Rockstar: Ripped Red Kiwi Strawberry (Fan Review!)
/My go-to energy drink for late nights at work or early mornings has always been Rockstar. Their moto of having twice the drink, twice the energy, and at half of the cost has influenced my energy drink purchasing more than once. But the thing that usually is the deciding factor is how much better they taste versus most other energy drinks. Now don’t get me wrong they aren’t perfect by any means. They release new flavors constantly and they are usually hit or miss. They either taste pretty great (as great as an energy drink can taste) or they taste like someone designed the flavor in 10 minutes.
When I first saw this at the store, I was doubtful. Generally strawberry sodas taste like medicine covered in a load and a half of sugar. The thing that sold me was the fact that it was also kiwi flavored. I figured the kiwi flavor may just be strong enough to fend off the all too powerful strawberry flavor. Will the kiwi be able to save this drink from the mediciney strawberry flavor? Find out in next week’s episode!
(Or just keep reading and you can find out now)
The first sniff brought me back to when I was sick as a child and had to take that pink liquid medicine. The second sniff was a little more pleasant. The smell was a combination of generic kiwi-strawberry and a hint of energy drink ting.
I’ll be honest the first sip was a little unsettling. It tasted very strawberryy (strawberry-e?) to the point that I was almost certain that I would not finish the can. However, I always stick to the golden rule of always trying something three times. I begrudgingly tried it again and was surprised to find that it wasn’t as horrible. Energy drinks are kind of like jumping in a pool. Hitting the water is always an uncomfortable shock but after a minute or two it becomes much more enjoyable. The third sip is where I could actually taste the kiwi and where the strawberry flavor wasn’t as pungent. At this point, it actually wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The initial taste is kiwi, followed by strawberry, and finished off with a slight strawberry medicine taste. The kiwi aspect is great, I actually wish they had a flavor that was just kiwi. The strawberry flavor was better than I expected. As a person who isn’t a huge fan of strawberry flavored things, this didn’t taste that bad. The most interesting thing about this soda has to be the aftertaste. The sugar free energy drink aftertaste is replaced almost with a sugar free strawberry taste. It actually kind of tastes like one of those hard candies with the wrapper that looks like a strawberry. It’s a better aftertaste than most diet energy drinks but it’s still a little odd.
In the end, I actually finished the can without forcing myself to finish it. It’s better than I expected, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m still not a fan of strawberry flavored drinks. If you like strawberry, then you’ll probably love this drink. If you are someone that hates that gross lingering aftertaste of diet energy drinks, then it’s definitely worth buying a can.
-Eric
