Let's be honest: many energy drinks taste like crap at worst, and like carbonated cough syrup at best. It's hard to find an energy drink that tastes sweet and juicy and isn't loaded with enough sugar to instantly rot your molars.
I've never been a huge fan of Sobe's juice drinks, but the Sobe Adrenaline Rush energy drink is by far my favorite of all energy drinks (and I've tried tons). It's delicious and loaded with caffeine, and a 16 oz. can of AR contains less sugar than a 12 oz. can of Mountain Dew.
Sobe (a clever acronym for South Beach Beverage Company) has been
around since 1996, but it wasn't until PepsiCo became its parent
company in 2000 that its products became widely available.
Sadly, the Adrenaline Rush seems to be an endangered species in
Sobe-land. You can walk into any almost any store and find dozens of
different Sobe teas and juices, but the Adrenaline Rush will be
strangely absent from the shelves. I don't know why this is, but it
bums me out. The only place I can find Sobe Adrenaline Rush anymore is
at my local QuikTrip store -- but it's totally worth the extra
two-minute drive past Circle K.
Sobe Adrenaline Rush
Looks like: Tangerine juice. The liquid inside the artsy aluminum
can depicting two lizards chasing each others' tails is a light peach
color, and has little trace of bubbles from the carbonation.
Tastes like: A zippy citrus soda, with hints of orange,
tangerine, and mango. Unlike Rock Star's "Peach-Passion Fruit-Mango"
mix (that's the one in the orange can), the citrus mix is the
Adrenaline Rush's natural flavoring, and the can won't tell you what it
tastes like.
Smells like: Canned peaches in heavy syrup.
Caffeine content: 152 mg per 16 oz. can, plus 96 mg of Guarana
(one seed from the fruit of the Guarana plant packs five times as much
caffeine as a coffee bean). Compared to a can of Red Bull (which has 80
mg of caffeine), the Adrenaline Rush packs almost twice the kick (but
the can is also twice the size of a Red Bull).
Makes me feel like: Having another one. The effects of the
Adrenaline Rush are an immediate physical energy boost (tap those toes
and drum those fingers!) and a cerebral pick-up. The down side is that
it tastes so yummy, it's hard not to chug. And once the drink
gets warm, it has a tendency to make you thirstier, so it's never a bad
idea to have a glass of water as a chaser. -- Niki D'Andrea
