Posts
Please note: We plan to re-review this drink as our can was expired.
Overview:
Marley’s Mellow Mood claims to give you all natural relaxation in both carbonated, Berry and Citrus flavoured, and non-carbonated, Black Tea Peach Raspberry Passion Fruit and Green Tea with Honey flavoured, drinks. From the start you’ll realize that this is not the easiest drink to find. There does not appear to be a specific chain that carries it, as usual with these smaller brands. Once you do find Marley’s Mellow Mood, you can expect to buy a 355mL can for around $2.29 while the non-carbonated flavours are found in 473mL bottles.
Contains:
Marley’s Mellow Mood is different from the usual relaxation drink. The three main medical ingredients in this drink are Valerian, Lemon Balm, and Chamomile with 15mgs of each. These three ingredients are supposed to reduce anxiety, promote relaxation and enhance your mood. It also contains Humulus Lupulus (10mg), Passionflower (5mg) and the common ingredient found in most relaxation drinks, albeit in a lower dosage, Melatonin (1.5mg).
Effects:
Will Marley’s Mellow Mood actually relax you? Only a little. What it will give you, however, is stomach pains. I had this with two other people on the Drinkico team and we all experienced stomach pains and generally didn’t feel very well after drinking Marley’s Mellow Mood. The little relaxation that we felt was most likely a side effect of feeling ill. I would like to mention that it could have been that these drinks had been sitting for a longer than usual period of time, this is due to the variety store we purchased from isn’t overly popular. Though, this is rather unlikely as they had not expired.
Taste:
I love drinks that are berry flavoured. Marley’s Mellow Mood, the Berry flavour, does not taste like berries. There may, at the beginning, be a hint of berry flavouring in there but there’s also a strange, overpowering taste that comes soon after. Try to imagine a watered down cough syrup. I started off not minding the taste, it was unique and not all that sweet. However, with every sip Marley’s Mellow Mood became a little more unbearable and eventually I had to stop drinking it. Not a good taste.
Conclusion:
Oh Marley’s Mellow Mood, how I wanted to love you. If you have some odd desire to try every relaxation drink available, then go for it but it is not with my blessing. If the taste doesn’t make you regret your purchase, than the cramps after you drink it definitely will. That is if you can find somewhere with it in stock.
Scores:
Overall: 3/10
Effects: 2/10
Taste: 3.5/10
Price: $2.29 CAD
Overview:
Tapout Energy is a relatively unknown energy drink on the market and one of the few places I see it available, though I didn’t look very hard, is Short Stop variety stores. Tapout Energy currently comes in three flavours: Cran Orange, Peach Mango, and Cherry Citrus. Personally, I have only had the chance to drink the latter two. An interesting thing about Tapout is they always contain no added sugar. Let’s see how that works out.
Contains:
Tapout contains the usual suspects except with a higher dosage of taurine. It contains 200mg of caffeine and 2000mg taurine, 10 mg of vitamin B6, 20 mcg of vitamin B12, 100mg of panax ginseng root 50mg of Inositol and 225mg of Glucuronolactone.
Effects:
Tapout Energy boosts the amount of caffeine from the standard 160mg to 200mg, so I expected a small boost over other energy drinks. The energy boost I got from Tapout was not fast but rather a very gradual increase, I assume this is because there is no sugar kick. So after drinking a Tapout Energy drink, you should be able to undertake sustained periods of action, whether you are on the poker.de site, or doing something a bit more active like going for a run. Either way, you should notice an improvement in your energy levels.
Taste:
Cherry Citrus, I like the idea of this combination and it tastes pretty good, however I think Peach Mango was much better. This is just be my personal preference though. The Cherry Citrus tasted a bit to sour, it certainly tasted better near the start. Peach Mango was good all the way through.
Conclusion:
This is not an energy drink that attempts to make any great strides, just a company that consumers wanted to make an energy drink as Tapout is often known for their clothing line for fighters. The idea of not having any added sugar is nice, the gradual increase was different and weaker and lacking a sugar kick means there is no crash later either. The downside is that it takes longer for you to feel any effects and when you do, it is not as strong. Tapout should have added more caffeine to balance this out. Overall though, the effects are good and the taste is decent.
Scores:
Overall: 7/10
Effects: 7/10
Taste: 7/10
Price: $2.99 CAD
Overview:
Inked Energy is 7-11′s own in-house energy drink and is sold exclusively at 7-11 stores in Canada and the United States. As this is their own drink, it can be sold for a fairly cheap price and that is Inked Energy’s main advantage over the competition. They are usually sold at $2.59 CAD but for two cans.
Contains:
Inked Energy contains 80mg of caffeine per 250ml serving and since this is a 473ml can that makes for a total of 151.36mg total caffeine content. For every 250ml of Inked Energy, there is also 1000mg of taurine, 35mg of Inositol and for the most part has the usual suspects found in most energy drinks.
Effects:
Inked Energy is a little below the norm on the caffeine content side and above on the taurine side. I didn’t feel overly energized though, instead a small boost of energy. Perhaps this is why they offer two at that price. On the plus side, I did not experience any sort of jitters from drinking this.
Taste:
Upon opening the can, it smells like candy and has a great scent. The name of this flavour would suggest that it would taste more citrus-like than anything else. What it suggests is incorrect. Initially, it tastes more like a blend of candy, carbonated apple juice and then with a hint of a citrus blend. However, you are left with a slightly sour aftertaste that is good if you like sour things, think of sour candies. The taste is actually pretty good. As you drink more of Inked Druidic, the sour taste does get somewhat stronger though if you do not like sour tasting candy, then this is probably not the drink for you.
Conclusion:
7-11 has made Inked Energy by re-hashing the standard tried and true energy drink formula into a new can and only changed the taste. Though the taste is quite good and earns many points in that department. Their strategy is to sell it at a huge discount when compared to the other energy drinks sold at 7-11. It will work well as it is such a large discount that no other energy drink has. Overall, a pretty good drink especially when you consider the price.
Scores:
Overall: 6.75/10
Effects: 5.5/10
Taste: 8/10
Price: $2.59 CAD (for two cans.)
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
