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Hype Energy (Organic)

April 22, 2011 - 11:26 PM

Overview:
Hype Energy, while not one of the more popular brands like Rockstar or Monster, and comes in four distinct flavors (Regular, Organic, MFP and Enlinte); each flavour name less descriptive then the last.  The one shown above is, clearly, Hype Organic. It contains aloe vera with apple juice, this sounds like an odd combination. This comes in a 473mL can which contains 234 calories. Let’s see what it is like.

Contains:
Hype Organic navigates away from the standard energy drink make-up of caffeine, taurine and ginseng and attempts to go a different route with 184mg of organic guarana seed extract, containing approximately 98mg of natural caffeine, alongside 42mg of vitamin C and B3.  It is not a significant source of any other ingredients or benefits aside from the added aloe vera and apple juice.  Don’t expect the Aloe Vera to heal your insides.

Effects:
If I were to compare the effects of Hype Organic to say one of my favourite energy drinks, Rockstar Punched, the effects of this Hype Organic simply don’t match up. While I certainly didn’t get any sort of jitters or shakes from this Hype, which is good, I was not any more energized either. Rockstar Punched often gives me a much larger energy boost, certainly more than Hype as the energy part of this drink seems almost non-existent. If anything, I was more focused but lacked any sort of energy gain. It certainly loses points in this category.

Taste:
The first few swigs were similar to drinking a sort of carbonated apple juice, if you can imagine that. After a while the taste has started to settle in on your tongue you start to taste some of aloe vera addition but that doesn’t help recover the awkward taste from the beginning. In fact, it morphs into a weird taste that I have trouble describing. The drink does have that organic-type taste to it, which if you like that then this would be a good thing yet I usually like the taste that this should be. This isn’t it. It does have an organic-type flavouring to it but that doesn’t make it taste great.

Conclusion:
Feeling adventurous and wanting to try something unique but awkward tasting? Or just want to try it out, go out and pick this one up.  If you normally have problems with energy drinks causing you to feel bloated or sick this organic manages to negate those problems but loses some its core values as an energy drink, such as the actual energy part of the beverage and taste. I would consider picking this up again if I feel like an energy drink would make me sick that night or I lost my taste buds.

Scores:
Overall: 5.5/10
Effects: 6/10
Taste: 5/10
Price: $2.99 CAD

Rockstar Recovery (Grape)

April 20, 2011 - 1:09 AM

Overview:
Rockstar Recovery isn’t anything particularly new as they have had the lemonade can for a while but they have since released two new flavours (Grape and Orange). Rockstar Recovery is an energy drink that is non-carbonated, contains electrolytes and these two flavours are only 20 calories.

Contains:
It contains 160mg of caffeine and 2000mg taurine, this is pretty standard in a Rockstar and doesn’t make any leaps or bounds in that sense. However, it does contain milk thistle. Who knows why. Electrolytes are often in drinks like Gatorade and Powerade as you lose electrolytes after physical exertion or excercise .

Effects:
Considering the standard amount of caffeine in this drink, I didn’t think this would have much effect on me. I was proven wrong. This drink actually helped me stay awake much longer than most do for me and without any sort of jitter. Perhaps that is the milk thistle… Ha. I didn’t crash after the effects had worn off either. This Rockstar certainly gets a good score here.

Taste:
The idea of a non-carbonated energy drink was quite interesting. I thought it would be weird and it was. That isn’t to say it didn’t taste excellent, though I doubt this taste is for everyone though. Remember that grape cough medicine you had when you were a child, the good tasting ones? It is like that except better and with more grape flavouring. Somehow it tastes like it has more vitamins or something as well. The non-carbonation is actually a really welcome taste and if you are looking for a unique taste in an energy drink while still tasting great, this is it.

Conclusion:
This is certainly an energy drink you will want to pick up. On a final note, if energy drinks often make you feel sick, try this one, I feel it has a less likely chance to mostly due to the lack of carbonation.

Scores:
Overall: 8.75/10
Effects: 8.5/10
Taste: 9/10
Price: $2.99 CAD