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11.11.09 by Widge @ 2:57 am  Spike Hardcore Energy Drink, in the "Orange Cold" variety, is quite possibly one of the most amazing drinks I've ever had the opportunity to try. It is probably the most intense orange drink I've ever tasted--so let me try to explain to you what this experience is like. Imagine that orange drink they used to have (or maybe they still have it, I have no idea) at McDonald's. The one you used to have as a kid. The one you thought was awesome because it was like mainlining orange-flavored sugar. Now imagine that all the regular sweetener they used to have is gone and replaced with sucralose. So there's this intense burst of fake orange flavor that just gets faker and faker as the main taste fades out and the sick sucralose aftertaste is all that's left. It is taking all of my will power for me to take a sip every couple of sentences to make sure I've captured it sufficiently for you. What's sad about the drink is that I'm sure if I could get past the horrible taste, it would be amazing. 350mg of caffeine in a 16oz can. A utterly ludicrous 33,333% of your B12 requirements. So I'm very depressed by the taste. And impressed as well, because normally it's the aftertaste that kills a sucralose drink for me--but here even the initial burst of flavor is bad. I can only assume they've upped the sucralose to cover the caffeine taste that comes with having so much in the can. Oh well. Categorized as: Drinks and Reviews
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11.09.09 by Widge @ 3:58 am  The most striking thing about Liquid Lightning is how very light tasting it is...I'm assuming this is due to the combination of inositol and "corn sweeteners" instead of regular sugar or even high fructose corn syrup. I'm also making the assumption that HFCS and corn sweeteners, even though technically they sound like one in the same, are different--since otherwise you'd just say HFCS. Not that I could tell you offhand what the difference actually is. It's got a slight berry taste and some aftertaste--probably due to the inositol--but it's not enough to turn me off completely. Indeed, I think the drink is fairly effective for what we want it for: namely, getting buzzed. It is a bit confusing since normally nutrition facts tells you the amount per serving, but this appears to tell you the amount per the container, which contains two servings. That would explain the 200% of your RDA of Vitamin C that's listed at the top of the can and also in the nutrition facts. This, however, means that it only has 100mg of caffeine--which is a small amount for a 16oz. can. Therefore, I can only assume the buzz I'm getting is off the metric fuckton of B vitamins. And by that I'm talking 140% of your B3 requirements, plus 500% of B6, 130% of B5 and 1290% of B12. That or whatever "FRB: First Real Beverage" means. Without context, it's a pretty useless addition to the front of the can. I mean, after all, isn't the first real beverage technically...water? Like I said, the taste is not the best I've ever had--and the aftertaste is a little distracting--but it does appear to be an effective drink, and I wouldn't turn down another can of it. Categorized as: Drinks and Reviews
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11.05.09 by Widge @ 3:47 am  So for being in Baltimore on the occasion of the Poe Bicentennial, my first thought was to find a 7-Eleven, as we don't have them in Atlanta. There have been reports before of drinks one can only find there. The Simpsons tie-in event was there, for example. But all I was able to lay hands upon at first was this: an energy drink based around the Domo character. This is the great mystery, as no one I was able to talk to while I was here understood why this character was popular enough to be plastered about the store in this promotional manner. Indeed, most Americans probably don't know what the character's name is, only that "it's that thing chasing that kitten in that joke picture about masturbation." As for what this drink has going for it, it's got 50% of your RDA for Vitamins B6 and B12, plus Guarana. Caffeine content? Unknown...although I'm thinking it's in the Red Bull 80mg arena. And speaking of that Simpsons tie-in, this drink is from Boston America, who brought you that Duff Energy Drink as well as another novelty drink, Tropic Thunder's Booty Sweat. Categorized as: Drinks and Reviews
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10.17.09 by Widge @ 6:07 am In yet another example of a corporation acting like total dicks, Hansen Beverage Company, who owns Monster Energy Drink, has decided to send a cease and desist to Rock Art Brewery in Vermont. Why would a company that makes energy drinks give a damn about a different company that makes beer? Because A) the brewery makes a beverage called Vermonster (which is a beer and not an energy drink) and because Hansen wants to go into alcoholic beverages. So they're just playing the corporate bully and trying to push Rock Art Brewery out of the way. Here's Matt, the head burrito of Rock Art, to tell you about it. Categorized as: Drinks
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08.09.09 by Widge @ 8:01 pm  One of the things I can marvel at coming off of my thirteen-year self-imposed health-prescribed alcohol moratorium--apart from the eager proclivity of people to think I'm going to become a lush at the drop of a hat--is the advances in what we can only call "alcohol technology." When I stopped drinking, an advanced level of alcohol progress was Godschlager (I know it's actually Goldschlager but shooting back the stuff is like being punched in the face by God, so I've always just called it Godschlager). Granted, there might have been amazing bits of alcohol tech back then but...let's just say I didn't have a very sophisticated palate. Not that I'm hot shit now, I just can fake it better. Anyway, thanks to our friend Leigh, enter this jewel into my life: Van Gogh Vodka's coffee flavored vodka promising Double Espresso and Double Caffeine. I have before wondered about the point of having an alcoholic energy drink--but again, we didn't have those when I had quit before. I still don't quite know the point--beyond taste--and the taste is why this drink works for me. It's got a strong saying-hello-to-your-nostril-hairs vibe to it when you take a sizable sip and yet a sweet caramel coffee-ish taste that comes in after. It's fine just on its own, even before you start mixing it with other things. I wouldn't shoot it, frankly, just because it's fine to sip it. That way you get to enjoy the flavor rather than have it hammer you in the face all at once. Categorized as: Drinks and Reviews
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