you right there that this drink truly comes from Canada, as well as the reprinting of the nutrition facts in French, which I find below. The list continutes: "sodium citrate, ginseng root extract, guarana (flavours), sucralose, acesulfame k, inositol, colour." The amounts of ginseng, guarana, and inositol appear to be nondisclosed, which I take as a sign that they're quite minute. I enjoyed reading the label of this can because I'm used to the cans here in America, and it's cool to see something from another country. From now on, I'm on the lookout for foreign and exotic drinks.

Taste: 7.4 - A bit plain, but it sure beats a Rockstar
Kick: 8 - Hype gave a very good kick
Overall: 7.5 - Nice light beverage

Reviewed by: Jeff

Hype MFP

We got the Hype! After a long time of admiring the Hype energy drink, Jeff and I finally got all three flavors of Hype. I heard that Hype is an incredible drink worthy of any Best Taste List because of its refreshing vanilla taste.I don't want to spend much time on this paragraph, so I'll make this really quick. Hype has a black background with somewhat trippy gray zigzags. Over that, Hype is printed in large metallic letters as well as the phrase "MFP." I'm predicting a bold vanilla flavor, with a bit of original Monster mix, and possibly some fruit mixed in.This came out after the original Hype, which means it's a sequel, so I'm expecting a more powerful flavor, with a bigger kick and a bolder flavor. I think that this one will be a major winner in my book, so I'm done here; let's get this one reviewed!

I couldn't help but put a smile on my face at the time of breaking this one open. After I did, I went in for a smell to get a vanilla and Monster aroma. Out of the can, Hype MFP is a surprisingly darker amber color than your average Monster. Oh man! What a flavor! Right when it hits your tongue, you get a strong caramel and sweet Red Bull taste. It then fades away with a light vanilla flavor, nothing really else, but just straight vanilla. It's aftertaste seems to be that of a Monster, artificial raspberry and apple, although it isn't too bad. I had heard this saying once about Hype and now I too believe it: "If you ever get Hype, get two cans!" Now to the bad parts of this drink. First off, the amount of carbonation really held me back from taking large sips and chugging. In fact, I think that this one was a bit too carbonated for my liking. As well as that, Hype MFP donated way too much gumminess for a taste this incredible. It really is too bad Hype put a few noticeable bugs in this drink, or it would be almost perfect. This is just one amazing tasting drink, but the amount of carbonation and gumminess really threw me off, which prevents me from placing this drink on the Best Taste List.

Now for the ingredients. When I got this drink earlier, I went over to the back of the can to take a peek. As far as energy drink ingredients, this one is pretty basic. It's got carbonated water, 'sugars' (Sucrose?Glucose?HFCS?), sodium citrate, citric acid, taurine, caffeine, ginseng, colours (caramel, riboflavin), and guarana. Pretty decent blend, except the fact that I'm curious to know what type of sugar they use, I mean, it could be anything. Per can, you only get 100 calories, which is the same amount as a regular Monster. A good difference between this drink and a Monster, or say Rockstar is that this Hype has only 25g of sugar per can (Remember: one can=8 ounces!). I trust Hype is a good company, but this one didn't impress me as I thought it would. It has a taste anyone would love, but the carbonation tackles you and the gumminess starts the dog-pile. I tried the Hype Enlite that Jeff reviewed and it, too, wasn't the best, so I hope the original Hype will please me. Until then, check daily for new reviews!

Taste: 8.5 - Not a bad one, like I said, too much carbonation and gumminess
Kick: 9 - Hype promised some insane kick
Overall: - 8.7 - I can't say it made the Best Taste List

Reviewed by: Chan