The Consumer’s Corner

This particular article will be a little hard to write without ripping off my own review of Rip It Power Sugar Free, because they are essentially the same product. Undaunted, I’m going to try my hardest nonetheless.

Compared to the Sugar Free version, I actually think that ‘regular’ Power is a slight step down in the flavor department, but it makes up for it in energy enhancement. The 66 grams of sugar (high fructose corn syrup) in a can is going to give you that much more of a boost just by default. It can’t help but lift you up a bit, it’s pure carbs. You pay for it by a slightly syrupy feel in your mouth though, and I really do not like that feeling (same goes for any corn syrup sweetened beverage, not just this). That sugar will make you crash too (it’s a ‘cheap fix’), so don’t forget that. You’ll also have 260 calories to work off, if you drink the whole can (2 servings per can).

The boost is very noticeable though, and will certainly get you moving in a hurry. I’m definitely not an early morning person, so I keep either one of these, or the Sugar Free (often both) chilled in my fridge at all times for the occasions I have to get going with a quickness. There IS a warning label on the can though; I recommend reading it and paying attention.

The ‘Power’ flavor in the line is the one most comparable to the ‘big name’ drinks, and is most similar to original Monster in my opinion. Falling somewhere in between fruit punch and bubble gum, it’s common to the genre, and very pleasant overall (especially very cold). ‘Power’ is a good starting point if you’re interested in giving the line a try, and it is my sugar sweetened energy drink of choice (at the moment, I change my mind often).

Like all other Rip It’s, it is value for the consumer at it’s finest. You’re getting a product that is just as good as the ‘other guy’s,’ and you’re paying half as much (or one quarter as much in Red Bull’s case). The price difference would be noticeable especially if you drink a lot of energy beverages, or if you’re a throwing a ‘party’ and like to ‘mix’ things and you’re on a budget, or if you’re just plain cheap like I am.

Give it a try if this at all sounds interesting to you. Rip It is available at Wal-Mart (usually in the deli coolers), and Dollar Tree stores. If you’ve seen it in more locations, I’d love to know where, so leave a comment! I’m out….

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–Jeremy Hobbs

Related Articles:

Rip It Energy Fuel Power Sugar Free

Rip It Energy Fuel Citrus X

Rip It Energy Fuel A’Tomic Pom

Rip It Energy Fuel Lime Wrecker

beverages, soda, energy drinks, supplements

This is the start of a series of reviews I promised I’d write, so here it goes.

Rip It ‘Power’ is the ‘core’ energy flavor in the ‘Rip It’ line. I believe it was their first flavor, and everything else kind of branched off from there. If you, the regular energy drink consumer, are anxious to give this line a try, I’d say start here. While not a rip off of any one brand or flavor, this would be grouped with the Red Bull’s and Monster’s of the world. It just tastes like ‘energy drink,’ like it’s supposed to. And ‘Power’ does the flavor justice; it’s not just a cheap imitation.

Being as I will always try to be calorie conscious on this site, I’m reviewing the sugar free, zero calorie versions first. ‘Power’ is sweetened with a blend of sucralose (the chemical name for Splenda) and ace-k. This beverage does not, nor do any of the other Rip It’s, contain any aspartame, or the bitterness generally associated with it. The lack of high fructose corn syrup always gives drinks a ‘lighter’ taste in my opinion, and I actually prefer the no-cal version to the full-cal.

Not having any sugar does take away a bit from your energy boost though, so keep that in mind if you’re really drained. Otherwise, your energy enhancers will come in the form of 60 mg of vitamin C, 2 mg of vitamin B6, 400 mg folic acid, 6 mg of vitamin B12, 1,000 mg of taurine, 90 mg caffeine, 100 mg of inositol, and last, but not least, 10 mg of guarana seed extract. Fairly standard fair, and those numbers are competitive within the market. All those digits are per serving, with two servings per can.

The can is 16 ounces, so you’re provided with two servings for a buck. Sometimes less if you buy multi-packs. Cannot beat that with a stick. When energy drink shopping just for myself, and not factoring in the ‘can I review that?’ question, this is the stuff I reach for. Full recommendation!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

Related Articles:

Rip It Energy Fuel Power

Rip It Energy Fuel Citrus X

Rip It Energy Fuel A’Tomic Pom

Rip It Energy Fuel Lime Wrecker

rip it, rip it energy fuel, rip it sugar free, energy drinks, diet energy drinks

Yes, I was dumb enough to buy another one, knowing full well that the ‘original’ flavor 24:7 Energy was almost undrinkable. But I’m very big on giving second chances, and my thinking was that a splash of flavor might help this particular drink become palatable, so I chose the one that I figured would be the most appealing to me; Cherry Berry. My two favorite ‘add on’ flavors to any given beverage, there wasn’t any way it could taste too bad, right? Wrong.

24:7 Cherry Berry is plagued by the exact same problem as the ‘original’ unnamed flavor, it’s simply painful to swallow. Just to prove to myself that my body alone wasn’t reacting badly to some funky ingredient, I shared my can with a couple other folks. Brave souls they were. They came back with the same impression as mine; a grimace and the word ‘ouch!.’ Suffice it to say, I refused to finish this can, and poured the remaining amount down the sink. It is so acidic I’m certain it did wonders for my pipes. And for the record, I tasted no cherry, and the berry tasted like cranberries.

Ingredient list is the same, so I’ll link you to my original article on 24:7 Energy Drink, and you can read up about that gross lack of info there if you’re interested. But please, for you own good, if you need a budget energy buzz, find someone near you that offers ‘Rip It,’ (reviews coming soon) and avoid this at all costs. You’ll be much better off for having done so.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

24:7 energy drink, energy drinks, red bull, prilabs

24:7 Energy drink is a ‘budget’ drink, much like the line of ‘Rip It’ drinks I’ll be reviewing later this month. I’ll go ahead and endorse those though, ‘Rip It’ is a fine product. Anyways, from my research, I gather that 24:7 is supposed to retail for .99 per 16oz can, but I paid double that. Wal-Greens isn’t the best place to shop for these things (price wise), but it’s the only place I found them.

As far as that goes, no place is the best place to shop for this stuff; at least the original flavor (I’ve yet to try the other varieties). It’s bad. ‘Knock off, store brand soda’ kind of bad. You can tell what they were trying to do (imitate the mighty Red Bull), but you can just as easily tell that they failed at this task quite miserably. The citric acid (or whatever) was so potent that it caused me physical pain to swallow the stuff, and that is certainly not a good thing. Not refreshing at all.

The energy boost was noticed, but it really wasn’t anything all that special. I’d love to give you (a lot) more information on the ingredients like I always do, such as milligrams of this and that, but the can is mighty vague. That leads me to believe that they’re hiding something, or more likely hiding the fact that ’something’ isn’t there in any respectable amounts. Calories hit you at 120 per serving, or 240 per the whole can, whichever way you should choose to go.

About the only thing I could recommend 24:7 energy drink for is as a cheap alcohol mixer; it tastes enough like Red Bull that you could probably get away with using it with flavored liquors to make Jagerbombs and the like. 24:7 might be a boozer on a budget’s best friend.

I don’t talk about packaging often (I prefer to review the product, not the container), but the can is cool looking. Very flimsy though; you could puncture it quite easily, so watch out. Just giving you fair warning, should you decide to not heed my advice, and avoid 24:7 Energy at all costs. Your dollar would be much better spent elsewhere. Thumbs down.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

24:7 energy drink, energy drinks, red bull, prilabs

Java Monster ‘Loca Moca’ is the best out of the trio of Monster’s coffee/energy drink hybrids. ‘Big Black’ and ‘Mean Bean’ were quite tasty in their own right, but also very similar to one another. ‘Loca Moca’ at least makes an attempt to differentiate itself from the pack, leaving behind a mild chocolate finish.

There will be no mistaking it for anything other than a coffee product though, or the fact that it is closely related to the other Java Monsters. The chocolate is simply an accent flavor. Just like the other Java Monsters, ‘Loca Moca’ just tastes of high quality, and having discovered it, I can no longer see myself waiting in long lines at a busy coffee shops. At least for an iced product. The difference in taste and cost is negligible, but the pure convenience of grabbing a can  out of a cooler (or my own fridge) and running out the door is a major plus.

The Monster energy blend gives you a very significant boost, even though a serving contains half of the caffeine of a regular cup of coffee. This cuts back on the ‘jitters,’ and is healthier in the long run. Why? A lot of your energy comes in the form of b vitamins, and other ‘good for you’s.’ All together (per can, 2 servings) you are going to consume 2,000 mg of taurine, 400 mg of Panax ginseng, and a 5,000 mg blend of L-Camatine, glucose, caffeine, guarana, inositol, glucuronolactone, and maltodextrine. The daily values of those vitamins I mentioned are 40% calcium, 100% vitamin C, and 200% riboflavin, niacin, B6, and B12. Approximately 200 calories; not bad for an early morning liquid breakfast or snack.

Again, ‘Loca Moca’ is  my favorite of the three, but not by much. The chocolate just gives it that little extra ’something.’ All three get my endorsement though, and I hope you are all able to give them a try at some point if you’re a consumer of canned cold coffee drinks. Comment back with your opinions!

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–Jeremy Hobbs

Related Articles:

Java Monster ‘Mean Bean‘

Java Monster ‘Big Black’ 

monster, java monster, energy drinks, coffee, loca moca, supplements, hansons

Copy and paste. That’s what I could have done to review this beverage; it’s flavor is almost identical to Java Monster ‘Big Black.’ That isn’t a knock on the product, ‘Big Black‘ was an awesome tasting drink that I reviewed highly, but a little bit more separation between the flavors would have been nice.

‘Mean Bean,’  should you notice any differences at all, may be a tad bit more ‘bitter’ than ‘Big Black.’ Doesn’t it seem like it should be the other way around? ‘Black’ should have been the more potent tasting of the two? I’m not running their marketing department though, so they can do whatever they wish. I just found it a bit confusing, and I probably wont be the only one.

Regardless of all that, this review is for ‘Mean Bean’ specifically, and all of you java nuts out there can take plenty of solace in the fact that it tastes like coffee, and doesn’t contain so much as a hint of medicinal aftertaste that a lot of you have learned to expect from energy drinks. Turns out the flavor profile of coffee is a remarkably good mask for unpleasant aftertastes, and that really helps this (and similar) products.

There is about one half the amount of caffeine per serving (2 servings per can) of ‘Mean Bean’ than a cup of ‘real’ coffee, but the extra energy enhancing ingredients should more than make up for it. You’ll get 1,000 mg of taurine, 200 mg of Panax ginseng, and a 2,500 mg blend of L-Camatine, glucose, caffeine, guarana, inositol, glucuronolactone, and maltodextrine. Say that three times fast. As for some things you’ve actually heard of, you get 20% calcium, 50% vitamin C, 100% riboflavin, niacin, B6, and B12. 100 calorie dent in the diet, as well. Might as well just go on ahead and double all of those numbers though, because you’re probably going to drink the whole can.

I recommend this just as much as Java Monster ‘Big Black;’ they’re practically interchangeable. Here’s hoping the third flavor in the ’set’ will offer a bit more in the way of distinction. $1.99 where other Monster drinks are sold.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

monster, java monster, energy drinks, coffee, mean bean, supplements, hansons

One ‘bad mother’ indeed. Not ‘good’ bad, either. ‘Absolutely disgusting’ bad. My apologies to the Full Throttle faithful, but this stuff was just nasty. Coke, I’m completely ashamed of you for having let this slip out of your storied testing labs; someone over there is asleep at the wheel.

‘Full Throttle Mother’ is a sad, sad attempt to create an energy drink/energy juice hybrid (40% juice). Rockstar did it, and they were able to do it well. As did Monster. M-80 was excellent. The folks at Coke in charge of Full Throttle simply fell flat on their face in an attempt to keep up.

The flavor of Full Throttle Mother, aside from being bad, is at the very least unique. I’m left with nothing to really compare it to; it’s just different. Maybe those of you who have tasted an acai berry will recognize the profile, but I didn’t. That’s not good, as I test a lot of stuff, and I know people generally like things that are at least somewhat familiar to them.

One 8oz serving left me feeling energized, so despite it’s shortcomings in the flavor department, Full Throttle Mother at least does it’s ‘job’ well. I’d assume the whole can (which my palette would not let me consume), 16oz, would give me some jitters. Bottom line, in a (extremely) tight pinch, this will get the job done if you need a boost.

This ‘Mother’ will give you 120 calories per serving, and take $1.99 from your wallet. Should be available where Coke products are sold, until it gets yanked from the shelves. Pass on by though, there are much better options.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs
beverages, soda, energy drinks, supplements

Yeah, the name is a bit on the freaky side, but it sure tastes good. That’s all that matters, right? I’ve really fallen in love with a lot of the ready to drink coffee drinks on the markets, and those of you who become long time readers will soon know about my infatuation with energy drinks. Monster combines the best of both worlds; in three different varieties no less. Today, I’ll be reviewing ‘Big Black.’ Stop laughing. This is serious business.

‘Half the caffeine of regular coffee. Twice the buzz!’ That’s their tag line for this beverage. The regular, patented Monster energy blend supplies the ‘twice the buzz’ part I suppose; if there are any differences in the formula between this and any of the other Monster’s, I didn’t see it. Or feel it. Java Monster will wake you up, fo’ sho.’

Strangely enough, it tastes a lot like coffee. Who’d of thunk it? It’s a little sweeter and ‘creamier’ than I generally take mine, but I totally understand the need to please the masses, and I think it will. Java Monster ‘Big Black’ certainly isn’t too sweet.

Nutritionally, you’re not doing yourself too much harm by grabbing one of these ‘Big Blacks.’ Rounding out at just under 200 calories per can (100 per serving), you’ll get (per can/daily recommended values) 40% calcium, 100% vitamin C, 200% riboflavin, niacin, B6, and B12. Those numbers add up to a decent breakfast supplement to me, and for others like me that do not prefer solid foods in the morning.

You’ll get 15 ounces of ‘Big Black’ for $1.99, wherever other Monster Energy products are sold. Assuming you like cold coffee products, I have no trouble whatsoever recommending this. Bottoms up!

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–Jeremy Hobbs

monster, java monster, energy drinks, coffee, big black, supplements

This was some amazingly good stuff, but I sure was hating it at 1:00AM while lying awake in bed, counting empty cans of energy drinks in my head. That’s certainly not Rockstar’s fault though, they didn’t tell me to drink the entire can at 10:30.

Here’s the story; the mistake was made because I’d had a very long day, was completely drained, and needed a pick me up in the worst kind of way. Rockstar Punched not only picked me up, it threw me around a little as well. I was able to take care of all of my yet to be completed tasks (mostly blogging related), plus a few extra things I had been planning on putting off until the next day. Due to my level of exhaustion, I was really surprised it even affected me (not having much luck in similar circumstances with other energy drinks), let alone give me the boost it did.

Rockstar didn’t sacrifice any taste in ‘Punched’ to give me all of that energy either, this was one of the best tasting energy drinks I’ve had the opportunity to sample. To give you a real world example you might be familiar with, it tasted a lot like a ‘red’ (cherry?) Icee. The flavor was a bit ‘heavy,’ but I kind of liked that quality about it. You may not. Some of the other reviews I’ve read while researching Rockstar Punched compared it to BooKoo Energy Punch, but I really cannot comment on that, seeing as I’ve never had one. Anyways, major kudos to Rockstar Punched in the flavor department; it’s a winner and should appeal to just about everyone.

The can will net you (per 16 oz can) 260 calories, 2,000 mgs of taurine, and 240 mgs of caffeine, plus a whole bunch of other stuff you usually find in these beverages. You are of course only supposed to drink half the can, but we all know that no one really does that. Availability may be a problem at the moment, this is still being rolled out, but look for it where other Coke products are sold. Bottom line, I have no problem recommending this, it’s great stuff.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

beverages, soda, energy drinks, supplements