Cintron Citrus Mango Energy Review

                                                        
During a trip to my local Dollar Tree store, which is a rare occurrance, I found this drink sitting on a shelf along with some other unusual drinks that I've never heard of. There was only Cintron drink can and only one flavor there, so I picked it up for a review. I've never heard of Cintron before, and judging by the can I figured that it was a cheap drink exclusive to Dollar Tree stores. It turns out that Cintron is a legitimate company, they even have a website which can be found here. It's a pretty decent website and I found out that the whole line of Cintron drinks is Latin inspired and that they focus of providing great taste along with great energy.


The Can:
The can design of this drink certainly isn't the best I've ever seen, but it's not horrible. Still, it looks kind of generic with all the lightning and stuff flying around on the can and the overall just cheap look. In my opinion, they need to get a background color other than silver and just work on the design in general. It's still an OK design but I think it needs some work.

The Taste:
Now, the flavor of this drink is Citrus Mango which is a flavor I've never had before in an energy drink. When I opened up the can and took a sip, my very first impression was that it was a Nos knock-off, but I was wrong. At least to me, the very first sip tastes a lot like Nos but with a slightly different background flavor. Once it mellowed out a little, it turned out to be a somewhat tart citrus flavor that I enjoyed. They definitely got the job done with the whole citrus thing, it's a really good citrus flavor and the background flavor ,which I assume is mango, really tops the whole taste off. While it's not my new favorite energy drink flavor, it's not bad and anyone that likes citrus would enjoy it.

The Buzz:
Unfortunately, the back of the can doesn't say exactly how much Taurine and Caffeine is in the drink. Interestingly, the drink contains Glucoronolactone, which supposedly won't make you "crash" after the effect from this drink wears off. This drink also contains 100% Niacin, which is interesting.  Energy blend wise, while it isn't the most interesting blend I've seen, it does sound like it will have some sort of effect. After I finished the drink, it took awhile but an about average energy buzz crept up on me. It was pretty much mediocre but at least it did something in the first place. It lasted for a decent amount of time and at least after it wore out I didn't "crash".

This drink wasn't extremely amazing and I wasn't extremely impressed, but it wasn't the worst and for the $1 price tag it's not that bad.

Monster Rehab Energy Review

                                            

I was pretty excited to give this drink a try, I've had all of the Rockstar Recovery flavors in the past and it looks like 2011 is shaping up to be the year of energy drinks that also provide hydration. In my opinion, it's a great concept and since these energy and hydration drinks aren't carbonated, it opens up a lot more options flavor wise. Monster has never really been my favorite commercial energy drink company, but that doesn't mean they're bad at all. Even though I usually pick up a Rockstar drink when I go to the store, Monster drinks are pretty good too. When I went the store with the intent of finally picking up a Rehab, I was really glad when they were on sale for 3/$5. That's a pretty good deal but it's most likely just an introductory offer.

The Can:
The can design looks really nice, I like the all black top on the can and I think they picked a nice color scheme. It's a really great design that stands out, they didn't really overdo it in my opinion and it looks just right.

The Drink:
This drink is a lemonade and tea flavor, which are two of my favorites drinks besides energy drinks. Open opening up the drink and taking a sip, the flavor was really nice. What's interesing is this drink isn't a 50/50 mix of both flavors, it's more like 3/4 lemonade with the rest of the flavor being tea. I think they did a good job with the flavor, it's not overpowering by any means and it tastes great. The tea makes for an awesome background flavor, it's really satisfying and enjoyable.

The Buzz:
In the past, most Monster drinks I've had provided a pretty good energy buzz, and the energy blend for this drink is interesting. The energy blend is 3207.5mg (original Monster is 2500mg). It contains Glucose, Black Tea Extract, Caffeine, Concentrated Coconut Water, Quercertin, L-Carnitine, Glucoronolactone, Guarana, Inositol, Acai Extract, Goji Berry Extract and Mangosteen Extract. There's also 1000mg of Taurine and 200mg of Panax Ginseng. It's an interesting blend and I was interested to see how it would work. About 10 minutes after drinking it, I noticed a pretty noticeable energy buzz that was pretty much above average and more. It was a pretty enjoyable energy buzz and I think they did a great job with it also.

I usually enjoy making fun of the text on the back of Monster cans and claiming that Monster is overrated, but this drink really is unique and enjoyable, pick one up and try it for yourself as soon as possible.

Gazzu Mango Orange Energy Review

                                             
This is the last flavor of Gazzu that I haven't reviewed yet and the other two flavors I had before were pretty good. A lot of people that review energy drinks, even myself sometimes, stress too much on the actual image of the product rather than the product itself, which really counts. The cherry Gazzu I reviewed was really good and the original had a unique flavor. So far, for being cheaper energy drinks from Circle K, Gazzu drinks haven't been that bad. Let's see how the Mango Orange variety does compared to the other Gazzu drinks.



The Can:
Even though the design of these drinks is pretty funny, as I said both of the ones I had before actually weren't too bad, especially for being only $1.79 per can. The can was obviously "influenced" by Monster but it's still not too bad. It has the same funny description on the back of it also.

The Drink:
I was excited to take this drink out of the fridge and drink it. With both orange and grape flavored drinks, and I've said this 1000 times before, no two flavors ever taste the same. This drink is "mango orange", I didn't know exactly what that tasted like but I found out pretty quick. This drink to me tastes like a 50/50 mix between an orange drink mix like Kool-Aid and an orange Tootsie-Pop. One drink that I can compare this to is the Fire variety of Relentless, they're not quite the same but they're close. The flavor of this drink was really tasty and I liked it, with this being the last drink for me to review in the Gazzu line, I can say that overall they did a pretty good job with taste for these drinks. It tasted great and was very easy to drink, it's actually one of my more favorite orange flavors now.

The Buzz:
Something unusual about this can (and also the Original Gazzu can I picked up at the same time as this), is that instead of the energy ingredients containing 1000mg of Taurine, according to the can I have sitting by me now, the energy blend is now 960mg of Taurine and 120mg of Caffeine.  When I reviewed Cherry Gazzu, the can said 1000mg of Taurine. I only reviewed that drink a few weeks ago, which means that they've changed it since then. Still, all that really matters is that this drink provided me with the same pretty good energy buzz that the other two drinks did. It got the job done and helped me out, and when it wore off there wasn't a noticeable crash at all.

Now that I've reviewed all of the Gazzu drinks, I can say that they're all pretty good and I'll probably pick one up again every now and then.

Gazzu Energy Review

When I picked up this drink, it actually wasn't my first time having it. I remember trying it for the first time early last summer before I started this website. I honestly couldn't remember what it was like so I decided to pick another one up. I like the drink's unique and somewhat unusual name, it's also pretty cheap at Circle K and that's good too. I highly recommend trying the cherry variety of Gazzu if you go to Circle K, I really enjoyed the taste of it. Let's see if this drink is good enough for me to recommend in the future and how it is compared to the cherry variety.




The Can:
Now, anybody that even knows very little about energy drinks can tell what drink this drink's can design was inspired by. In fact, it's almost a blatant rip off with the exception of the letter on the front of the can. Still, it's not a bad design and the description on the back of the can is probably the most unintentionally funny I've ever read. I'm almost positive that whoever wrote it was either trying way too hard or just extremely baked. If you pick up a can, read the description and you'll see what I mean. Since the can design is pretty much a blatant rip off another drink, I wasn't so sure about the taste being original either.

The Taste:
Upon opening the drink and taking a sip, I can say that I was without a doubt pleasantly surprised. It wasn't really a rip off of anything, it was actually pretty unique. At first, it honestly just tasted like that usual energy drink "bite" that anybody that drinks energy drinks is familiar with, and that's it. It was almost like drinking club soda, like they forgot to add a flavor. However, for somebody like me who can say that they're pretty much addicted to energy drinks, that's not a bad thing. Still, as I drank a little more I did notice a fairly slight lemon flavor that was really sour. If it sounds like I'm downgrading the flavor, I'm not. I actually really enjoyed the flavor and how unusual it is. I usually like to recommend a drink to people that like a certain flavor, but that's hard to do with this one. Overall flavor wise, it was a really neat flavor that I liked. I recommend this drink to everybody because you kind of have to drink it to understand what I mean.

The Buzz:
Energy buzz wise, it's a slightly above average buzz, which is probably due to the energy blend which contains 1000mg of Taurine. Taurine is honestly the only energy providing ingredient in the whole drink, unless you take the whole "moon dust" thing from the back of the can into account. It provided me with the energy I needed and I was satisfied.

Circle K's energy drink brands never really let me down, probably because they're all really weird.

Rockstar Recovery Orange Energy Review

Well, this is the only flavor of Recovery I haven't tried yet. I thought that the other two drinks were pretty good so I was excited to give this one a try. I enjoy drinking orange flavored energy drinks because they all pretty much taste different. These Recovery drinks aren't carbonated so I was expecting something similiar maybe to orange Kool-Aid.





The Can:
Before I get to the taste, I'd like to say that the can design is pretty nice. It's odd to me that Rockstar is putting out drinks that aren't in black cans now for some reason but that doesn't matter. They did a great job with the can design and I like the overall color scheme.

The Drink:
Anyway, when I opened the drink and took a sip, the taste was pretty much like I thought it would be. It's a really refreshing flavor, the orange flavor isn't exremely strong but that's what I like about it. They didn't overdo the flavor and I really like it. The can says that this drink is "smooth", and that's very true. This drink was really easy to drink and I finished it faster than normal.

The Buzz:
When the energy buzz kicked in, it helped me out. I'd been working for a few hours and I was tired and thirsty. Not only did this drink provide me with some good energy but it also really did hydrate me.

The whole line of Recovery drinks is really good, I would definitely say that this is my favorite flavor with Lemonade being my least favorite. Pick any one of the three up though, they're all pretty good in general.

NOS Fruit Punch Energy Review

                              
Some people really don't like the NOS line of drinks, but as I've said before NOS is one of my favorite energy drink brands without a doubt. As for fruit punch flavored drinks, I think those are pretty good too even though I've only had a few various varieties of them. They don't vary too much in flavor, they're either really smooth or a little too strong, even so you really can't tell the difference. Still, I was excited to this drink and see what it's like, NOS makes pretty good drinks and I had high hopes for this one.

The Can:
I really think that they did a good job with the can design of this drink. Now, all NOS drinks look exactly the same with the exception of the background color and name of the flavor but I think they picked a good shade of red for the drink because it really stands out at the store. I've always liked the simplicity of the NOS can designs and I think this can looks especially great.

The Drink:
When I popped open the can and took a drink, I immediately noticed that the flavor was a little over powering..at first. The first taste of this drink is somewhat hard for me to put my finger on. It's without a doubt a good fruit punch flavor and there's still that familiar NOS "bite" to the taste (although it's not quite as strong as some other NOS varieties), but it just tastes a little odd. Still, that doesn't mean that it doesn't taste good. It's a pretty good taste that I enjoyed drinking and didn't have to force down. I honestly can say that it's not the best tasting flavor of NOS in my opinion but it's still not bad.

The Buzz:
After finishing the drink fairly quickly I waited for the energy buzz to kick in. When it did, it wasn't too bad either and it did what it was supposed to do. It lasted a few hours and was strong, much like the other NOS drinks I've had before.

I enjoyed this drink and it wasn't half bad, I'll probably pick it up again in the future and you should too.

NOS Grape Energy Review

                              

NOS has always been one of my favorite energy drink brands and grape has always been one of my favorite energy drink flavors, so this drink was one I definitely had to pick up and try. This particular variety of NOS is also available in the bottle, I don't know if all of them all but I'm positive that the grape flavor is. I'll be reviewing a 16 oz. can but keep in mind that you can also pick up this drink is the nitrous oxide looking bottles you sometimes see at the store.





The Can:
The can looks pretty nice, I like the design of all the NOS cans and honestly I think NOS has some of the best looking cans out there. Some people may disagree but that's my personal opinion. The shape of purple naturally fits the grape flavor nicely and it looks good.

The Drink:
 Upon opening up the can, I notice a fairly standard grape scent like you'd expect from any grape flavored drink. When I took a sip, I was somewhat surprised by the flavor. It has a really good grape flavor and it also has that same awesome "bite" to it's taste like the original NOS. The taste was really good, some grape energy drinks taste like grape juice, but this drink has a pretty unique flavor that I really like.

The Buzz:
Just about every NOS drink I've ever had has provided a pretty good energy buzz in the past, and that's something I like about the company. They don't get rid of great energy to get a great taste, it's usually a nice balance of both. The energy buzz kicked in pretty quick after I drank it, and it really helped me wake up. I didn't have any ridiculous side effects or anything and didn't "crash" afterwards either.

If you're into grape flavored drinks and need a good energy lift, then this is the drink for you.

Rockstar Recovery Grape Energy Review

I reviewed the original Rockstar Recovery awhile ago and apparently Rockstar has put out some new flavors of the drink in the meantime, unless they were already out, but I never saw them at the store until a few days ago. Anyway, I was excited to try this drink because I liked the original (which will now probably be referred to as lemonade) and I thought it was pretty good. I really like grape drinks too and the Rockstar brand in general.





The Can:
As for can design, it looks pretty cool. I like the color scheme and it looks pretty good for a grape flavored drink. The darker color scheme fits the Rockstar brand better than the bright lemonade one.

The Drink:
When I opened the can and took a sip, I immediately noticed that it tasted a lot like a grape tootsie-pop. It had a pretty good taste but tasted a little watery, it wasn't bad though and anyone that likes grape would enjoy it.

The Buzz:
These Recovery drinks aren't carbonated and they're supposed to provide hydration, I wasn't really dehydrated so I'm not quite sure about the whole hydration thing, but as for energy it provided some decent energy which I needed.

What's odd about these Recovery drinks is that they don't really taste like something that Rockstar would put out, but it doesn't matter because they're pretty good. This is definitely a drink I recommend if you want to try something new.

Xtra Energy Shot Grape Review

When I walked into my local Dollar General store, not only had they restocked on Xtra energy shots, but there was also a new flavor that wasn't there before, which is this. The other two Xtra shots I had before this weren't bad and did what they were created to do, provide energy.






The Bottle:
The design is pretty much the same as the other Xtra shots except the background is purple, which you would expect from a grape flavored drink. While the design isn't the greatest, it's not half bad either and it looks fine. I always prefer a nice design on a product, but it's really the drink itself that counts.

The Shot:
Open cracking it open, it smells a lot like any grape drink would. I quickly swigged it down and was somewhat surprised by the taste. It actually tasted pretty good, it was a lot like grape kool-aid and there really wasn't a horrible aftertaste. Since I've now had all three flavors of the Xtra shots (at least to my knowledge) I can easily say that grape is my favorite and orange is my least favorite.

The Buzz:
As expected, the nice potent energy buzz I've experienced twice before kicked in pretty soon after I drank it. It lasted for about 4 1/2 hours or so before it started to wear off, I didn't crash though and I never really have from an energy drink or shot.

If you want a decent tasting grape flavored energy shot for only $1, find one of these and give it a try.

Gazzu Cherry Energy Review

I remember going to Circle K and trying the original Gazzu a long time ago, as far as I can remember it wasn't too bad. Since then, the can design has slightly changed and I think the original design was better. The G on the front was bigger and there was more detail around it. It's exclusively distributed to Circle K, so only expect to get one there. Even though I haven't written a new review for a little while, I've been drinking a few different cherry energy drinks and cherry has started to grow on me as a flavor. Let's see how cherry Gazzu can perform in the can, taste and buzz categories.



The Can:
It pretty much looks like a Monster knock-off, but you can always get these for a 4 for $5 deal, so you can't really complain. Usually, energy drinks have all of the energy providing ingredients spanning the top of the can. Instead, this can says something like "Refreshing, Energizing, Gimme Ah G!", you'll see why soon. The back has a description of the drink on it, which I was almost positive would be hilarious. It didn't disappoint, the can states that this drink could very possibly be made with moon dust, and I'm not making that up. It also mentions a "secret ingredient", which made me look at the ingredient list to see what was already in it. Somewhat surprisingly, the only energy providing ingredient was taurine, with 1000mg. As I stated before, I'm pretty sure that's why there isn't the usual list of ingredients spanning the top of the can. I wouldn't be surprised if the secret ingredient is guarana, but they should just come out and say it is because then people wouldn't think that it's a weak drink. I know that it sounds like I've been downgrading this drink, but it honestly really isn't bad at all.

The Taste:
Open opening it up, you get a scent that's kind of like a cherry lollipop, that's also how it tastes. It has a good taste that I could easily get very used to, and there wasn't an extremely noticeable aftertaste either.  It was good tasting cherry and was fairly enjoyable and very drinkable.

The Buzz:
So, after I drank it I eagerly awaited for a buzz to set it. The buzz from this drink wasn't extremely noticeable but surely enough I was soon wide awake and stayed up a lot later then I planned to. It's not an extreme energy buzz, but it's not too bad and it'll get the job done.

Head down to your local Circle K and pick some of these up, and be sure to get a Polar Pop full of Go Ape while you're at it.