KX Still Red Berry Sugar Free

Very, very watery! I think there’s a reason that most fruity energy drinks are carbonated, and that’s because without those bubbles tingling your nerve endings you just don’t get much flavour out of the drink at all. It’s like a very weak berry flavoured squash. Probably better for drinking if you’re about to do some strenuous exertion of some sorts, but other than that it’s not up to much.

BVB09 Adrenalin

According to Wikipedia: “Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e.V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund, Dortmund, or BVB, is a German sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia.”. I don’t know much about sport at all, but I’ve had it confirmed by those in the know that the logo on the side of this can is pretty well known in footballing circles. The quality of the can itself is pretty good – a premium matt feel and good branding. The drink is a pleasant but unoriginal Red Bull clone, on the sweet side but perfectly drinkable.

Monster Energy The Doctor (VR46)

This drink is intended to honour MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi, whose nickname is apparently “The Doctor”. This is all very confusing to me as the only person who should sport that name owns a TARDIS. Oh well, on with the drink itself. It’s described as citrus flavoured, and I guess that orange is a citrus fruit – I was expecting something a little more on the lemon and lime side of things though! It’s very orangey, but that’s not bad because it’s still quite nice. Even the large quantity of drink you get in this large can doesn’t get too sickly, so they’ve managed the balance just right.

Lucozade Energy Strawberry

It tastes like those foamy strawberry sweets you get, as in, more like sour sugar than actual strawberries. It’s very high in sugar and very low in caffeine so don’t expect it to quench that addiction, but it is perfectly drinkable and certainly different from anything else out there.

Carrefour Psychik Taurine Force Fruits of the Forest

The name is a considerable mouthful. The drink isn’t. It’s just a fruity fizzy squash, quite sharp and sickly in flavour. Again, for Carrefour, nothing special.

Carrefour Energy Drink

It’s just another budget energy drink really. Carrefour’s own-brand clone is on the caramel side things but it’s nothing special.

Monster Assault

I’m told that this is a standard issue energy drink in the US, but in the UK you can’t get hold of it. I found this in Spain so jumped at the chance of trying it without paying extortionate money to import a can. It’s really good! It tastes like fruit punch with a whole load of caramel in, and possibly a dash of cola in the background somewhere too. Whatever the flavour ingredients are (I don’t know, the can was in Spanish), they clearly work well together. I didn’t get the usual synthetic Monster flavour that is so prominent with this brand in this drink either which is a plus-point in my opinion.

Update 2021-09-23: Obviously since I first reviewed this drink over seven years ago, it has been available in the UK for quite a while. They have now updated the can design too, so I’ve updated the image on this review too. I am also now very certain that this is basically a cola flavoured drink.

Take Off

It’s a clone in a cool(ish) can. The car ignition stop/start button I guess is supposed to look more like a mission control launch button, but who cares – it’s a larger than normal can (330ml) containing a decent clone-style energy drink. Flavoured on the caramel side of things, but not too strong.

Take Off – Tropical

Horrid horrid horrid horrid. Sharp, sour, nasty. Sorry, but this drink is a prime example of my dislike of tropical flavoured energy drinks. I’d just started to enjoy some of the more recent tropical discoveries which are generally sweeter, but this one is down at the bottom of the pile I’m afraid. It came in a slightly larger can that normal energy drinks, but that just made things worse to be honest.