Jolt Wild Grape

Jolt is a unique energy drink company. They were one of the first to dream up the idea of highly-caffeinated soda and make it mainstream with their slogan, "All the sugar, twice the caffeine." Well, some odd years later, we have Jolt, now in a handful of flavors in addition to cola, with the unique 24oz "battery" cans, featuring the special resealable caps. Well, here's another pristine example of Jolt's innovation with the revolutionary resealable 16oz cans nobody's done before. What exactly does a resealable can mean for energy junkies? Well, it means the choice of saving your 16oz-er for later, for those who can't restraint themselves or those who don't care for a whole can. What it also means is a special treat for the ears while opening the can; you achieve that wonderful POP Jolts are notorious for. It's a win-win situation until you think about the price; I think I payed a bit too much for this (in excess of 3 dollars), but I knew I had to have it. I trust, however, that as this grows in popularity, the price will begin to drop.

I resurrected Spawn of Uamenti just for this very special occasion and I opened the lid hoping for the pop, but unfortunately there was no pop and more of a hiss and rush of air. I took a long whiff and the smell was your characteristic deep purple grape flavor, kind of like cough syrup, but more natural and with some great zing. The smell is delicious, but a little bit flat compared to the Nos Grape, in my mind. However, I find that it is quite a bit more robust. When I take a sip, I'm hoping for the same thing, but I find there's less robustness to it and it tastes a bit flat still. To describe it in greater detail, the beginning of the sip is just sweet enough and then some mild but coarse carbonation comes in and gives the drink some nice texture, which I like. What's good is that the carbonation isn't foamy and doesn't linger for long. Then, as with many drinks, the grape flavor comes in halfway through and gets stronger until oddly, it just disappears. Chan has remarked upon this, the situation where a drink suddenly loses nearly all its flavor at the end of each sip. This is a bad thing if you're trying to drink slowly, since you lose the flavor and crave more soon after every sip. I think what Jolt was trying to encourage was a rapid intake, and now that I think about it, it's quite a genius idea, to make the flavor disappear after every sip. As I've explained, you'll crave the drink more after every sip, which does two things. For one, it makes you take more frequent sips so that you're likely to run out sooner and buy more, but what may be less obvious is that this means a greater percieved kick. Because you'll be drinking faster, this means the energy ingredients are taken in faster and you have a greater boost. I'm confident Jolt knew what they were doing when they designed this and all of their drinks and I find it brilliant. Already, by the end of this paragraph, I'm completely finished with the can. What I've observed is that this is a more mild, subtle grape flavor in comparison to grape soda and the Nos Grape, a drink I quite enjoyed for it strength. This Jolt seems to be lacking strength but is still good in general. Average soda drinkers shouldn't be disappointed while, someone like me, who is used to a quality drink like Monster might find this lacking. I'm optimistic about the kick, however.

Well, after about 8 hours, I have a mixed opinon about the drink. For a short period of about two or three hours, Jolt does provide a sizeable jolt, as you would expect. But what troubled me was, about 8 hours later, long after the slow, steady kick following the caffeine boost, my energy levels plummeted, leaving me tired and apathetic. I wasn't at all expecting a crash so severe from a Jolt, but I suppose the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

Anyway, for ingredients, Jolt has: Carbonated Water, HFCS, Taurine, Citric Acid, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Caffeine, Sodium Benzoate, Red #40, Guarana Seed Extract, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Blue #1, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin.

The drink also has 210 Calories total and 26g of sugar per serving, 52g per can.

Taste: 8.4 - A quality grape you can expect from Jolt, however, a bit flat
Kick: 6 - A respectable caffeine kick, but with a ghastly crash
Overall: 7.8 - Rather drink one casually

Reviewed by: Jeff

Jolt Ultra

Energy drinks are almost always unpredictable until you actually pop open the can and taste it for yourself. Having only tried sugar-filled Jolts, I'm a bit on edge to see how Jolt can handle a sugar free energy drink. So, if I don't find the flavor I'm looking for, there's always the long-lasting, amazing kick to follow. Jolts really do give you a jolt, with 220mg of caffeine, much more than a Monster, Red Bull, Rockstar, and even select energy shots. Because Jolts do not have a basic Monster Clone-type flavor, I have not the slightest clue what Ultra will taste like. After Monster flavors, the second most common is wild berry, so I might just go with that, berry and orange. However, noticing the lime-green and black can, I may find a flavor most similar to lemon-lime, I'm eager now to find out. Jolt has perhaps one of the coolest yet basic can designs, being about 75% black on the bottom and 25% green at the top. The green has strikes of silver lightning and 'Jolt' is slapped vertically on the can. So, eager enough to break this can open, I'll cut this off now.

The Jolt Ultra has a scent that's odd, most like lemon-lime with just a bit of wild berry essence, and that artificial sugar free scent that follows. After pouring the drink into a glass cup, I am not shocked to see a color that's just a plain and pale green, nothing really too special. Tasting it, I'm extremely disappointed, tasting a boring lemon-lime and berry flavored soda feeling, and reminding me of a lame flavored water. Taking more and more sips, I want to say now it's not gross or nasty, but I would only recommend it if you like bland and weak energy drinks. In general, the flavor is primarily lemon-lime, hardly any berry, and fades away fast, probably less than a second in the mouth. It reminds me a lot of Sprite, with about 500 times less flavor and less potent. In order to enjoy this drink to the max, I may decide to chug it, despite the amount of carbonation. After finding it hard to drink, I can't say I want to finish the can, for it virtually has no flavor, and just tastes like carbonated water. It's very lightly carbonated, allowing a smooth feeling going down the throat, although it seems heavily carbonated taking small sips. Like most other sugar free energy drinks, there's little to no gumminess. Overall, I can't say Jolt Ultra was nasty, but it will get a low rating because I found it hard to drink with no flavor added into it.

On ingredients, Jolt Ultra contains ingredients that are mostly similar to it's sugary Jolt siblings, with of course the exception of no real sugar. The ingredients go as following: carbonated water, citric acid, sodiumbenzoate, sodium citrate, concentrated orange juice (Ooooh!), Sucralose (Splenda a non-nutritive sweetener), caffeine, gum arabic, natural flavors, yellow 5, brominated vegetable oil, glycerol ester of wood rosin, taurine, guarana, ginseng, and B vitamins. Seeing orange juice from concentrate makes me wonder why I hadn't tasted that much orange, although I do recall some essences of it mixed in somewhere. I didn't add the parentheses at the end of Spenda, that was literally there listed on the ingredients list; talk about total agreement. Seeing the essential energy ingredients last in the list, makes me wonder what type of kick I'm feeling. Jolt is one of the companies that only focus on caffeine kick, caffeine kick, and only caffeine kick, which is something energy drink lovers aren't too fond of. Per can, it's easy to say that there's no calories, nor is there any sugar, although I really can't count a flavor, sugar or not. All in all, a lame sugar free energy drinks, probably the worst I've tried as it goes to the bottom of best sugar free energy drinks.

Taste: 3 - I can't recall tasting more than a drop of lemon-lime and orange flavoring mixed with carbonated water...
Kick: 8 - If you can finish a can of this weak Jolt, you'll get a nice caffeine buzz
Overall: 4 - I would recommend this drink highly to beginners getting into energy drinks

Reviewed by: Chan

Jolt Passion Fruit

Passion Fruit is a flavor less used in energy drinks, yet you will run into to an occasional outsider. Jolt wanted to create a good flavor, but not one that's 'cliche', or used by other energy drink companies like Rockstar, Monster, Amp, etc. So, here they are with a Passion Fruit. Now I found this drink exclusively at a Walgreen's that just opened up around the corner, and I hadn't known Jolt made this flavor. Apparently, it's been out for quite awhile, I didn't know, I would gone searching. Many attempts at Passion Fruit usually end up in a sugary and overly sweet mess, like juices and sodas; I'm hoping Jolt can break apart from that and make a good Passion Fruit flavor every one's craving. I had some really good memories of Jolt's insane kick it brought with it inside it's 24 ounces of goodness, that proves Jolt is worthy of insane recognition. The can design is pretty cool, pretty big I might add. 'Jolt' is printed vertically in jagged yellow outline with 'Passion Fruit' under it in a fairly simple yet italicized font. It's 75% black at the bottom and about 25% yellow at the top with neat and detailed silver lightning bolts. Well, let's see how far this behemoth can will take me.

The plastic casing at the top peels off in a few strips and I'm anticipating the amazing 'POP' you get from this pop-tops. The aroma is once again a heavenly flow of sweet tropical fruits like guava, grape, citrus, you know all the flavors that take you back to being in a quiet island with rain forests and sandy beaches. It's color is almost exactly like the can design, a crystal yellow color, with a ton of gas bubbles and foamy head. Jolt never ceases to amaze me with their flavors they bring to the house, just thoroughly amazing. Jolt Passion Fruit has an exquisite combination of guava, pineapple, grape, citrus, and possibly a small amount of original Monster Formula. The flavor is much less intense than the scent, but it's still pretty darn good. It's pretty sweet, but not nearly as sweet as other passion fruit drinks I've tried. There's also a good amount of sourness in the drink, which is completely normal for all the flavors it brought. In general, the flavor is impressive, but not entirely as great as the Blue Raspberry and the Power Cola. What Jolt should not do with their energy drinks is put all the carbonation they do in them. It's almost like drinking a soda with one of these, hence the reason I'm only 5 or 6 ounces into it. For the HFCS in here, It's as gummy as I really predicted it to be, just some minor traces of gumminess lingering behind the tongue. Overall, the flavor was pretty good, but I wished it were sweetened differently. I hate to drink a dull tropical flavor, it just doesn't make sense.

The ingredients are nothing special but I'll list them anyway: carbonted water, high fructose corn syrup, taurine, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, caffeine, sodium benzoate, panax ginseng, guarana, and niacin. Here we see the HFCS in the drink, no surprise because it's found in all the Jolts (Excluding the Jolt Ultra). There's enough caffeine in one of these babies to last you 15 days of going to work with some energy each day. But, if you're someone like me, you use the energy elsewhere, like football or walking. Per 23.5 ounce can, you get 360 calories and a killer 90g of sugar. Like I noted before, I recommend you split a 24 ounce Jolt with someone because that's just too much for some people, and me. Well, I think Jolt got the sweetness perfect on this energy drink because it wasn't too sweet and it only has 29g per serving. Right now, I'm so hyped up I can hardly think straight, these really are amazing. Once again, Jolt impressed me and I advise you pick up one of these behemoths, you will not regret it, trust me.

Taste: 8.8 - Jolt's twist on a passion fruit flavor was perfectly sweetened , but not as good as the other few 24 ounce Jolts
Kick: 9.4 - Dang!
Overall: 9 - Although you're paying more money for one of these, it really is worth it

Reviewed by: Chan

Jolt Blue Raspberry

I've had the opportunity to review this drink for a long time now, but something always comes up. I was originally panning to review this drink last week, but I found the Red Jak and couldn't resist. I then wanted to review it a few days ago, but I just didn't have the time. So today, I cleared part of my day and decided to review this drink, no exceptions. This is my first Jolt review, I'll also be reviewing the Jolt Ultra as well, expect that one to be good. Jolt makes their drinks in 16 ounces and 24 ounces, both sizes having their own line of drinks. For example, they have the Jolt Blue and the Jolt Blue Raspberry as well as the Jolt Cola and the Jolt Power Cola; odd but hey, energy drinks are energy drinks. This Jolt looks the same as all the other ones, 75% black and 25% the color of the drink, this one being blue for raspberry. You may say this drink looks the same as the Jolt Blue, but here's where you're wrong, it says 'Blue Raspberry' under 'Jolt', rather than 'Blue'. Jeff noted the blue raspberry taste in his Jolt Blue, so I'm expecting a better version of blue raspberry, deeper, more flavor, smoother. I've heard that this is a lot better than the Jolt Blue, I trust it is, but I want to find out right now if it is or not. Here it goes...

I peel off the plastic which comes off in one piece and twist off the cap. It makes a nice loud pop then revealing an irresistible pure blue raspberry aroma, almost to die for. The color is a plasma blue color, looking like crystal with just a little bit of fizziness. The taste is even better than the scent having an insane cotton candy and blue raspberry mix, reminding me of carnivals and Jolly Ranchers. As I take more sips, I start to notice a familiar flavor, Pop Rocks. I don't know why, but that neat Pop Rocks flavor just came to my head once I took a sip of the 24 ounce Behemoth, maybe because Pop Rocks make a deep blue raspberry flavor the same way Jolt Does. I haven't found my way through many blue raspberry energy drinks thus far, but as of now, this has to be my favorite blue raspberry energy drinks. However, the reality is, I know of many blue raspberry energy drinks I need to review, all having the potential to be better. Jolt isn't afraid to put a lot of carbonation in their energy drinks, that's why I'm downgrading Jolt Blue Raspberry. The carbonation in this drink seems to be heavy and delivers a burning sensation going down the throat, and just a bit going into the mouth. I have to say, for having HFCS, this Jolt allows no gumminess and actually has a crisp flavors, rather than a dull flavor, found in the Kronik and the BooKoo Berry, which if you recall separated those from the Best Taste List. Overall, the Jolt Blue Raspberry was one of the best HFCS energy drinks I've had in a long time, outtasting the Kronik, BooKoo Berry, and the Freek line. The one thing that bugged me was the amount of carbonation, thus separating it from the drinks on Best Taste List.

The ingredients list shows carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, taurine, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium benzoate, caffeine, sodium citrate, gum arabic, Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, guarana, ginseng, and niacin. Jolt does a good job of masking the HFCS in this drink because it's a fairly fresh and sweet drink, not really a lot of dullness. A few ingredients over is Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin, which helps Jolt rid the gumminess and rid the dullness caused by the HFCS. It's always great to have that when you see HFCS. Per 24 ounce can, you get 360 calories and 90 grams of sugar (You're better off splitting this guy with someone!). If it were 16 ounces, you'd get a fairly decent amount of sugar, more than a Monster, but not as much as the Jeff Gordon or the Max Velocity. The calorie count is also not bad, but just watch out, any more than 24 ounces can be dangerously bad for you, way too much sugar. The kick is pretty insane, having a lot of caffeine and guarana, although the amount is undisclosed. If a 16 ounce Jolt has 220mg of caffeine, how much does this one have? 330, incredible. The kick is massive, being a 24 ounce can, but not worthy of the Best Kick list, because it's 24 ounces, not 16. In general, I was very pleased with this energy drink, and I'm sure you will too, just be aware of your sugar intake and caffeine intake with this Blue Raspberry Behemoth.

Taste: 9 - I was amazed by the fresh Blue Raspberry flavor, and the lack of gumminess is really what will impress you
Kick: 9.2 - The kick is insane, being a 24 ounce can with a lot of sugar and caffeine, DO NOT drink if you are sensitive to caffeine. Fair warning.
Overall: 9.1 - I would buy it again, but now I know to split it with someone

Reviewed by: Chan

Jolt Power Cola

Think back to the Jolt Cola review. That turned out to be part of some separate line of Jolt energy drinks. I was wondering why it came in the small can - 16oz instead of 24. Yeah, I miss the 24oz behemoth energy drinks. Even more, I miss the 24ozers with a cap, the resealable ones. Having a cap on a huge energy drink makes it so much better and enjoyable, in my mind. And, what's more, it makes that awesome "pop" sound I've missed so much. Now, I've read about the main line of Jolts and supposedly, they have a way better flavor than the last line. The can design is still pretty sweet and rugged, with the bold "JOLT" going up the side of the can and the intense lightning bolts over a red background. They call this a battery can because it does look a little like a battery. The top part is the positive end and the bottom is the negative. Then, they've got that stripe on the top part of the can, like a Duracell brand battery. Man, this is going to be such an awesome experience. I cannot wait to tear in.

Dude, that was awesome. The plastic coating came off in one piece and then I unscrewed the cap, yielding a loud "POP" that sounded like explosive decompression. Right after, wispy vapor that looked like steam vented from the opening. I took a big whiff straight from the can and sure enough, it was cola. The first distinct smell that I noticed was lime peel, driving the scent towards that of Pepsi-Cola. Behind that, there's another herb that reminds me of Coca-Cola. This is definitely not a generic or simple cola. No, this is a cola that tries hard to bring some complexity into the mix. The color is pretty dark, darker than other colas. 2-4oz in a cup looks almost black, rather than a lighter caramel color. This stuff goes down okay, but not particularly smoothly. It seems some of the unusual flavors slightly hinder this drink's chuggability as well as foamy, fine carbonation. After a chug, Jolt Power Cola leaves a moderate amount of gumminess in the mouth, but it's only mild and easy to remove. My least favorite kind of carbonation is the very foamy kind because I think it's the one that gets in the way of the flavor the most, lingering the longest. There's only a tiny, tiny aftertaste of plain old cola. I thought reviewing this would be more of a thrill, but the carbonation in this is just the worst. It's not painful, just annoying. If you're going to drink this, I suppose the best way to enjoy it is to let it go flat, chill it and then drink it. The only differences I could pin down between this and the Jolt Cola are that this one has more flavor, but troublesome carbonation. Overall, I'd say this is almost as good as Coca-Cola and way better than Pepsi.

From a 24oz drink, you can expect a pretty hefty boost, and with the Jolt, this is especially true. I hadn't even finished this mammoth when I just couldn't sit still and ran around like mad. You can't hardly beat the amazing lift you get from one of these. The kick will take you by surprise, getting you up and moving uncontrollably, and you won't want to stop for hours. Running constantly is a breeze because of all the energy I get from this thing. I needed the lift; just before I had this, I was too tired and lazy to do anything. So what does the ingredients list look like? There's Carbonated Water, HFCS, Taurine, Caramel Color, Phosphoric Acid, Caffeine, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, Guarana Seed Extract, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Panax Ginseng Root Extract, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate (Pantothenic Acid), Thiamine Hydrochloride, and Riboflavin. It's looking pretty solid, except I don't see any of the lesser energy ingredients, like Glucuronolactone, Inositol, and L-Carnitine. Apparently, Jolt chose to solely incorporate the big four: Caffeine, Taurine, Ginseng, Guarana, and a stack of Vitamins. For kick, Jolt goes with a simple energy blend, but the huge can delivers enough of it to send you soaring.

Taste: 7.7 - Better-than-average cola
Kick: 9 - You can count on a 24ozer for some serious power
Overall: 8.5 - Worth the boost

Reviewed by: Jeff

Jolt Blue

After breakfast burritos in the morning, I'm feeling like a pick-me-up that can really get me going. I'm hoping the Jolt Blue is just the right choice. The flavor I'm guessing is going to be blue raspberry, which should be very invigorating along with the huge amount of caffeine in here. Jolt's can design is pretty sweet, giving you a sensation of energy and power. I especially like the fierce lightning going through the top section and the vertical JOLT. I need the energy today to hike and do some work around the campsite.

Good thing I chilled this all yesterday and overnight in the cooler. Popping it open, the only thing I smell at first is faint tartness and nothing else. As the liquid falls into this here styrofoam cup, I'm a little bit surprised by the color, which is blue, but lighter than I expected. It's closer to blue cotton candy than blue raspberry candy, looking like pure cerulean or #3faedc inside a white cup. On the back of the can, Blue 1 is listed in the ingredients, giving it that sky blue. On taste, this drink really performs. One sip of it and you're hooked on that tangy, fruity berry flavor. The tang comes at the end, from Citric Acid and the fine carbonation, which stings a little, but works very well. Then, the aftertaste is like fruity raspberry bubble gum. The sweetness is crisp, but not too crisp because this drink utilizes Sugar and HFCS, together. What I notice near the end of the can is that there is gumminess, but it's very mild and goes away very easily. I'm very surprised because I was thinking a drink with 32g of sugar would be very gummy. Good job on a fruity raspberry drink by Jolt.

Ingredients like Jolt's are not what I'm used to seeing. I mentioned how Jolt uses Sugar and HFCS already. After water and the sweeteners, there's Citric Acid that gave the drink its tartness and then Sodium Benzoate that is said to preserve the drink. Sodium Citrate also sounds like something sour and next are Natural and Artificial Flavors. Finally, the energy ingredients begin to appear, starting with Caffeine. Then, I see and odd ingredient I've seen a few times before. I'm not sure, but maybe Glycerol Ester of Wood Rosin has something to do with the lack of gumminess in the drink. It sounds like a waxy substance and I do notice a sort of waxy something surrounding my teeth. The rest of the list goes like this: Blue 1, Taurine, Guarana, Ginseng, and Vitamin B Complex. It's kind of sad to see that the coloring comes before the majority of energy ingredients. That tells you right there that the Jolt is weak on all the energy ingredients we're used to seeing except Caffeine. That's not so great because many people already have a Caffeine tolerance and would'nt feel the kick they would get from the other energy ingredients. Also, another thing that worries me is the sugar content. 32g is quite a lot of sugar for one serving of energy drink. Compare 32g to Monster's 27 and Amp's 29. I think it's too much and that Jolt didn't have to dump in so much sugar. They could've done other things like reduced the carbonation and used pure sugar, not HFCS. On taste, this thing excels, but it drives me away with its ingredients.

Taste: 8.5 - Addictingly fruity blue raspberry
Kick: 7.5 - Caffeine-strong, weak in all other areas
Overall: 7.5 - Tasty, but the ingredients scare me a bit

Reviewed by: Jeff

Jolt Cola

Today I took a trip to Big Lots! and was greeted happily by a wall of energy drinks. They had half an aisle devoted to just random energy drinks. There are for sure going to be a lot of reviews coming soon. The first of my reviews will be the Jolt Cola, which I had always wanted to try. I am sort of crazy about colas and can't wait to try Red Bull Cola. This is my first cola energy drink, and I can't wait to try it. I'm expecting a better version of Coke or Pepsi, being less carbonated and with more cola flavor. Oh, and the thing with Jolt is they pack a huge amount of caffeine into one can. There are 220mg of Caffeine in this bad boy, way more than almost any drink. Along with caffeine, there exist Guarana, Taurine, Ginseng, and Vitamin Bs. I am extremely eager to open this and compare this to the leading colas.

Chandler also impersonated Spawn of Uamenti as I opened the can. The color was definitely close to the color of Coke and Pepsi, being that dark brown caramel color, but it's a little darker and less saturated than regular cola. The smell is very succulent cola, reminding me of the Monster Assault I had recently. Everything about the drink is positive until I taste it. It disappoints me like a soda. The carbonation hits first and distracts your from the cola, which seems as if it is barely there. The carbonation never really leaves your mouth, until you swallow, which is very unfulfilling. Then, the aftertaste is also unpleasant, being sour and bitter, probably coming from the phosphoric acid. I never have liked phosphoric acid; it just hurts going down your throat and eats away at your teeth. I also hate the huge amount of carbonation that they dump in there. It isn't much better than a regular soda, and that makes me sad. The only thing making it better than a Coke is the fact that there are 220 earth-shattering milligrams of caffeine, which I'm feeling right now.

Although the taste was just about average for a soda, below average for an energy drink, the kick is really intense. The whole night, I was incredibly wired and full of energy. These guys at Jolt aren't messing around. Along with a massive 220mg of Caffeine, there is Taurine, Ginseng, Guarana, and Vitamin B Complex. I checked to see what the sweetener was and wasn't very surprised to see that it is HFCS. Of course, it's what contributed to the drink's dull taste. Per serving, there are 27g of sugar, which is equal to a Monster, but the carbonation tones it down and made it a whole lot less satisfying than a Monster. The taste of the drink was mediocre, but if you're looking for a serious kick, you want a Jolt.


Taste: 6 - Mediocre cola, just like the rest
Kick: 9 - Awesome caffeine boost
Overall: 7 - Good for the boost, and if you're into colas

Reviewed by: Jeff