Pure Energy - Natural Energy Drink

You know, sometimes I like an energy drink just for the heck of it.

I mean, sure, I usually drink energy drinks for their intended purposes.  In fact, I probably wouldn't have graduated from college had it not been for the combined efforts of caffeine and sugar, but beyond that, I just LIKE to have them sometimes.

Today, however, was a "need to have one" day.  It's rainy and gloomy outside, which always causes a rather Pavlovian reaction in me (sleeping, not drooling) and I've still got another church service to get through, so I needed some help.  I decided to try the energy drink that has been hanging out in my fridge for a couple of weeks, Pure Energy.  I got this on my last trip to Earth Fare and have been waiting for the right time to try it out.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of energy drinks that boast "natural alternative" ingredients.  I mean, it isn't like I want them to contain meth or anything like that, but in my experience, when you find a can of some kind of odd energy drink you've never heard of, especially one that boasts some kind of natural kick starting ingredient, it's just going to taste weird.  Of course, I say that knowing perfectly well that mainstream energy drinks like Red Bull don't exactly taste great, but at least those somehow grow on you.  I've tried several brands of unusual, natural energy drinks and each time they've all had a strange, slightly odd flavor that I couldn't put my finger on. 

 Curious, Captain.

Pure Energy was different from the other natural drinks I've tried.  Well, let me elucidate:  I didn't hate this drink.  It wasn't terrible, it wasn't undrinkable, it was just...odd.  It tasted puce.  I know that won't make sense to many of you, but I taste colors and if puce had a taste, it would be this beverage.

At first sip I was afraid that it contained Stevia, which I think I've made it clear that I hate with the heat of a thousand suns.  There was this strange, almost-but-not-quite yuck taste on my tongue. Upon reading the ingredients, though, I found that there was no stevia in sight.  In fact, it had beet sugar as it's sweetener.  Ok, then...what was the taste?  I took another small sip and realized that the drink tasted almost fermented, as if someone had poured wine into fruit juice mixed with tea or something, but there wasn't any alcohol in the drink either. It was bitter, but not overly so.  So I finally started reading the can, something I probably should have done before drinking any of it.  The "active" ingredients, if you will were ginseng, guarana, caffeine and various vitamins.  Oh, and also kombucha.

DING DING DING!  Kombucha it is!  Blerg.

Yes, I realize that the word kombucha is printed right on the front of the can.  It's also printed in large letters along the side and on the back of the can, but somehow I didn't see that until I started looking at the ingredients. Had I noticed that before buying it, I probably would have passed on this drink because I am NOT a fan of kombucha.  If you aren't familiar with kombucha, it is stuff made from fermented tea.  I'm not going to lie and pretend I know a lot about it, because honestly, I learned what I know about it from Wikipedia and the back of this can.  So, that is where the fermented taste came from.  Mystery solved. 

Anyway, the stuff wasn't great, but I was able to finish it the whole can.  Aside from the puce flavor, it was unremarkable in that it was just kind of bitter and sour at the same time.  As for the effects, yes, I'm much more awake now than I was before I drank it.  In fact, my hands and feet are freezing cold, which is usually how caffeine or any other kind of stimulant affects me.  It also made me have to pee.  That's probably more than you needed to know, but I'm nothing if not thorough in my reviews.

All in all...I'm not going to tell you to avoid this drink, because if you like kombucha, or if you're curious as to what the color puce tastes like, you should try it.  It actually does perk you up quite a bit, and if you are interested in an energy drink that has all natural ingredients, I don't think you'd be too disappointed.  At any rate, Pure Energy was very different and kind of interesting, so it wasn't a complete loss. 

WEBSITE- www.ExDrinks.com

SERVING SIZE: 1 Can
CALORIES: 70
CARBS:  15g
TASTE: Fermented and Puce.  That's all I can say.