SoBe Pure Rush Appleberry

After the last SoBe Pure Rush being a bit of a disappointment, I wasn’t expecting much. I was very pleasantly surprised! It was lovely, tasting a bit like strawberries. Finally a natural(ish) energy drink which I really enjoyed. It didn’t taste of Apples, as per the name, but was sweet, smooth and fruity with a ton of caffeine and funky sounding natural ingredients.

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.

SoBe Pure Rush – Tropical Twist

Pure Rush is not a Red Bull clone. It tastes like pineapple, orange and fruit stuff so fits the ‘Tropical Twist’ flavour descriptor nicely. I personally didn’t like the flavour, but the concept all using all natural ingedients to provide the energy boost does appeal to me. Hopefully they’ll bring out new flavours.

Update October 2015:
The ‘Pure Rush’ name appears to have been dropped and the can now features new artwork. Other than that, this is the same product as before.