Root 9 - 2 Reviews

Oh, panex red, my favorite of the flavors. But seriously folks, what the heck is this? I don't know what flavor this is. It's made with Korean Red Ginseng. Cool. What does that mean? Is that raspberry? Who knows? You know what else? Who cares? This is actually really good. Oh, it's just the type of ginseng used, and not an added flavor? Well, that makes sense then.

This doesn't have the bitterness that one might expect in a ginseng drink. Check. It makes you not care that you may not know what you're drinking. Look, I don't think that they're trying to poison me. Like everything else you cram down your gullet, there are ingredients in there but they're half unreadable vitamins and minerals. The other half is all natural ingredients that are in everything. I guess that Korean Red Ginseng just naturally tastes good and we shouldn't care. Add a little carbonation and you've got something nice. If it tastes good, drink it. That's what I've literally never said before one time in my life.

While I have inexplicably grown to enjoy the taste of Red Bull and its chemical tasting copycats, I always get a twinge of excitement when I come across energy drinks, especially when they actually work. You see a lot of the natural energy drinks on the market give you about as much energy as a cup or two of coffee. If that's what you're looking for then by all means indulge, but I personally don't partake in energy drinks unless I “need” one to help me stay up. I don't need a daily dose of caffeine to get me moving in the morning. A bowl of cereal works just fine. What Root9 did to my body, was much greater than what coffee does. It didn't make me feel insane and jittery, it just made me feel like I could keep going when I had a lot of work to do.

The source of energy in this beverage comes from green tea extract, but more importantly from the red ginseng that they use. I have been informed that red ginseng is more effective than what most people are used to. Also the roots that they use in their beverages is grown for six years for optimal potency, they also then allow the soil used to grow it to rest for 10 years to work up the proper nutrients. That is a long process, but as far as I can see it is worth it. I got one hell of a boost from this drink and it lasted a decent amount of time, without feeling like garbage at any point during the ride it took me on.

The other side of this drink is its health aspects. The Panax ginseng they use is also known as a “cure all”. In fact the beverage was created to help one of the creator's fathers who suffered from diabetes. I'm not sure that it actually helps treat diabetes in any way, but it does keep blood sugar in check when drunk instead of other energy drinks.

I just realized that I have gone this far and not talked about the taste at all. The Panax gold flavor is basically a carbonated citrus green tea. It's a flavor that I can get behind. It is sweetened with erythritol and stevia, so it has some of that flavor, but if you drink it while it's really cold their taste isn't too bad. In one of the testimonials someone said that this was supposed to mango flavored, but the can says nothing about that. I can taste it a bit, but it could be just because I'm looking for it. Either way it has a pleasant taste that I would drink again and again.