Hi Ball - 7 Reviews

What do you think the world would have been like if at the height of the Chicago Gangsters energy drinks were available? Do you think they would have been included in prohibition? Would barrels of Red Bull and the like have been smuggled across the Great Lakes from Canada? If not would everyone just have overdone it with them because they didn't have access to alcohol and wanted to get “messed up” in some way, even if that way was just a little jittery? Perhaps some business minded person would have bottled it and given it the name Hi-Ball in order to have people pretend that they were still drinking alcohol. One thing that is for certain is that the amount of sleep had in the 1920s would have severely decreased. Perhaps it would have caused them to become sloppier in their organized crime and things would have fallen apart sooner. Who knows? Let's time machine this thing and give a bunch of companies the recipes and see how it plays out?

If it did happen, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that no one would be drinking a blood orange energy drink. I doubt more than .5% of the population of Chicago at the time had ever even heard of such a fruit. I wonder if “normal” oranges were even around the city in abundance at that point. They certainly would be /were missing out. This is delicious, but isn't anything blood orange flavored? It tastes like a light soda and nothing like an energy drink, because it is all organic and doesn't rely on the chemicals that produce that classic flavor. This is all caffeine (from guarana and ginseng), niacin and B vitamins. You know, ingredients that won't affect the flavor all that much. It's just wonderful sparkling blood orange juice. I could ask for nothing more and gangsters could only dream of such a gem.

Folks, I'm afraid it's finally happening; I'm growing up and becoming an adult after 35 years. I have a savings account, I'm closing on a house next week and now I'm enjoying seltzer water. I think that means that life as I knew it is now over. I've always had a fairly strong distaste for seltzer water and their overly dry taste. This tastes exactly like what it is, seltzer water with minimal vanilla flavoring added to it. I've had drinks in the past that tasted exactly like this and I was very turned off by them, now I am straight up loving this. I'm afraid I'm going to wake up in the morning and have pure white hair and back problems. Youth is over. Geriatric life has begun.

Oh yeah this also has caffeine, guarana, panax ginseng and niacinamide in it to give you a boost of energy. As far as I can tell they have zero effect on the flavor, but still give you a little push. Now where do I sign up to get my senior discounts?

Mark, do you think that humans, as a species, can grow used to anything? I read an article awhile back proving that happiness was not based on what you own. They took a normal person, someone who had just won the lottery for an obscene amount of money, and someone who had just lost their legs in some horrific accident and of course immediately their levels of happiness were very different, but then after six month (I believe) they all expressed a very similar level of happiness. The point was to show that for better or worse humans adapt to their situations and for the most part life goes back to normal (happiness-wise). I'm sure that's not the case for everyone on the planet, but I found it interesting.

My whole point here is that could a new flavor be introduced into the world, that tasted completely unnatural and not pleasant, but after years of pushing it on people they grow to enjoy and actually crave it? I think the answer is an astounding yes and the proof is in Red Bull. Who on this planet actually enjoyed the flavor of that energy drink when it first hit the scene? I know that everyone I've questioned thought it was chemical garbage, yet most of them can be seen sipping on a can at least on some occasions. It's like the collective brain was telling us, this tastes gross, but the effects are worth it, and then our taste buds evolved around the flavor. I know evolution takes time, but “mental evolution” apparently takes less than 20 years.

So here her are an it's 2014 and people are guzzling Red Bull and it's contemporaries like it's no big deal to be consuming all of that junk that we would never consider putting into our bodies if they were separate components. What if years ago we had been given an option, Red Bull or these Hi Ball energy drinks? Who would have won out; the one that tastes like poison bubble gum or the one that tastes like ingredients actually found in nature? I'd like to think I would go natural, but who knows I was a damn fool back in those days. Sure there is no taurine in here, which may not give you the exact same boost, but that could just be mental. I've grown so accustomed to Red Bull that the flavor tastes normal to me now, and that's my point exactly. This should have been the wave of the future back then. It's a soda that is flavored with juice, so it really tastes like (a light) version of pomegranate and acai. It's sweetened with a mixture of cane sugar and stevia, so it's faintly diet, but nothing too terrible. Also, as is proof through the experiments I mentioned earlier, people's tastes would have acclimated to the stevia and it wouldn't be a problem at all. Maybe it would have led to stevia being more widely accepted as a sweetener. Overall it's light, slightly dry, but flavorful enough beverage that I think people would have latched onto. It's too bad the other guy burst onto the scene first and became a staple in our culture. Man, this just really makes me feel like humanity is doomed by our own hand at some point.

Hi Ball has a new line that is headed in a new direction, well a well-worn path that they have yet to follow. After years of only producing “Sparkling Energy Water,” which are unsweetened energy drinks that taste like seltzer water and not some sort of toxin, Hi Ball has finally added sugar to some of their beverages. These sweetened version plays out as more of a soda pop than an energy drink, and they are good sodas at that. This here drink tastes nothing like a traditional energy drink and instead tastes exactly like what I wish all ginger ale was. It's a fairly sweet soda that has real ginger root in it and you can taste the difference from the ginger ales that are available in 2 liter bottles. There are other flavors around the edges (guarana, panax ginseng and various other organic energy providers), but they do not distract from the flavor of the ginger. You get a nice little boost, but it tastes like a quality soda. Hopefully these will soon be available in mini-marts and gas station all around the country.

I'm sorry this is not what you expected sir, but in all honesty did you really expect to be handed a scotch and soda or some such libation? I mean we are at an elementary school music recital. It would be more than a little irresponsible to serve alcohol at such an event. I'm actually shocked that these Hi Ball energy drinks were available in the vending machine. I mean why would kids grade K-6 have any need for energy drinks? Actually, why would kids so young have access to a vending machine? Shouldn't they be learning the basics of their educations, not chugging away at a soda?

Anyways, stop your complaining and try the drink. It's like tonic water with a splash of grapefruit flavoring in it. It's like a grapefruit seltzer, and it's not bad at all. It has organic caffeine, guarana and ginseng in it, and you would never be able to tell from the taste. I know you wanted to get drunk to make it through this night, but at least this will save you the embarrassment of your child seeing you fall asleep during his/her solo.

Sir I will not get you another. I'd like to point out for the third time that I'm not a waiter. I'm actually just another parent who's seat you have taken. Don't give me that garbage about not having assigned seats. You clearly moved my jacket that was on the chair when I went to the restroom. You also dumped my wife's purse out when she asked you to move. Now that I think about it, your trench coat leads me to believe that you're child isn't even in this production. Security!

Up until a few minutes ago I though a "high ball" was the name of a specific alcoholic drink. It turns out it's a general term for and mixed drink. They are typically sold by middle aged women in their bras during mud wrestling matches held in living rooms.

Hi Ball is more specific. It is a very dry, borderline seltzer, sparkling energy drink. There is no sugar added at all. It's just water, bubbles, a small amount of lemon lime flavor, and some herbs for energy. It's the high-class energy drink. I understand how this could be attractive to some people, but it's not for me. I like my energy drinks to taste like juice, not.....nothing.

Drinking a Hi Ball just sounds classy, and that is just what this is, a classy energy drink. You know, something for those late night black tie affairs. I mean who would be caught dead drinking a Red Bull at such an event?
This tastes like a watered down Ocean Spray cranapple. I mean that in the best of ways. It's very light, and it's unlikely it will stain your freshly ironed white shirt.
I also really like the vintage logo design.
In conclusion if you need an extra boost of energy, but don't want to feel like you're going to be participating in any extreme sports, look no further.