Hydrive Citrus Burst V

Here I am, yet again reviewing the third and final Hydrive (At least the final Hydrive by me). I thought I'd save the best drink for last, so today I'm gonna crack open a bottle of Citrus Burst, with a Vitamin-infused formula. Unlike the antioxidant, as soon as I check out the formula, I'm relieved to see 100% of Vitamin D, Vitamin B3, B5, B6, and B9, all healthy compounds. Hydrive also notes the presense of caffeine, taurine, L-Carnitine, and L-Arginine. Citrus is a rather simple flavor to get down, so I'm eager to see how Hydrive takes it on. I know that we reviewed a Dragonfruit Hydrive back when they used their old bottle design and formula, but I'm not too sure that Dragonfruit is exactly the same, in terms of taste. Anyways, looking at the bottle, I see that Hydrive Citrus Burst has a nice, deep orange color, while retaining bright yellow hues as well. The logo is nearly the same as the other Hydrive's, with the exception of the orange and yellow swirls behind the basic black-fonted logo. Below the logo, there's a large "V", that symbolizes Vitamin, obviously.

Opening up the bottle with a crack, I find Hydrive Citrus Burst has a hearty, orange scent, just about as strong as an orange pulp, or just like when you open an orange. I'm a bit disappointed taking my first sip, as anticipating from the scent, I was hoping for a stronger lemon/orange flavor. Granted, it is refreshing, although it does lack the flavor of citrus you find in sodas, orange juice, and other energy drinks. Sort of not what I was expecting, but nevertheless, a good drink for only 30 calories. It's a light, mostly orange flavor with a nice sour bite, although more artificial orange flavor than natural. I find a bit of lemon-lime nuance, though not as much as a usual citrus drink. Because it's not carbonated, it goes down nicely, and, just like an orangeade drink. About halfway through the bottle, I find that the Hydrive Citrus Burst has actually lost most of it's 'burst', so to say. It's gotten a bit bland. Although my expectations were high, I do give credit to Hydrive as making a low-cal/low-sugar drink is not an easy task. In my own opinion, I do favor the Hydrive Kiwi Strawberry A out of the three I have reviewed, as it was the most natural, strong in flavor, and overall the tastiest.

In terms of ingredients, I'm really fascinated that Hydrive put in all sorts of Vitamins: D, and B. If it were up to me, I think it would have been cool if Hydrive put in Vitamin C, like I expected they would. Orange, lemon and lime just seem to always compliment Vitamin C, but that's the irony of it, I guess. In each bottle, like listed above, you get 100% of Vitamin D, B3, B5, B6,B9 and B12. There's also purified water, sucrose, citric acid, natural flavor, sodium citrate, caffeine, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, monopotassium phosphate, gum arabic, calcium chloride, sucralose, taurine, L-Carnitine, L-Arginine hydrochloride, glycerol ester of wood rosin, magnesium chloride hexhydrate, yellow #5, and yellow #6. Waiting a good 30 minutes after finishing the bottle, I find a decent kick from the caffeine, taurine, and B vitamins. Definitely not a kick like the Blue Raspberry, though. From 245mg of the blend, I was pretty impressed from all of the Hydrive's kick, as they all contain the same amount of the stuff. Overall a decent energy drink, especially for 30 calories. If you want to heed my advice, I'd definitely go for the Kiwi Strawberry if you want to pick one of these beasts up at a supermarket. Keep in mind they all have a specific function, and all are an even 30 calories.

Taste: 7 - Decent pulp-y orange flavor with a sour a bite, but lost most flavor towards the end
Kick: 7 - Although Vitamin D took no part in aiding a buzz, the 245mg of basic blend did a decent job
Overall: 7 - Not my favorite Hydrive, but certainly not terrible

Reviewed by: Chan

Vitamin Water Focus

You may be a bit confused that I'm reviewing all these Glaceau Vitamin Waters, but I'll assure that they are, in fact, considered an energy drink. I got the Focus the other day and I knew it was an energy drink because, after a quick glance at the ingredients, I spy B Vitamins, niacin, lutein, and electrolytes, good enough, right? So, I then find out that quite a few out on the market are actually considered energy drinks, so I guess I'll check those out a little later on. Perhaps I'll get a flavor more like diluted strawberry-kiwi only because they are water based, and those tend to be like that. I also believe there will be some vitaminy taste to it as well, you know, they do have vitamins, right? Knowing Vitamin Water, they do a pretty good job sweetening there water beverages, so I do think it'll actually have a flavor. Looking at the 20 ounce bottle, I see a basic wrapper reddish-pinkish-ah, I don't really know how to explain it, but you'll note the color from the picture (See left). The same color applies to background, which is the color of the drink, you know, that hard to explain color. Anyways, I'll keep this paragraph brief and go on with the taste.

As I twist off the cap, I find a scent that's quite unique being a sweeter-than-normal strawberry-kiwi aroma and possibly even some honey, but I can't be too sure. I mentioned the color before and maybe it's just me, but I seriously cannot determine a color. I'll go with pink, light red, and maybe some orange mixed together, as well as equal parts of cloudiness. Oh wow, what a nice flavor. It's a smooth mixture of strawberry and kiwi with an added bonus of natural sweetness and a whole lot of honey to top it off. Being uncarbonated, this drink seems to be even better with a nice consistency to it. What differs in this Vitamin Water than any other water based energy drink has to be amount of actual flavor. I mean, it has an up-front taste, with minimal watery flavor taken over, which, as you know, is a whole lot different than most I've tried. Aside from the main flavor, there's a sort of aftertaste that makes you want to drink more, and by the time you know it, it's gone. That flavor seems to be more like a sweeter version of the main flavor, but with more added honey to it and less strawberry-kiwi. It has a simple basic water energy drink gumminess to it, but nothing too malicious in the mouth. Overall, I still am yet to find a Vitamin Water that has not impressed me. These guys sure do know how to make beverages.

As for ingredients, each bottle of Vitamin Water Focus has vapor distilled, deionized, and/or reverse osmosis water, crystalline fructose, citric acid, ascorbic acid, natural flavor, vegetable juice, gum acacia, electrolytes, ester gum, Vitamin A, and B vitamins. I really have no clue how or what they use to filter their water, but I guess it's good, by the looks of the name. Okay, it's sweetened with crystalline fructose, which now, isn't the best if you didn't know. It's basically corn syrup, but based on corn starch, not fruit. Crystalline Fructose is made by isolating the fructose from high fructose corn syrup through hydrolysis. Some say crystalline fructose is just as bad as high fructose corn syrup, although that is only somewhat true, as you see. Per 20 ounce bottle, you ingest only 125 calories and a moderate 32g of sugar. For once, I must say, the calorie and sugar content actually match the amount of flavor provided in the drink, unlike most others I've tried. If you're wondering how much energy ingredients are found in a bottle of Vitamin Water Focus, I'll inform you that there's 125 mcg of lutein. I don't know much about lutein and how much is an even dosage in a drink, but I do know that it provides focus. All in all, I continue to be impressed with Vitamin Water's line of drinks, and I really do hope the last few I plan to review are going to be just as good.

Taste: 7.5 - Nice strawberry-kiwi-honey mixture with perfect amounts of sweetness
Kick: 5 - I can't be too sure I got an amazing kick, but I sure felt something
Overall: 7 - I would start sticking with these drinks for now on, if I wanted something not carbonated and water-based

Reviewed by: Chan

Vitamin Water Power-C

I finally was able to get my hands on one of these Vitamin Waters. Everywhere I go, I see these and just never bother to pick one up and review. Perhaps they were too expensive. Finally, I went over to this new store called Fresh and Easy and decided to get one, and for one dollar, why not? Vitamin Water came out with two of their drinks that have energy drink ingredients in them, the Power-C (Taurine) and the Energy (Guarana). Jeff reviewed the Energy so I decided it was fair I reviewed the last and final Glaceau drink, here on Canned Reviews, unless they come out with another one. This drink has no apparent bottle design, just half red and half white, along with some paragraphs and the word Vitamin Water stenciled vertically across the bottle. Some last minute details show me a clear twist off cap and the word dragonfruit, revealing the flavor. Okay, here it goes...

I twist off the cap to hear crackling sounds and smell a rather light berry aroma. This see-through bottle shows a rosy red-purple color, with no fizziness, because it's not carbonated. The taste surprised me with a diluted dragonfruit taste, that frankly tastes like a sports drink, you know, just bland. I guess the flavor is due to all the vitamins and the amount of sugar, which is only about 30g. This Vitamin Water is trying to say in a paragraph on the bottle "Hey, this drink has a light flavor because the people who use this, use it while exercising." In that case I'll let Vitamin Water go, free of charge only because its got a light, addicting flavor for a reason. It's aftertaste seems to be that of a sports drink, you know, that nasty burnt fruit taste. Luckily, it's not as overpowering as a sports drink. There's no carbonation because it's meant for exercising, so you don't have that burning sensation on your tongue while exercising, that would be pretty unpleasant. For a 20 ounce drink I was surprised to have no gumminess at all, even after drinking all of it. Overall, I thought this drink had a nice, smooth dragonfruit+berry taste that anybody would enjoy, but perhaps it didn't have enough flavor and was too diluted for avid energy drink drinkers, like Jeff and I.

As for ingredients, Vitamin Water Power-C has vapor distilled, deionized, and/or reverse osmosis water and is sweetened with cane sugar and crystalline fructose. I've been researching crystalline fructose and you know what it really is? High fructose corn syrup. It's trying to hide but energy drink companies only know so little about it. It's also got some dragonfruit extract, vegetable juice, natural flavor, electrolytes (magnesium lactate), taurine, B vitamins, monopotassium phosphate, calcium lactate, and ascorbic acid. Per bottle, you get 125 calories, which isn't bad at all for a 20 ounce bottle, as well as only about 30-32g of sugar. I know I'm not feeling a kick right now, so I check out how much taurine there really is and only see 25mg. That's nothing! Caffeine also helps to jolt you up, but yet there's none in this drink, so it may be awhile, if anything, to get a kick. All in all, you won't find this drink cheap everywhere, so if you see it for like 2-3 dollars, just drop it, there's nothing really special in this drink enough to wow you, but in my case, one dollar is just fine.

Taste: 6.8 - It had a slightly above average taste... nothing too tasty about it
Kick: 5 - Vitamin Water exaggerated a bit when they said 'Power'
Overall: 6.5 - I really wouldn't buy it again, too many other good beverages out there

Reviewed by: Chan

Vitamin Water Energy

I haven't had very many Vitamin Waters in my days, so I guess it's time I had one. And what do you know, Vitamin Water has a drink that claims to provide energy. Not surprisingly, they called it the Vitamin Water Energy. Since I'm just recovering from a bit of a cold, I went for this instead of a more sugary energy drink. Hopefully this can deliver the energy without the large amount of sugar. The energy components in this drink are simple: Natural Caffeine (50mg), Guarana (25mg), and B vitamins. It's weak compared to other energy drinks, so it's definitely not going to have as much of an effect. However, I'm still up to try it, in the name of Canned Reviews. The flavor is written on the side, which is something I think other drinks should adopt... maybe. It's helpful in telling you just what flavor your drink is gonna be. This Vitamin Water says "tropical citrus," and it's the same yellow as the yellow Vitamin Energy. I bet it's the same flavor.

The smell is hardly sweet, and it isn't easy to distinct the flavors within. I'm trying my very hardest, and the best guess I can get is melon, I think. Aww, the flavor disappointed me a bit. It surely doesn't taste like your average energy drink. It's the same flavor as the Vitamin Energy Tropical Citrus, but is toned down and watered down. That is to be expected, since there's only 13g of sugar. Fans of light drinks will find this more appealing than others. I'm the type of person who enjoys more overpowering, flavorful drinks than light ones, so this isn't my favorite drink. After a long, long time of tasting and analyzing the flavor, the best I can come up with is a subdued and rounded-out lemon with orange. There really isn't much more. It doesn't do well on taste for an energy drink, but I suppose it's just fine as a Vitamin Water. And the good thing about Vitamin Waters is that they come without carbonation and impart no gumminess to the mouth. In the end, the drink is very refreshing, something rarely seen in an energy drink, and something I like and need right now.

This 20oz bottle took a while to finish, as I was taking sips not very frequently, but only when I got rather thirsty. And since I drank it after I'd eaten, it didn't have as much of an effect as it would have. Still, this was a great pick me up, I have to admit. It did deliver some great energy, but I think that was because I hadn't had a drink in a while with these energy ingredients. It has 100% of your daily allowance of Vitamin C and half as much of an assortment of B Vitamins. The only ingredients present here are Caffeine and Guarana, which you find in very small amounts. Caffeine, you would usually find in amount of 100mg or so and Guarana would usually be aroun 50mg, I believe, though it varies per drink. If you're looking for a refreshing, light, tasty pick me up, this is a great choice. But if you've been drinking some energy drinks in the past week or so, this isn't going to do a thing.

Taste: 7.8 - Though it was light, I enjoyed it
Kick: 5 - Fine for a Vitamin Water; doesn't compete with other energy drinks
Overall: 6 - Great drink overall, not the best energy drink

Reviewed by: Jeff

Glaceau Vitamin Energy Tropical Citrus

After about a week of refrigerating, I decided to give the Vitamin Energy Tropical Citrus a shot. As you know, we have all the other Glaceau Energy Drink products already reviewed, so this will be the last one. I wasn't too fond with the Vitamin Energy Fruit Punch because of its weak and unappealing flavor, but I have a good feeling about this one. I'm predicted a smooth citrus flavor, maybe similar to Squirt, with a hint of some mango. Vitamin Water, itself, is actually a great drink to have, in terms of supplements, but the Vitamin Energy is lacking effort in producing a quality energy drink. Like all the other Vitamin Energy drinks, this one has a basic can design. It's half yellow, and half white, like a pill. It says Vitamin Energy 3 times vertically across the can. Ok, here it goes...

As I crack this one open, I immediately go in for a smell. I get a sweet citrus aroma, with a a bit of mango, some melon, and noticeable pineapple. It comes out of the can an opaque yellow color, similar to lemonade, or urine. Hm, I regret saying that Glaceau makes bad energy drinks because this one is quite tasty. It first goes into your mouth with a sweet lemony citrus flavor, with little carbonation. It then fades away with a natural blend of mango and sweet pineapple. Surprisingly, this drink does not have any aftertaste, which results in a pleasant drinkablility. I think this is one drink that kids, adults, seniors, and pretty much anyone else you can think of will like. I really enjoyed its natural citrus and lemon sweetness, as well as its sweet pineapple taste. Vitamin Energy Tropical Citrus is genuinely lightly carbonated and is incredibly easy to drink and/or chug. Due to the crystalline fructose, this drink has no gumminess whatsoever, just another great feature of this drink. Overall, this was one incredible and powerful drink, and it had an amazingly tasty flavor. Definitely one of the best drinks I've had in awhile, but almost worthy of the "Best Taste List."

Now for the ingredients. This drink uses the fancy "Vapor distilled deionized, and/or reverse osmosis carbonated water." It also used the fancy sugar, crystalline fructose, which is only sugar based on cornstarch, not fruit. Taurine then comes in at number three, a good set up there. Like a few other energy drinks, this one uses only natural flavor, which explains its great taste. It also has vitamin C, ribose, natural caffeine, niacin, gum acacia, ester gum, electrolytes, beta carotene, and folic acid. Per can, you get only 200 calories, which pretty sweet, considering this is an energy drink. You only get 50g of sugar, which is below average for an energy drink, but is sweet enough. You also get 150mg of natural caffeine, which should keep you alert and steady for about a few hours. And lastly, like usual, you get 2,000mg taurine, which is average. I'm surprised that Glaceau can make such a powerful energy drink, considering that the other two were pretty weak and lacked good flavor.

Taste: 8.5 - I really enjoyed its tropical flavors, it reminded me of Hawaii
Kick: 8 - Pretty steady kick so far...
Overall: 8.5 - I must recommend you get it

Reviewed by: Chan

Glaceau Vitamin Energy Fruit Punch

After a long day, I went to my local store and said, "Eh, why not" and I got the Vitamin Energy Fruit Punch. I'm pretty excited to see yet another company start making energy drinks. I mean, who doesn't, now? So, I found it on sale for $1.50, a great buy, wouldn't you say? To me, this can kinda looks like a pill capsule, you know, half purple, half white. Basically, the front of the can has a few large paragraphs explaining why this is better than your usual Monster, or Rockstar out there. I predict that this will have a multi-fruit taste, almost similar to the Archer Farms Fruit Punch Energy. Hm, I figured out that it is a relatively light drink, which I would most likely enjoy. So, here it goes.

As soon as I pop the can open, I get a curiously familiar scent, light wild berry. For some reason, when I smell it, I think of a meadow, blooming with flowers and fruits. It comes out of the can a fluorescent pink color, similar to the Archer Farms Fruit Punch. However, the taste is slightly different than those I've tried. It's a bit tough to explain, but I'll try my best. This drink comes at you with a blend of mixed berries, such as: raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, and cranberry. The aftertaste is a bitter, sugary, bland, type of carbonated water. That might be my least favorite part of this drink. I also enjoy how light the flavor is, especially since it has a terrible aftertaste. It's actually quite a bit carbonated, so I don't think you want to chug it, unless you want an aftertaste so large that you may have to wash your mouth out...I also observed that this drink actually has no gumminess whatsoever, which allows for pleasurable drinking and enjoyment. This is definitely one odd drink on the market. I mean, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't too great either, like Jeff noted in his Vitamin Energy Dragonfruit review. I actually think you should skip this one; there are many better fruit punch energy drinks out there you'd be better off with.

This drink, unlike many others, uses crystalline fructose, just another name for table sugar, or sucrose. Coming in at number three, I see taurine, a chemical not proven to actually have an affect, but is placed in nearly all energy drinks. After that, I see only natural flavor. Notice it doesn't say artificial flavor, I don't know about you, but that tells me that I'm consuming a somewhat healthy energy drink. Later in the ingredients, I see fruit and vegetable juice, put in for color. That's interesting, only put in for color? Hmm, anyway, per can, you get 200 calories, which is average for energy drinks worldwide. You also only get 50g of sugar, still a lot, but not a lot for an energy drink. You also get 150mg of natural caffeine, 200mg of Bioenergy Ribose, and 2000mg of taurine per can. It seems to me, the fellows at Glaceau don't seem to put much effort into their energy drinks. If you read Jeff's review, he basically says the same thing about Vitamin Energy. Altough it may be one of the healthiest energy drinks you come across, there's no need to get it. End of story.

Taste: 6 - It was just alright to me...
Kick: 6 - I didn't feel much either
Overall: 6 - Decent, but not great

Reviewed by: Chan

Glaceau Vitamin Energy Dragonfruit

Well, here is my last review of the month of March. This time, I had planned on trying the Ace Juiced, but before I got to it, I found this, the Vitamin Energy. It seems to be by the makers of Vitamin Water, so I expect quality. The little blurb on the back of the drink about the future and your teen years is pretty interesting and keeps me thinking this just has to be good. Even the simple can design and color scheme just has me wanting to try it. It looks like a Tylenol pill, but I'm not worried. It's not meant to cure a headache, but rather to give me some serious energy.

I don't remember ever tasting dragonfruit before, and I'm interested. The color out of the can is a rosy-pink, I guess the color of dragonfruit. I take a sip and think, "Wow!" This is unlike any fruit I've had before. It's tough to describe, but I'll say it is a little like sweet apple and some peach with sourness mixed in. In the background, I sense some tea-like taste. It is very light, with just enough flavor and not too much to be overpowering. The carbonation, also, as always, takes away from the sweetness, making it seem about as sweet as a Gatorade. I was a little sad because I thought I'd get an irresistibly exotic and savory drink, but I guess there was not so much emphasis put on flavor. The second time around, however, you'll think this is simply an amazing drink. I am really hoping for a big boost now.

I skimmed the ingredients list and found the standard energy ingredients taurine and caffiene. Wait, not just caffiene, natural caffiene. And, guess what, this drink isn't sweetened by HFCS, glucose, sucrose, surcalose, aspartame, saccharin, or anything. It's instead sweetened with crystalline fructose. With thisLovely, but I think it's more of a "vitality" drink new term, I had to stop and run a search. To my dismay, I learned that crystalline fructose is actually simply crystallized corn syrup. Basically, it's like HFCS in its dry form. It doesn't help the taste at all, and makes it duller than I bet it could be. To continue, there's the normal 2000mg of taurine in the whole can and "Bioenergy Ribose(TM)" Note the trademark. I remembered Ribose from Science class in 7th grade that Ribose is part of your DNA, and to put simply what Lovely, but I think it's more of a "vitality" drinkit's for, it's essential to the body. Overall, the ingredients are pretty standard, except the Ribose, which I think is a nice addition. I actually feel really good right now, and I think I can say it's because of the Ribose. If you are simply looking for a pick me up that's not sugary and that won't make you crash, pick this one up

* Oh, no, now I find strawberry to be in the mix. And maybe some melon. I'll just have to recognize this as dragonfruit.

** That's right, the back of the can did say that it wouldn't give you a crash. That could be the reason for so little sugar.

Taste: 7.5 - Refreshing exotic taste that takes some getting used to, but is quite good
Kick: 7.5 - I don't get an amazing kick, but I feel overall quite good
Overall: 7.5 - Lovely, but I think it's more of a "vitality" drink

Reviewed by: Jeff