Guarana Force
April 17th, 2013I’d never seen this one before at all so was quite keen to sample its French delights. It has a very low caffeine content as energy drinks go, comparable to Mountain Dew Energy in the UK so I wasn’t expecting much of a kick. It is a Red Bull Clone, but on the sweet side and very watered down making it quite a light tasting drink. I’d recommend it as an energy drink for later in the day when you don’t want a full wake-up, but just have a hankering for the taste.
Shark Stimulation
April 13th, 2013Discovered at a bar of all places, I had to ask them not to open it before serving. Quite bitter in taste, very much like the European own-brands to some degree and sadly not as nice as I wanted it to be. Branding and can design is great though, and the kick from the product itself is no different to any other regular energy drink, but sadly this is just another clone of the brightly coloured horned creature.
| Taste: | Originality: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength: | Visitor Ratings: | ||
| Caffeine: | 32mg/100ml |
Tags: Clone, UK |
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| Calories: | 45kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 250ml | ||
| Sold By: | Dewstow Golf Club | ||
| Web Site: | Click here | ||
Carrefour Taurine Force
April 10th, 2013Without a doubt this is a Red Bull clone, but instead of taking the usual supermarket tactic of making soured and bitter version, they’ve gone down the Aldi route and made a nice sweet drink. If you happen to be near a French Carrefour hypermarket or supermarket then you can’t go wrong with trying this drink. There’s also a sugarfree version which will probably be published next… The thing is, there’s so many different drink names on the can that I’m not sure what to call it – I’ve settled on Taurine Force as it’s the most prominent label, but the confusion gets more confusing (!?) as you’ll see when I review the diet version.
Euro Shopper Energy Drink Sugar Free
April 6th, 2013I maybe putting this second in my list of nicest Red Bull Clones. It was very similar to Red Bull Sugar Free, but with a little bit more bitterness (a tiny eeny weeny amount more). This will give Aldi’s Red Thunder a run for its money and the deciding factors will now have to be price, availability and convenience. It’s a lot nicer than the non-sugar-free version of Euro Shopper’s Energy Drink and whether that is down to a ‘new improved’ flavour exercise that has happened since I tried the original I’m not sure – I may have to re-evaluate.
| Taste: | Originality: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength: | Visitor Ratings: | ||
| Caffeine: | 32mg/100ml |
Tags: Clone, Low Calorie, UK |
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| Calories: | 2kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 250ml | ||
| Sold By: | Premier Stores, UK | ||
| Web Site: | |||
Tesco Energy Drink Sugar Free
February 9th, 2013Just like the full-fat version, the sugar free Tesco own-brand drink is watery and lacking in flavour. It’s cheap, but in this price range you’d be better going for for the Aldi, Lidl, or Euro-shopper own-brands.
| Taste: | Originality: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength: | Visitor Ratings: | ||
| Caffeine: | 32mg/100ml |
Tags: Clone, Low Calorie, UK |
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| Calories: | 4kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 250ml | ||
| Sold By: | Tesco | ||
| Web Site: | |||
Tesco Energy Drink
February 9th, 2013A rejuvenated effort by Tesco to enter the own-brand energy drink market. Their previous own-brand, Kick / Kx, was quite a bitter tasting drink. This time, they’ve lost the bitterness, but ended up with something quite bland and watery. It’s perfectly drinkable and pleasant, but is lacking in flavour.
Red Rooster Light
December 29th, 2012An impromptue (and my first ever) visit to Farmfoods as I passed it in Bridgend led to the discovery of the light version of Red Rooster. It’s an improvement (as I find the sugar free versions usually are) on the full fat version as far as taste goes, and the can designers have gone with a minimalist silver design which makes it appear cheaper than it tastes. Incidentally, Farmfoods also sell Mountain Dew Energy in cans too which is the first place I’ve seen it outside of a bottle.
| Taste: | Originality: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength: | Visitor Ratings: | ||
| Caffeine: | 30mg/100ml |
Tags: Clone, Low Calorie, UK |
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| Calories: | 3kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 250ml | ||
| Sold By: | Farmfoods | ||
| Web Site: | Click here | ||
Boost
November 10th, 2012A bog-standard Red Bull clone which tastes sweet and as you’d expect. The main reason for the slightly elevated price-tag compared to other budget drinks is assumedly down to the Boost branding. The cans are attractive and look premium by comparison to the usual range of cheapo clones. Boost is most commonly found in 500ml bottles from my experience, but occasionally you find it in a 250ml can as per the photo attached to this review. If anyone ever sees a can of sugar-free Boost please let me know where you saw it cuz I can’t find it anywhere!
| Taste: | Originality: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Strength: | Visitor Ratings: | ||
| Caffeine: | 30mg/100ml |
Tags: Clone, UK |
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| Calories: | 47kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 250ml | ||
| Sold By: | Premier Stores, UK | ||
| Web Site: | Click here | ||
Spar Budget Energy Drink
August 18th, 2012Standing out in the shop cooler with its bright green label covered in Spar’s trademark arrow logo, this energy drink had to be purchased – any product brave enough to use the word ‘budget’ in its name must be interesting! It’s a Red Bull clone, so no real surprises there. The taste is watery but sweet like many of the French and German own-brands I’ve tried over the years. It was very nice and left no nasty aftertaste, and it wasn’t bitter at all and at less than 50p per can it won’t feel like you’re being ripped off either. They do say it’s the small details that stand out, and like Red Bull and their ring-pull with a cut-out of a Bull, Spar have also customised their ring-pull with a cut-out of the Spar logo – although I have to say I thought it was a Christmas tree at first.
