Jason Draper - 2709 Reviews

It's been some time since I've had an “everyday” root beer. That kind of hurts my head, since in the past I used to consume it by the bucket. Oh man, I wish there was a place that served root beer in buckets. You know, like those bars that serve drinks out of fish bowls or whatever weird receptacle they have. Anyway, when I've had a root beer in recent times it's been something more on the fancy side of the root.

With the first couple sips I thought to myself, “Self, I really miss this. It's simple, but it tastes great. It's a classic.” Then about halfway through the bottle I started to realize how thick the soda was, due to the HFCS sweetener. In fact I started to get in my head that the whole thing tastes like carbonated syrup. I still enjoyed it, but not with as much vigor as I had the first half. In my mind there is nothing wrong with Mug. Chances are that when you think of root beer it's more of this variety than a microbrewed one or anything fancy like that. It's a completely average root beer, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I believe the scientists who live above me have finally finished their time machine. As far as I can tell they got their flux capacitor or whatever working, traveled back to the mid 90's to rectify some travesty that took place and brought me back this iced tea to review all in an afternoon. Now I know that time travel is impossible, and messing with anything in the past would have horrible consequences on the future and yadda yadda yadda, but I can see no other explanation for the packaging of this tea. Certainly no one in this millennia would ever think that using tribal print would be enticing to anyone of any age group.

The peach flavoring in this is fairly strong, and there is a ton of sugar in there (57.5g in a 20oz bottle). It's nothing fancy, but it's also not supposed to be. I'm actually okay with it flavor wise. If you like really sweet tea and can't get enough of peaches, I'd happily hand you a bottle of this.

I just made a few calls to several friends who are tattoo artists and all three of them have confirmed that since Y2K they have not been asked to put any tribal artwork into anyone skin. There you have it, time travel is now possible.

I've been holding onto this for a bit, just waiting for the right time when I needed a nice chocolate fix and a little pick me up after going to the gym. The chocolate fudge Orgain was great. It had a great fancy chocolate taste. It didn't taste like milk chocolate garbage that you get at Easter. I knew this wasn't going to be as strong in that department, but I expected a nice strong mocha flavor. The picture of the chocolate shavings on the packaging look just like what I needed today. Instead what I got was a whole lot of milk with a bit of dark chocolate to it, and the faintest hints of coffee. Yes, I did shake it up, twice in fact. I was hoping the flavor was hiding at the bottom, but it was not meant to be.

One thing this does have going for it is that it's a high protein drink that doesn't taste chalky, and doesn't have a thick consistency. It has that going for it. I never would expect this to be a protein drink. I would expect for it to be a mediocre mocha drink. For that it gains extra points.

You're walking down a city street. Can't you see and feel it now? The trees, the buildings, the never ending smell of old urine from each and every alley. There you are minding your own business, sipping on a bottle of Pepsi and someone runs up behind you and pushes you into an alley. “Oh great” you think, “I'm about to fall into a ginormous puddle of hobo piss” when you just keep falling, until your feet lightly touch the ground. The city looks the same, but everything is slightly off, but off in a way that is kind of appealing. The trees are a little bit greener and fuller. The shapes of the buildings are just a little more interesting. The alleys now smell of cinnamon sticks, and not like the toilet of some dive bar at 4am. You look down and in your hand is no longer the familiar red, white and blue bottle. In its place now sits a black and green bottle that reads Push. You untwist the cap and take a sip. True to form with the rest of this alternate dimension the pop contained within tastes just a little bit better. It's nothing that you would stand on the street corner and rant about to every passer by, but it tastes better than the Pepsi you normally drink. It tastes crisp and dark, with a classic cola taste. It's better than Pepsi, but it doesn't taste exactly like Coke or store brand either. It's its own cola that has its own unique subtleties. It's much better than the label led you to believe. You take the last sip and toss the bottle in a recycling bin on the corner. When you look up you realize that you're a block from your work, and everything looks normal again. Strange times indeed.

Before I tried this beverage I had a phone call with Kirk from Spartos and he gave me the low down on his company. To sum up the conversation he wanted to create an all natural product that was heavy on protein, but wasn't marketed specifically to the gym rat crowd. You see protein is a necessity in life and it can do a ton of wondrous things for you, but people generally only think about it when they think about working out. Sure, it is especially great for you at that time, but it can also be greatly beneficial at other times in your life. He went on to tell me what I already know; nearly all protein drinks on the market are created for working out in mind and therefore do not pay much attention to the flavor, or the thickness of the whey protein they typically use. Seriously, how often do you see one that isn't vanilla or chocolate? Spartos went out and made a line of fruit based flavors that people could drink as readily as they drink Vitamin Water.

I have to say, they definitely got the consistency down. There is still a faint hint of the whey protein flavor, but it is not overpowering and it's certainly not present with the thickness of the drink.

I generally like it when companies use out of the ordinary (well at least in the US) fruits in their drinks. In this I do have to question the use of Yuzu. For those not in the know is like a cross between a grapefruit and a mandarin. Sounds great, right? Unfortunately not in this drink. It's got a very distracting tart flavor that over shines the blackberry 3 to 1. It made it kind of hard to get through this bottle.

I really wanted to like this a lot as I can get behind what the company is going for 100%. Unfortunately this one is not for me. Had it been solely blackberry I think I would have loved it. Hopefully the other flavors will be better.

Hey you! Yes, you over there. Come over here I have something to ask you. You don't perhaps find yourself to be an intelligent person do you? Oh, you think of your self as a bumbling idiot? Well, you certainly have a bleak self perception. How about you keep moving along then? Hey you! No, not you self admitted “bumbling idiot,” the guy over there in the red. Dear sir in the red, do you consider yourself to be a person of intellect? You do, good. I have something for you to try; it's a new energy drink that has been formulated specifically for those with above average intelligence. There are a bunch of flavors that work towards specific functions. Since you look like a man who has been worn out by his day, try this one. It's called “Renew' has it has a mango-peach flavor. I know isn't it weird that it's mango-peach and not peach mango, like every other drink out there? That's where the intelligence comes in. Mangos are better than peaches, so they deserve top billing. Would a dummy think of that? You can bet your bottom dollar that they wouldn't, but then again you certainly wouldn't be on your bottom dollar because you are no idiot.

The thing about Vuka is that it's not your average energy drink. It tastes more like a flavored sparkling water with a little something extra, rather than toxic sludge. Who wouldn't like a sweetened sparkling water that tastes like peach and mango? You got me; the sugar would certainly make it into a soda. See you are smart. It is on the lighter side of pop though. There is a slight aftertaste to it that is reminiscent of alcoholic beverages, but it's not too terrible. I myself can't stand the taste of alcohol, and I was able to drink this with no problem.

If you're concerned about the energy aspect of Vuka, it has the same amount of caffeine and taurine as a comparable sized can of Red Bull. On top of that it also contains a bunch of B vitamins, panax ginseng, d-ribose and grape seed extract. Don't worry about it. It packs quite a punch.

Now doesn't that all sound/taste great? Now I'll just need to inspect your wallet for a quick background check. I'll run it to our offices around the corner and I'll meet you back here in twenty. I sure am lucky to have run into such an intelligent gentleman such as you.

Welcome to your friendly neighborhood ice cream shoppe. How may I help you? Let me see if I got this right. You want me to make a bowl of our delicious French vanilla ice cream and then let it sit out in the sun until it has completely melted? Then you want me to take that bowl, pour it into a glass and put it in the fridge to cool it down, but not so that it re-congeals into solid iced cream again? Sir, I don't know why you would want that, but my manager always tells me the customer is always right, so I'll get right on that. It will probably take about two hours though, is that okay? Alright then, I'll see you again in two hours.

Welcome back sir. I have to admit I was intrigued by your request, so I made one for myself as well. It's okay I guess, but nothing I would really care for again. Oh, you were doing an experiment because you drank a mix 1 vanilla nutritional shake and you thought this is exactly what it tasted like? That's one weird shake you drank sir. Oh the results weren't exactly that you expected, and the Mix 1 drink wasn't nearly as thick and it had a stronger French vanilla flavor? But other than that, it was pretty similar? Well sir I have to say that if that is what your nutritional shake tasted like it certainly must have been better than most. Congratulations Now, can I have the $1.89 you owe me for the iced cream?

Back in the 90's, when I was in high school, my friends and I would drive downtown and hang out at Topic coffee shop. Not to sound like the jaded old fool that I truly am, but these were the times before coffee shops were the place to hang out. Topic was filled with degenerics and weirdoes. We loved every second of it. I was never a huge fan of coffee, so I always tried something different to find the drink that was right for me. I eventually ended up a tea drinker, which I still am to this day, but every so often I would delve into the world of iced coffee. There was something about it that just worked for me. I would try to make it at home, with disastrous results. I quickly learned that iced coffee was not just brewed coffee put in the fridge to cool down. As the years passed on I drifted further away from drinking any sort of coffee. Then a couple of years ago I tried someone's mocha and I again began a small relationship with “the bean,” as I hope no one has ever called it before, or will again.

Cut to the modern age of 2013 and here I sit with a jug of Grady's Cold Brew concentrate in front of me. Now I've tried this with water, and also with almond milk. I've tried it sweetened and straight up. The one thing I can say for certain is that due to this showing up on my doorstep I have drunk more coffee in the past week than I have in the past two years. The kicker is that I am actually enjoying it. It reminds me of sitting in a poorly lit coffee shop in the arts area of the city playing some card game or another while people around me are all smoking clove cigarettes and a John Cale record is blasting from a tiny stereo behind the counter. Those were good strange times and this is good coffee. I feel like I am fully qualified to say that as I am not a big fan of coffee, and I really like this, but it's not for some crazy or zany reason. It just tastes like a high quality drink.

The added bonus of Grady's (besides having on of the best label designs I have ever seen on a beverage) is that it is New Orleans style, which means that there is chicory in it. For those of you who are not familiar chicory is the root of the endive plant that is roasted into coffee down there. While some places use chicory as a sole coffee substitute, here it is mixed with the coffee to give it a little extra taste and to fight off a bit of the bitterness and makes the coffee smoother. Perhaps that is why I like this so much.

If you're a coffee drinker this will be a nice treat. If you're not, I urge you to give this a try and see if it will change your mind.

Let's talk about celery a bit. Celery that comes in the little baggy with an order of wings is great. Do they do that everywhere, or is that just a Buffalo thing? It doesn't matter. What does matter is that wings come with carrots and celery sticks and a little thing of blue cheese. Now blue cheese is completely disgusting at any time other than this, but here it is acceptable. I love celery then. I have been known to enjoy a Cel-Ray soda. I am not a big fan of celery in soup and such, as I always thought it was the cooking of it that made it an overpowering flavor.

Cut to me sitting down with this drink and being excited. It has spinach, kale, cucumber and ginger as major players in it. Those are all flavors that I generally love. This was to be an even healthier take on Bolthouse and Naked's “green” drinks, which it is. There is no sugar added to this it's made with fresh raw fruits and vegetables, but the problem lies in the celery. With every sip I get that same flavor that tends to ruin a lot of soups for me. I was confused as to why Life Juice would use a vegetable that is so overpowering in flavor when it is known to be a “negative calorie” food. This caused me to do some research and I learned that celery actually has a ton of health benefits, from helping to lower blood pressure and cholesterol to helping to prevent cancer. Perhaps I do need more celery in my life. How about all of you start ordering more wings, so I can eat the stuff that comes with that and negate the health benefits by dipping it in wing sauce and blue cheese.

Okay, I got off on a tangent. Other than the celery this is yet again one of the freshest tasting bottled juices I have ever drunk. The apple juice gives it just a touch of sweetness, so it doesn't taste like you're just drinking a bottle of vegetables, which I really have no problem with, but I could see that turning off people…€¦a bottle of vegetables that is.

Actually now that I'm nearly done with the bottle the celery flavor isn't nearly as strong. I must be becoming acclimated to it, as I gave it a nice shake before I drank it. If the taste I am at now, was there from the beginning I would have had no complaints at all. I can still notice the celery, but it's blended in with the other flavors and not out front punching you in your stupid nose. Drinking this makes me want to eat better. I don't eat like complete garbage, but each sip reminds me of how good healthy things can be, and how much I enjoy vegetables even when they aren't pan fried into noodles or rice as I am prone to do.

This is one of the craziest drinks I have ever tried. In true Thirsty Dudes fashion I tried it before looking at the ingredients list. I like to see if I can figure out what's in it on my own, instead of actively looking for flavors that I know to be in it. Now due to that I had expected this to have a juice base with everything else thrown in the mix for the health benefits (anti-oxidant, cleansing, increased metabolism, alkalize muscle tissues, boost your immune system, help with digestion and circulation, promote skin health, and help with detox). After one sip, I knew I was wrong. What we have here is a water based drink that has raw honey, lemon juice, turmeric, ginger, Celtic sea salt, spearmint, cayenne and whole vanilla bean added to it. Depending on who you are that could either be ridiculously enticing, or make you want to dump it into a landfill without so much as cracking the seal. For those of you who fall in the latter category, stop being such babies and give “weird” things a try.

I will be the first to admit that this is certainly not a drink for everyone, and I'm not even certain that it's for me, but I happily gave it a try. It basically tastes like someone took a bunch of spices and mixed it into a drink to be a jerk and give it to their friend. The thing is that it didn't work the way the jerk was hoping. His friend didn't throw up. The honey and the vanilla made the rest of the spices not seem too insane. They mellowed it all out a bit. The friend didn't blow chunks upon drinking it, and in fact he enjoyed it in some strange way.

While this is not something that I would ever drink for enjoyment, it's an interesting twist on a health-based beverage. If I think about them as I drink it I can taste each individual ingredient. When was the last time you had a drink that you could do that with? Tumeric calls this “Yoga in a bottle,” and I have no complaints to say otherwise.

I hate myself for spending money on this. I knew I hated it. I've known for as long as I can remember that Tahitian Treat is pure sugar swill. Thirsty Dudes must march on though, and we have yet to review this, so I suppose I should get to it.

Think of a fruit punch that lies somewhere in the middle ground between generic and Hawiian Punch. Take that overly sweetened garbage that is in no way shape or form juice and add some tiny bubbles to it. There you have what is in this bottle. If that sounds appealing to you, well…€¦good for you. To me, it sounds like an instant stomach ache and tooth decay.

I wrote that review before I even opened this up. After taking two sips I can say that it's pretty accurate, but I think that if I tried I could get this whole bottle down. I don't want to, nor am I going to, but if I chose to, I could. For that fact and that fact only I will give this two bottles, instead of one. You're welcome Tahitian Treat. While we're at it, I would like to wager that the indigenous people of Tahiti are disgusted that they are being associated with this. If I'm wrong, let me know where to send the money, and I will avoid Tahiti for the rest of my life.

On a closing note, I'd like to point out that Canadians love this stuff for some reason. The last time we went up to Soda Pop Central in Ontario they had us bring up more cases that I was comfortable purchasing. I don't want the cashiers in the stores around here thinking I have terrible taste. How could they ever take this site seriously?

Ha. I just went to the Soda Pop Central Website and on the front page it says, “Tahitian Treat is out of stock until further notice, sorry.” I know your body Canada.

I had a fairly stressful day that I don't want to get into, so I won't because it's my life, and my website and I make the rules. I was worried. I was upset. I wanted to sleep the day away, but I had too much to do. Lucky for me this little guy had shown up in the mail. I downed the shot like an alcoholic at noon, and went about my scheduled activities.
Since it is a shot I didn't expect it to taste the greatest, but I would never have expected what I got. I expected the harshness that only a concentrate with a bunch of chemicals in it can give you. What I got was a fluid that tasted like someone liquefied some baby aspirin and added a berry flavored , sugar replaced with stevia Pixie Stix. At first it really threw me off and I thought it was gross, but then I realized that it actually tasted fairly pleasant and way better than the harshness I had expected.
I definitely calmed down shortly after drinking this. I will attribute part of it to the ingredients of this bottle and part to Mike's ridiculous stories that he told in a podcast we recorded for Buffalo Eats. Which one played the stronger role? I guess we'll never know, but I am glad that I have a few more bottles of this on hand for future stressful days.

Hi, Skip Gator here. When diving into the gator pit to get your wrestle on it's very important to be hydrated and to have your daily serving of vitamins. Now many of my competitors do this the old fashioned way with a bottle of water and some multi-vitamins from the drug store. I say, “Who has time for that?” I need to get getting myself psyched up for the rush of the fight. That is why I combine the two and down a bottle of V Blast. They even have formulated a specific blend for me that they call “Gator Pit.” They know my love of all things green includes limes, so they made my drink lemon lime flavored, heavy on the lime. Mrs. Gator says that it smells like a green freeze pop, I can't argue with her. She also says it's way more lime than lemon and tastes like that self same freeze pop if it didn't have a harshness to it. What can I say? My lady knows how to exactly pin point a flavor. Don't get her wrong, she doesn't mean that in a bad way either, it's just the way things are.

The fun in V Blast comes in the fact that the vitamins are stored in the cap and when you open it they are dropped into the liquid below. That helps keep the vitamins fresh for optimal use by the body. It also gives the whole thing a bit of a children's vitamin flavor as well. It's interesting and fun. Oh did I mention the vitamin flavor severely decreases the taste of the sucralose used to sweeten this puppy? Well it does, and for that I'm grateful. You gotta keep in top shape to tangle with a gator and sugar is a big no no in my world.

Welp, the bells a ringing and that means it's time for me to jump into the pit. With the extra boost I got from V Blast this fight will be a cinch.

Before I even start this I would like to say that if you are a big baby and don't like the taste of vegetables don't even bother with this drink. This drink doesn't want people like you to drink it. There are plenty of people out there who would love and treat it the way it deserves to be treated.

There are five simple ingredients here: apple, purple cabbage, parsley, lemon and ginger. These five little things make a truly wonderful beverage. If you ever wondered what health tasted like, look no further than this bottle. All five flavors are easily distinguishable with each sip. Even after a good shake, the parsley is the most present with the first couple of mouthfuls. It's kind of like chewing on some parsley and then taking a big gulp of juice. It sounds kind of gross, but in reality it's nice and refreshing. After you start to become accustomed to it, the other flavors blossom into greatness. For those of you with sensitive mouths, you'll be happy to know that you can taste the ginger, but it doesn't have a crazy burn to it.

If you've ever gotten a beverage at a juice bar you probably have a good idea of what this is like. I've never had a bottled juice that tasted so fresh before. You could have told me that this came fresh out of the juicer and I would have no reason to question you.

This is cold pressed and raw. I never thought about the way fruit and vegetables are juiced, but now that I have had this, and it's so simple, I have to say that cold pressed is the way to go. On top of that I've has an upset stomach for most of the day, and this definitely helped in easing my minimal suffering.

If there is one thing I've learned in my 33 years on this planet it is that Brisk is the bastardization of tea. It doesn't even particularly taste like tea. It's more of flavored sugar water. One might think that with that being the way the world is perhaps Brisk would be able to make a decent sweet tea, since it also entails a butt load of sugar. One would be wrong, so very wrong. Not only does this not taste like any tea that you would brew (which sometimes is an okay thing, it's just a different flavor), but they also used high fructose corn syrup instead of real sugar. In my world, and the world's of a majority of the people in this country it's not sweet tea unless there is real sugar involved. It's the taste of the sugar that makes it a sweet tea. So they got the tea aspect wrong, and the sweetener. The only real thing this has going for it is that kids aren't very familiar with the taste of proper tea and they love super sweet drinks, so they will probably drink this by the gallon. Luckily for them this comes in a one liter bottle, which is supposed to contain 4 servings, but you know most of the slobs that would buy this would drink it all in a sitting.

Note to our readers: I drank less than a quarter of this. As a grown ass man I don't need this garbage in my life.

In 2011 I came across a can of Havoc Energy Drink in a Big Lots in Lansing, MI. Our friend Christian was filling in on drums for my band for a tour and we were there teaching him the songs. As you can see from the review I gave it below, it was garbage. It also had been out of production since 2008, as I learned when I received an email from the gentleman who had recently purchased the company and was planning on reformulating it. Way to have expired goods Big Lots. Anyways, cut to early 2013 and here I sit with a slim can of the reformulated Havoc. I can happily say that it is much better. Luckily it no longer tastes like cough syrup. Instead it tastes like a mixture of raspberry and cherry sodas with a general energy drink taste mixed in. It's a flavor that doesn't normally exist in the energy drink universe, and I appreciate the change of pace.

While this isn't really anything groundbreaking, it is worlds better than the old version. I really have nothing bad to say about this, it just kind of blends in with most of the other energy drinks on the shelves, even though it is not a usual flavor. Actually, you know what? I think I would be more likely to grab one of these from a gas station than the usual suspects in the cooler if I was in need of a little boost on a late night. Havoc, you just bumped yourself up to four bottles.


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Old Product Review:

To quote the ever-clever Tony Flaminio, "This drink played 'havoc' on my taste buds." When an energy drink is marked down to $.60, there's probably a good reason, and that reason is probably because it's pretty gross. It tastes like someone took a bottle of cherry cough syrup and combined it with a two liter of sweetened seltzer water. Who wants that? My guess is no one, and that leads me back to the price drop. You may be tempted to buy it because it's cheap, but I say save that change, buy an apple or something with it. You'll be much happier.

EDIT (2011):
I was just emailed and informed that this product has not been in production since 2008. That means this was old and more than likely expired. Thanks Big Lots. The Havoc company has been bought out since then and is going to start producing new drinks soon. So basically if you see this out there check those expiration dates so you don't have a situation like we did.

I went to Hawaii for a friends wedding a few years ago. Before we left for the islands I had very little interest in our destination. Sure I knew I was going to have fun, but I'm not really a beach guy as the sun causes my skin to combust after a very short period of time. It's now two years later and I still talk about the trip all of the time. I'm a person who travels a decent amount, and I've seen a lot of places, but going to Kauai was one of the best experiences of my life. A couple of us have been talking about arranging another trip back, and as a result I have been selling a whole mess of junk I have around the house to raise money. I will surf. I will jump off waterfalls, and most importantly I will do it in exchange for records and such that I never listen to.

Drinking this lemonade, has given me another push to put a bunch of stuff up on eBay again this week so I can reach my goal of flight/hotel basically in trade. I drank a whole mess of lemonade over the week and half I spent on Kauai, and since my mind has been on it for the past few weeks, one sip of this brought be right back there. This is nicely tart, but with some agave sweetness to even it out. It's water, lemon juice and a sweetener. It's how lemonade should be. I'll never know why companies add a ton of extraneous ingredients to their lemonade. This is all there needs to be and it's wonderful.

Now I will go through my record collection again and thin it out for the cause.

Driving down some old country road Martin passed a fruit stand. He decided he would treat himself to a nice healthy snack, so he turned around and stopped. Being from the big city he couldn't believe how cheap the produce was at this stand. Knowing that he would kick himself for passing up such a great deal, he bought the entire stock and told the peddler to go enjoy the rest of the day as they loaded it into the back of his BMW. As he drove off into the summer haze Martin chucked an apple core out of the window and cranked up the Huey Lewis on the stereo.

It's now a week later in Martin's high-rise luxury apartment and the air is starting to thicken with fruit flies. Martin had never bought large quantities of produce before. He would normally stop by the local Whole Foods and buy what he needed for the meal he was making that night. Now that he had a couple of crates improperly stored around the apartment, he didn't know what to do with it. It hadn't all fit into his fridge with all his bottled water and micro brewed beer, so he had left it on the counters. That's how people seemed to store their fruit in movies. Apparently the silver screen had lied to him. He called his sister in Tampa to see if she had any ideas and she recommended he try the juicer she had bought him last Christmas, which was undoubtedly sitting unopened in the back of his closet. It was. Not knowing how to actually make juice Martin just dumped it all in together; sweet potatoes, grapes, apples, peaches, carrots, and mangos. He had no idea why a fruit stand in rural Illinois was selling mangos, but they were fifty cents each, so how could he pass that up.

It was only when he was pouring himself his first glass that Martin realized that he might have made a horrible mistake mixing everything together. Mangos and sweet potatoes, what was he thinking? He took a tentative sip, and then a much larger gulp. Everything was coming up Marvin. It was delicious. It had a general sweet fruit flavor, with the peaches and the mangos more exposed than everything else. There was an ever so slight vegetable flavor in the background, but he thought that no one would ever notice that unless they were told what was in it. The more he drank, the more he decided he liked it. He pulled up Wikipedia and did some searching and found exactly how healthy this drink he had created was. He also looked up ways to get rid of fruit flies…€¦it looked like he was going to have cups of vinegar around the house for a few days. That was unfortunate, but this juice was great and healthy for him. It was then that he decided to call his uncle Mort who was a big wig at Tropicana and sell them his juice. He decided he would call it “Fruit Stand.” As he waiting for the secretary to patch him into his uncles office he began to daydream of how he would retire from this deal and spend the rest of his days following around Huey Lewis like he was the Grateful Dead. Life was good for Martin.

In the beginning there was Gatorade, and life seemed good for those who played sports. The big win didn't count until the winning team dumped a cooler of electrolyte filled liquid on their head coach. Then Powerade began being stocked on shelves and in coolers and people the whole world …€˜round said, “Why the hell do we need this inferior product when Gatorade exists?” The people were right to judge and Gatorade continued to reign supreme. Then the stars aligned and Vitamin Water burst onto the scene. It was like the beloved Gatorade, but with added vitamins and minerals to make it even more functional. On top of that the flavors actually had a variety of tastes, unlike the general Gatorade base with hints of other flavor. Thus began the age of the vitamin, but with all dynasties hubris took hold and Vitamin Water stopped coming out with new flavors and the world grew bored with them. They still drank it, but they did not love it the way they once did.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to a new age, a new dynasty of rehydration/sports drinks. It goes by the name A Game and it is what you have been waiting for. It is a drink that falls somewhere between the greatness of Gatorade and Vitamin Water. It has all the properties of a classic bottle of Gatorade, but it is bursting with flavor. It also has a bunch of vitamins added to it to round it out. You want to rehydrate? Well this has some sea salt in it and it puts other electrolytes to shame. It also has clover honey. That's right, they care so much that they used honey. Everyone loves honey. It even calms those angry bees.

With a flavor called “citrus” you would expect something generic like orange or lemon-lime, but this has a nice blend of different citrus fruit flavors that stands out on its own due to the sea salt and honey.

If this doesn't start being carried in gas stations and mini-marts all around the country I believe it may be a sign of the impending apocalypse.

If the marketing team at Red Rain has a single brain cell in their collective heads I would hope that they have contacted Peter Gabriel to use his song that is the same name as their company. Just imagine that chorus playing as slow motion shots of sports teams winning the big game and spraying each other with cans of energy drink. It would be like they were announcing that the sun has set on Gatorade in the energy drink age. It would be triumphant, and it's a great song on top of that.

I don't know if that's the market they are looking to sell their beverages to, but it's not the scenario that is important, it's the song. It really is a great song, and I'm gonna say this is a fairly great energy drink at that. Cranberry should be used more in energy drinks. It covers up the typical candy flavor nicely. This has a predominately cranberry flavor with a nice citrus touch around the edges. It's certainly not a typical flavor for an energy drink, which is nice.

Think about it; Peter Gabriel and an unusual tasting energy drink. Then think about all of the toonies pouring in, much like that self same red rain.