Coca-Cola Energy

The things you find at an Asian Market... and later see at Target. LOL!

While at one of the main Asian markets I go to - though not often since it's an Asian shopping center, and parking is always chaotic and ridiculous - I thought about getting a drink that I could sip while out on the rest of my errands. I had bought all the main things I had gone there for that I could find, and when looking for a drink, I found in the midst of all the more Asian branded/type drinks, I saw the bright familiar red can. I knew right away it was a Coke product, but then they also had a sign saying it was a limited item, etc.

Coca-Cola Energy Drink. The tagline from the can? The only energy drink with a great Coca-Cola taste. (Catchy, eh?) And it also says "high caffeine - guarana extract - B vitamins.

The can size is about the same as the average can of Red Bull (8oz).

At the Asian market, there was a sign showing limited stock - a "get it while you can" kind of thing. Not sure if the advertising was to get people to buy them or quite literally they didn't have a lot and possibly weren't going to get anymore.

When at Target recently, I saw the same can as well as a few other flavor options.

So one weekend after having purchased this can I thought "Why not?" and drank it while getting ready to leave home and run errands. And it tasted... like Coke. Okay, it tasted like Coke but with that energy drink aftertaste.

Now, I have had a lot of energy drinks in my time. I used to be a Mountain Dew Amp girl... then transitioned to Red Bull... and now I'm a toss-up between a Rockstar or "bang" girl. (Reading that last bit activated my "that reads/sounds wrong" alert, but that is the brand name so I'm leaving it.

I've tried many brands and flavors and types. I even have tried the little energy shots. All in all, I'm familiar with the energy drink flavor profile. It would be nice if companies could make an energy drink not taste like an energy drink, but it is what it is. You get used to it. Like now - I'm a diet soda drinker. Mainly because I'm not a picky eater by trade so I'm more than willing to accommodate friends that have dietary preferences, etc, and some of my close homies drank diet. But when drinking soda, you can totally taste the difference between regular and diet... but after drinking it for a while, you start to not care or notice anymore.

I'm like that with energy drinks (though the "bang" brand tastes REALLY sweet to me - more so than any other non-diet energy drink out there). So I noticed that flavor in this one by Coke. I've had cola-flavored energy drinks before, but this one has he distinct Coca-Cola taste... plus the energy drink taste.

I remember as a kid back in the day of the Pepsi versus Coke soda war, I was a Coke girl. (To be completely honest, I started as an RC Cola girl, but you can't find Royal Crown anymore. Not on the regular at least. I usually find them randomly at a liquor store or whatever and always get one for nostalgia's sake.) But I always like Coke a little more than Pepsi - especially back then - due to the advertising. From what I can recall, Coke was just... Coke. It had its ads, and basically was like "Hey, drink our soda if you want." But Pepsi did the politician thing and seemed to always insult or make fun of Coke in their ads which annoyed me. (I don't like bullies or assholes.) Plus, Pepsi was too sweet. Coke was just right. You know, like Baby Bear's porridge.

In the end, I finished off the can and wasn't too impressed. Maybe I'm just immune to energy drinks. In general, they all taste the same to me. Mountain Dew's AMP tastes different since Mountain Dew has its own flavor.

Coca-Cola Energy is not bad or good. It's just one of the many.

https://us.coca-cola.com/energy/
https://us.coca-cola.com/

Later my lovelies.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Nos Powershot

I have really weird body chemistry. I remember when I was younger (like perhaps from the age ten and younger) that medicine that warned it would make me drowsy, made me drowsy. As I got older, medicine and my inner-workings decided to not come to an understanding. Medication that warned “may cause drowsiness” ended up not doing anything… while other things that were supposed to keep me awake never did either. In order to get either effect, if success were to be achieved at all, I would have to take a much stronger dosage than the suggested amount.

Now I feel the need to explain something as an example: I was in a car accident many moons ago where my little car became an accordion with me and my friend inside. Post-accident, I was prescribed Vicodin, Soma and 800mg Motrin. The ER doctors, nurses, and pharmacists said that I could take them all together, but I’d be unconscious soon after. Taking all that into consideration, let me tell you that I drove on the meds. People were shocked, but the meds didn’t make me sleepy at all. I realized that my back and muscles felt better and that they didn’t feel as tight and twisted as they had before, but drowsy? Nope.

With that said, I’ve tried my hand at energy drinks (not all the time, just every once in a while) to wake me up in the mornings or when I’m driving to see my family three hours away. Coffee just doesn’t do it for me, and I hate it when people suggest it to me as a quick picker upper. It tastes good, but it doesn’t perk me up like it does with most of America. I thought energy drinks were like MANY cups of coffee in one shot so I had high hopes that it might do something. Alas, driving three hours, even with a huge can of energy downed and running its course through me, it did nothing, and I would still have to pull over and take a little nap.

Through many trials, I have tried TONS of energy drinks claiming to be awesome and provide much energy with no crash or whatever other bullshit they advertise. Now, I say “bullshit” because it didn’t work for me, but then again, I’m weird.

Finally I have found something that seems to work for me. I seem to stay awake with one full can of some energy drink combined with a tiny shot of energy. This combination leaves me alert, revived and not vibrating at all. Over the course of my travels, I haven’t been able to get the same two-drink combo every time so I am always forced to mix and match. So now it’s all about what tastes good.

In case you weren’t aware, let me tell you something. Energy drinks - they taste like ass if they’re not cold, and when I mean cold, I mean COLD! And sometimes even cold ones aren’t that great… to keep with the metaphor, they just taste like cold ass.

So while pit-stopping one day on my way to see my mother, I bought myself a tall can of energy and a small shot of one. The small shot of choice? – Nos Powershot (maximum boost formula). The small bottle also says “CAUTION: POWERFUL”, which of course I have to laugh since it’s not necessarily powerful enough for me.

Nos energy drinks are all right if there’s nothing else around. They don’t taste like any kind of ass, but they don’t leave with that “oh let’s make a smoothie out of that one” feelings. The Powershot is 2fl oz and 30 calories. What I find interesting per the back of the bottle is that it has barely anything, a little bit of sugar and carbs, but then I see it has 20mg of sodium. Everything else listed (save the energy crap which I expected there to be a fuck-ton of) was under 10mg. To see so much sodium just… surprised me.

Upon further reading of the little bottle, it says “not recommended for children, pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine”. I laugh at that as well seeing as I apparently am NOT sensitive to caffeine.

By itself, this tiny shot of energy does nothing for me, but teamed up with a tall can of ‘wake the fuck up’, it does it job as the trusty sidekick and helps out where it’s needed.

Would I ever try this again?: As far as ‘shots’ go, it’s not high on my ‘okay, I’ll drink that’ list, but if it’s the only one available, then I’ll go ahead and snag it. The flavor’s not too bad, but doesn’t make it too memorable, either.

www.drinknos.com
http://www.drinknos.com/products.do