V

This drink is a bit different. It appears to take its primary flavour from the guarana berry (although the mysterious ‘flavourings’ ingredient appears in the list also). The taste is quite fruity but neither too sharp or sour striking a good balance. I’m not saying this is one of my favourite drinks, but it is certainly one of the better ‘natural’ flavoured drinks I’ve sampled so far.

The name is an unusual concept too. V for what? Vitamins? Variation? Vitality? No, inVigoration. Oooookay, they’ve even trademarked V… can you trademark a letter?

Red Devil

I was expecting another Red Bull clone from this one, but it’s completely different. The ingredients lists a key component as elderberry concentrate, now this could be the main flavouring but to me it tastes like the blue freeze-pops, or for the slightly older readers, WKD Blue (Devil… WKD… coincidence?). It’s very nice and completely different to other drinks on the market which probably explains why it is so widely available.

Playboy

This was the only can of its type sitting in the fridge. I think it had been found at the back of the stock room because it was battered and scratched to bits. Still, it needed sampling.

It is pretty much as I’d expected – another Red Bull wannabe. The taste is slightly less sweet though, but still nice. I was hopeing for something more original though given the branding! It’s still a nice drink however and deserves a rating in the middle somewhere given the special ingredients of ginseng, guarana and damiana leaf hidden on the back of the can – I’m not sure why they bothered sticking them in only to ignore them completely on the label’s main branding!

Relentless Libertus (Sugar Free)

This is the Sugar Free variety of the Relentless franchise. Instead of just marketing it as a low calorie version they’ve given it its very own name, and for good reason I might add. It isn’t just a de-sugared version of Origin, it is a whole new flavour. The bitterness of Origin is missing, but you can still tell that it is part of the Relentless brand. It tastes slightly watery compared to other energy drinks, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing as this is what stops it being too sickly or too sweet.

The balance is just right in this product and although it’s not the best flavour out there, it manages what I would consider a well deserved middle ground: decent kick, sugar free, no bad aftertaste, and a flavour that should be acceptable to most.

Euro Shopper

This is clearly another Red Bull clone created as a budget brand to fill up the chiller cabinets in corner shops. It has a very slightly aniseed taste compared to Red Bull which gives it a bit of an unwanted aftertaste. For 35p you can’t really complain though – it is an energy drink, it gives you energy, job done I suppose! If you’re after something that tastes good though, buy something else.

Mixxed Up Light

Lidl have rebranded their Mixxed Up Sugar Free drink as Mixxed Up Light. At first I thought it was just a can design change, but when I tasted the drink I’m sure they’ve altered the flavour too. I can’t be 100% certain because I’ve not done a side-by-side comparison yet, but I’m sure it tastes slightly fruitier than the old one. Looking at the ingredients reveals nothing, they are identical, but proof that the drink has changed slightly is in the nutritional information panel: Salt Equivalent of the sodium is up from 0.23g in Sugar Free to 0.25g in the Light variation. So… something is up. Taste-wise it’s not a change for the worse, and it is moving away from being a Red Bull clone.

Target Energy Shot – Life

As far as shots go, some of them are really nasty tasting. This one is okay however – it has an unidentified fruit flavour with a slightly sour note. For a single caffeinated shot it isn’t that strong and it also has no sugars to give you an immediate sugar rush. The main reason for a shot is for the immediate wake-up kick that they give you and not the taste, so sadly this product is quite expensive when compared with alternatives such as Lucozade and Red Bull shots which deliver more punch.

Zen Republic

I’m going to keep drinking these “natural” energy drinks until I find one I like. Sadly I’m still looking. This drink has the highest caffeine content per serving for a drink of this type that I’ve seen so far: 46.5mg/100ml. I believe most of this comes from the range of natural ingredients: Kola seed, ginger, yerba mate, lemon, lime, green tea, guarana, chilli, green coffee and cinamon. It has quite a quick to it and will wake you up good and proper.

As for the taste, I’d say it is an acquired one. To me, it’s like an earthy cola flavour with a very sharp citrus spike in it. Quite sickly to drink and causes a sharp inhale when you take your first sip but it is different to the other “natural” drinks which tend to have a tropical flavour. Worth a go if only for something different.

Pussy

Full marks for an original flavour but I just didn’t like it. The main ingredient appears to be white grape juice which gives the drink a very sharp edge and makes it taste quite sickly. It claims to be a more natural energy drink which I’m all for, including guarana as well as a lot of other ‘botanical extracts’.

It’s an interesting marketing strategy that this drink is taking, the name of course standing out amongst others, but it doesn’t really seem to fit with the natural energy image – it’s almost like the drink is trying to aim itself at two different markets simultaneously. Personally I’m giving it a thumbs up for the effort but a thumbs down for attainment.

As a side note, I believe this drink was made famous by an appearance on BBC’s Top Gear as a Christmas gift stocking filler idea.