Guarana Antarctica

“O Original Do Brasil” apparently… and another apparently, it’s the second most popular soft drink in Brazil after Coca-Cola. Finally, stocked by Tesco, it is available in the UK. If you’re expecting a massive energy hit from a guarana extract beverage then you’ll be disappointed. The caffeine estimate is a generous 1mg/100ml – which I suspect is over estimated. Flavour-wise, it’s unique. There’s something slightly fruity about the taste, a bit appley with a hint of pear. Of course, those fruits aren’t actually in the drink, I’m just trying to describe the flavour of guarana itself – try it for yourself because it’s very different to any other soft drink I’ve tried..

Lucozade Revive – Lemongrass & Ginger

Mmmmm nice. Lemongrass and Ginger flavoured sparkling water according to the label, and it’s like drinking a Chinese takeaway. That’s not as minging as it sounds because the drink is really refreshing and more-ish. At only 50 calories it also fits in to the diet category of drinks too. Sadly though, the wake-up factor is low, with no caffeine content listed on the label leading me to assume it must be very low. The caffeine actually in the product is naturally sourced from coffee beans but wasn’t enough to give me the required hit. Still, a very nice product and well worth a try.

Lucozade Energy Cherry

I was very surprised when I drank this – going by the track record of previous Lucozade Energy products, I expected this one to also involve a subtle flavour. I was very wrong, it’s about as in-your-face cherry flavoured as you can get. It wasn’t a great cherry flavour either – far too strong and sickly. If Lucozade had carried on with their subtle flavouring techniques then this drink may have worked. As usual for Lucozade, high in calories, low in caffeine so sadly low marks all-round.

Lucozade Cola

I’m not a big fan of colas, but I was pleasantly surprised. Lucozade’s tactic of watering down the flavours of their products actual pays off in this limited ‘black’ edition cola. It’s a mellow drink, very smooth and sweet, but avoids the pitfall of many cheap colas by not being too sweet and sickly or synthetic tasting. Grab it while you can because it’s only out for a limited time.

Explosade Energy Orange

It’s just fizzy orange squash really. A nice drink which is low in caffeine. This is Aldi’s own-brand equivalent of Lucozade Energy Orange and compared to that drink it’s much stronger in flavour. It’s also very good value by comparison too and much better tasting than the more expensive Powerade Energy Orange. Not much of a wake-up factor to it though…

Powerade Energy Berry

Basically it’s blackberry and orange flavoured, and that’s all I can say. It’s not great tasting – imagine drinking carbonated fruit squash and you’ll be getting close. Caffeine content is quite high and it’s a reasonably decent sized serving so you get the kick it promises. As a sports drink however it is quite sickly and I can’t recommend it. Having tried their non-caffeinated Powerade products, these energy versions are a bit disappointing. Stick to the regular Powerade drinks if you want hydration during exercise, and if that’s not enough have a caffeinated energy shot too. Not only will that taste better overall, but it’ll be more useful to your training – I find that carbonated drinks give me stomach cramps when I run.

Powerade Energy Orange

Imagine a Vitamin C tablet, one of those chewable ones that you only eat when you have a cold. That’s the type of orange flavour that this drink has. It’s considerably stronger in flavour and caffeine than its rival, Lucozade, and personally I don’t think it tastes as good, but it does of course wake you up much more!

Lucozade Energy Orange

Much better! It’s still a very watered down flavour, but the subtle orange masks the underlying fizzy sugared water taste of the original Lucozade nicely. Quite refreshing and pleasant to drink, but lacking the caffeinated kick of a conventional energy drink. I’d suggest this is suitable for drinking later in the day if you need a short-lived pick-me-up which won’t stop you getting to sleep later that evening.

Lucozade Energy Original

It tastes like sweetened fizzy water. In fact, it is so tasteless that you can actually taste the metallic tang of the carbonated water itself. The caffeine content of this product is pretty low too – it doesn’t even need the High Caffeine Content warning that adorns most energy drinks.

In fact, I can’t really see the point of this product… the low caffeine puts it at the bottom end of the energy pile meaning it relies on the sugar more than anything to give you a kick. The carbonated water means it is not really ideal for sports either – personally I can’t cope with bubbles when I’m running. There are however a wide range of flavours which may improve the taste situation and I’ll try to review as many as I can.