FruttaMax Thunder Max Energy Drink Syrup Original
August 30th, 2025If you have a SodaStream machine or similar carbonated water maker then you’ll know that the syrups you buy can make this a fantastic factory of fizzy wonder. I’ve reviewed SodaStream’s own-brand energy syrups before but this is a third-party offering from FruttaMax. When made up in a ratio of 1:23 with fizzy water you end up with an energy drink packing 32mg/100ml of caffeine according to the bottle. By my calculations for a smaller 450ml SodaStream bottle that requires about 20ml of syrup, or about 4 teaspoons. That isn’t very much at all, less than you’d typically use with genuine SodaStream syrups so I was concerned it might be a bit watery. Well, no, I was wrong! It’s spot on! What you end up with is a very passable ‘clone’ energy drink. It’s crisp and caramely, just as good if not better than most cheap clone cans. What’s even better is that this is the original full sugar version but only has 8 calories/100ml. The sugar-free version has got to be amazing if it wants to beat this. The concentrate will provide about 12 litres of diluted energy drink at a 1:23 ratio with water. You can of course mix this with still water if you don’t have a SodaStream machine but that might taste a bit weird.
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| Caffeine: | 32mg/100ml |
Tags: Clone, Concentrate, SodaStream, UK |
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| Calories: | 8kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 500ml | ||
| Sold By: | Amazon UK | ||
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Carabao Orange Blast
August 23rd, 2025Orangey! I like this one, it was quite strong in terms of flavour, and the orange taste itself was very slightly tart and sweet rather than synthetic. It’s not revolutionary in terms of flavour but Carabao have managed to do a decent job of an orange flavoured energy drink.
Asda Diet CHRG Energy Drink (2025)
August 16th, 2025This is probably my favourite of all the own-brand clone drinks. Asda’s own-brand ‘Diet CHRG’ is smooth and tasty, exactly what you want from a bog standard ‘mixed fruit’ sugar free energy drink. No fancy herbal infusions, just a great taste at a great price. There’s no bitterness, no nasty aftertaste… it does the job well. Asda has been through a number of branding exercises with their energy drink ranges, originally calling it ‘Blue Charge’ and offering dozens of varieties over the years. This appears to now have matured into three flavours that I can find: original; diet; and summer fruits.
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| Caffeine: | 30mg/100ml |
Tags: Clone, Low Calorie, UK |
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| Calories: | 3kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 250ml | ||
| Sold By: | Asda | ||
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Celsius Live Fit Cosmic Vibe Fruit Burst
August 9th, 2025Interesting. I’m not sure what the official legal definition of ‘Cosmic Vibe’ flavouring is, but the can declares it as ‘mixed fruit’, which is basically what every Red Bull clone drink says it is. But this is not a clone. I’d say it’s sort of berry flavoured, more on the cherry side of things with a hint of citrus or pomegranate. There’s an odd bitter aftertaste but it’s not too strong. Mixed fruit is a good definition of what it is, but I wish they actually stated the specific fruits involved! Expensive and not as good as many alternatives, but mostly confusing with each sip.
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| Caffeine: | 56mg/100ml |
Tags: Low Calorie, Mixed Fruit, UK |
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| Calories: | 3kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 355ml | ||
| Sold By: | Asda | ||
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Red Bull – The Pink Edition (2025) Forest Fruits Sugar Free
August 2nd, 2025Forest Fruits is an interesting flavour – there’s no specific list of included fruits on the can so we’re left guessing. Usually forest fruits would include berries (like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc) and also stone fruits like plums and cherries. I guess it depends on which country they are taking their forest fruits from but in this case I am getting a flavour of general mixed berries, with a hint of cherry, and something else giving it a bitter under-note… maybe cranberry or something similar? It’s a really nice drink anyway, very fruity, and nicely sugar-free too. I’ve heard rumours that there’s a full-fat version of the pink edition out there too so I’ll keep my eyes open for that.
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| Caffeine: | 32mg/100ml |
Tags: Fruits of the Forest, Low Calorie, UK |
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| Calories: | 2kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 355ml | ||
| Sold By: | Asda | ||
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Asda CHRG Original Energy Drink (2025)
July 26th, 2025This is Asda’s own brand energy drink and is very different to the old Blue Charge from a decade ago. Gone are the fancy ingredients of carrot and hibiscus and we’re just back to a regular list of artificial things of dubious origin. Similar to the Sainsbury’s own brand energy drink this is also like a bitter and less pleasant version of Red Bull, but it’s smooth and drinkable – go for the sugar free version though is my advice, it’s smoother.
Red Bull – The Lilac Edition Sugar Free (2025) Grapefruit & Blossom
July 14th, 2025It’s not often I’m disappointed with a Red Bull drink, but this time I was 🙁 I’m not saying it was a bad drink at all, it was quite nice and refreshing, but with this being billed as a ‘lilac edition’ I was hoping for something special, especially with the ‘blossom’ flavouring mentioned. Sadly this drink pretty much just tastes like a tropical energy drink – from the grapefruit I assume. Perhaps the blossom needed to be paired with something gentler in flavour, maybe a very light lemon flavouring, in order for it to shine through. Also, why lilac? It’s not purple in colour inside the can. My brain was expecting something more like grape flavouring rather than grapefruit. Anyway – also available in full fat (if I can find that version to compare), this is very low in calories due to it being the sugar-free version.
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| Caffeine: | 32mg/100ml |
Tags: Blossom, Grapefruit, Low Calorie, UK |
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| Calories: | 3kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 355ml | ||
| Sold By: | Co-op | ||
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Monster Energy: Lando Norris Zero Sugar
July 8th, 2025I’m assuming that this drink will help me drive really fast, and if combined with Monster’s Lewis Hamilton drink then all sorts of crazy shiz happens. Lando’s flavour is a very fresh and crisp melon flavour. As you would expect with any Monster drink, it’s extremely smooth and manages to balance sweetness with the tang of the fruit just right. Difficult to fault a Monster drink as usual!
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| Caffeine: | 32mg/100ml |
Tags: Large Can, Low Calorie, Melon, UK |
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| Calories: | 2kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 500ml | ||
| Sold By: | Local Shop | ||
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Monster Ultra Strawberry Dreams
July 5th, 2025It’s quite sickly, but very nice and extremely sweet. It’s undeniably a sugar-free drink, it has the usual mouthfeel from the sweeteners in it and that does detract somewhat from the strawberry flavouring. I am normally a fan of sugar-free drinks over the full fat versions but I reckon that this particular drink would have benefited from being full of sugar instead – I just think it would have been much nicer flavour-wise. As it is, it’s an easy going drink, very pleasant, would buy again, but could be improved.
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| Caffeine: | 30mg/100ml |
Tags: Large Can, Low Calorie, Strawberry, UK |
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| Calories: | 2kCal/100ml | ||
| Size: | 500ml | ||
| Sold By: | Morrisons | ||
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