The Consumer’s Corner

Sunkist Float is the sister beverage to the ‘A&W Float‘ I brought to you the other day. Again, I really enjoyed it, despite all of the negative reactions these drinks have received. I’ll go ahead and state what should be the obvious; these are desert drinks, and are not produced with the intention of people consuming them on a very frequent basis. Sunkist Float, as well as the A&W Float, definitely fall into the ’special treat’ category.

The Sunkist Float didn’t impress me as much as the A&W Float did, but I’ll assume that comes down to personal preference; I just prefer root beer to orange. Still, the same formula was used; light on the soda and carbonation, heavy on the vanilla and cream. The nitrous oxide produces a thick foam, and that helps it imitate an ice cream drink fairly well IMO.

Calories hurt, but not too bad if you don’t go hog wild drinking these. It is going to be a bit too heavy, and sweet, for some people, so if your sensitive to those things I’d shy away. If root beer floats, or orange creams are your thing, I definitely recommend giving these a shot. $1.79, limited availability at the moment.

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–Jeremy Hobbs

sunkist, sunkist float, soda, beverage

I was so happy to get my hands on one of these! The internet/blogging response to A&W Float has been overwhelmingly negative, but I wasn’t convinced. A&W makes a solid product, and this couldn’t possibly be as bad as everyone was making it out to be. And it’s not, I love it! (Big shout out to John Phillips, product location guru for Consumer’s Corner, for finding it for me.)

A&W float is incredibly rich, so this isn’t likely to be anyones regular drink of choice. It’s more of a desert drink, or something special you treat yourself to every now and then. The flavor is heavy on the ‘Float’ and light on the ‘A&W,’ but it’s still a nice mix. Very lightly carbonated, very thick mouth feel. This is not your every day soda, nor was it intended to be.

Calories are bordering on atrocious, 260 per bottle. Sugars are weighing in at 63 grams. One other interesting ingredient; nitrous oxide. This helps the drink form a foam when it is poured. Interesting. A&W Float does seem to be a bit ‘much’ by the time you hit the bottom; they may want to consider cutting the bottle by an ounce or two. Personally, I enjoyed every last sip.

I recommend this, you at least have to try it if you’re a root beer float fan. Look out for a Sunkist Orange Cream Float as well, if that’s your thing!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

a&w, a&w float, root beer, soda, soft drinks

Fairly new product from PepsiCo., this is G2, the very first extension of the Gatorade brand. That ‘first extension’ nonsense comes from the official press release, not me. So don’t comment me about the 14,763 different flavors and types of Gatorade released since the original. I’ve noticed them.

What makes G2 different? Lower calories and carbohydrates. They’re still preaching that it’s designed for athletes, this time it’s just for use ‘off the field.’ But I’ll let you in on a little secret; low calorie non-carbonated beverages are really hot right now, and Pepsi is using Gatorade’s brand recognition to snatch themselves a piece of that pie.

Grown folks can’t shouldn’t be walking around town, out in front of God and everyone drinking Kool-Aid. So, when we reach puberty a certain point in our lives, we switch to Gatorade or similar sports drinks. Athlete or not. Now, some of us have gotten wider more health conscious, so expect to see a lot more products like G2 in the future.

Is it any good? Only tried the Fruit Punch flavor thus far, but yeah, it’s really tasty. It’s not difficult
to imagine this being some fine person’s ‘every day’ beverage. Light, flavorful, thirst quenching, G2 is really all you can ask for in a non-bubbly beverage. At just 25 calories per 8 ounce serving, it doesn’t hit the waist line very hard either.

If you like Fruit Punches, G2 Fruit Punch will like you. Easy recommendation; this has fairly universal appeal. If you desire one, take $1.25-$1.45 with you to your nearest well stocked convenience store, and they should be able to get you hooked up.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

gatorade, g2, sports drink, pepsico, fruit punch

Just for the purpose of clarity, the one I’m reviewing today is the ‘green’ one on the far right. I’ll get to the rest of them too, they’re in my fridge, but I wasn’t able to find individual images, and the ones I took looked really, really bad.

‘Volt Lemon-Lime’ tastes just like your average sports drinks that have been available for years, almost indistinguishable when compared to a Gatorade, or Powerade. ‘So then, mister Super Consumer, why should I bother switching?’ Well, my dear reader, Volt is an energy drink as well, or at least contains a lot of the same ingredients that are generally found in energy drinks. So, you’re not only getting all the benefits of re hydration, you get a fairly nice nice ‘pick me up’ to go along with it.

The Lemon-Lime flavor was enjoyable. Everyone that’s going be interested in Volt has probably already sampled the ‘other guys’ version, and Volt can certainly hold it’s own. There is an ever-so-slight medicinal taste, but it’s not anywhere near bad enough to negatively affect the beverage. Also, when compared to Gatorade/Powerade, the Volt seems a bit more ‘concentrated,’ which I consider a good thing. Coke and Pepsi’s products, minus Gatorade Fierce, have always tasted a bit too watered down for me. Volt doesn’t have that problem.

The energy boost was decent. You’ll get 2.5 servings in your 20 oz bottle, and each serving will contain 50 calories, 12g of sugar, 15% of your daily recommended value of vitamin A, 15% of E, 100% of B6, 100% of B12, and an undisclosed percentage of taurine and gluconoronolactone. It didn’t have me bouncing off the walls after drinking 10 ounces (give or take), but I could tell I had drank something with some kick.

I will recommend it. It’s more ‘useful’ than the big guy’s products, no drop off in flavor, and I’m all for a small company to give Coke and Pepsi a run for their money. I only paid a buck for mine, but Volt is just being introduced to my area, so I expect that to rise a little bit in time. There a ‘ballsy’ little outfit too, check out the marketing material on their website. Bottoms up!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

volt, energy drink, sports drink

After trying the original V8 vegetable juice many years ago as a kid, I became emotionally scarred. Just the V8 logo sent shivers down my spine; it grossed me out that much. Different strokes for different folks I guess, but I have no clue how the stuff has remained on the market all this time.

A few years ago, they realized the original flavor was disgusting, and proceeded to start making these juice blends with various fruits. Tempted as I was to try them, I never could quite shake that mental ‘image’ of the original. But it is my duty dear readers, rather my privilege, to expand the range of products offered for review on this site.

As fate would have it, a 12 ounce bottle of V8 V. Fusion Pomegranate Blueberry happened to be sitting cold in my refrigerator not too long ago while I was looking for something to drink that was not carbonated. I know it belonged to someone else in my house, and I apologize to them for stealing it.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I poured myself a ’shot’ sized amount, and I bent over the sink, quite sure I’d be repulsed and spit it out. Amazingly, it went down pretty smoothly, without so much as a dry heave. The taste was pleasant; tart but still sweet enough. I stuck a straw in the bottle, and proceeded to drink the remaining eleven or so ounces.

V8 V.Fusion combines fruit and veggie juice blends, giving you the equivalent of one ’serving’ of each. A half cup (4 ounces) equals a serving of fruit and/or vegetables. A serving of the actual product is 12 ounces, so if you drink the whole bottle, and my math is correct (shocker), you get one and a half servings of both fruits and veggies. Confused yet? I am.

Closest tasting thing I could compare this flavor to is the original Juicy Juice juice. I think anyway, it’s been quite awhile since I’ve had any of that. Pomegranate definitely overpowered the blueberry flavor, but it wasn’t that bad. Regardless, it just tastes good, and it’s fairly good for you. You could get lucky and your kids may even like it! The twelve ounce bottle is perfect for lunch boxes, and there is no sugar added. I’m not saying there isn’t any sugar though, fruits are full of it. The only area of ‘concern’ I have with this beverage is calories, 100 per 8 ounces, which is approaching ’soda’ like levels. The main difference is, these calories aren’t empty, there is a lot of nutritional value packed into the stuff. I look forward to trying the remaining flavors for you guys! Easy recommendation.

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

v8, fusion, vegetable juice, fruit juice, meal replacement, supplements,

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!

Official Site

–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

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!

Official Site

–Jeremy Hobbs

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