Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Rip It Chic Berry In O Scent

I normally think of Rip It as a manly and low cost drink. The Rip It Chic, however, line is obviously targeted toward women and girls. The cans are slimmer than the normal 16oz cans, like a lot of other products targeted toward women, and the colors are bright pinks and purples. And, because a lot of women are trying to watch their figure, this one is sugar-free and has zero carbohydrates. I don't normally like zero carb and sugar-free drinks, but the Chics really aren't that bad. Though the sweeteners are Acesulfame Potassium and Sucralose, I recall there being nearly no artificial aftertaste.

Pop went the can and I poured it to observe the color. It's pretty light, looking almost clear with a blue-violet tint. When I pour more into the cup, it looks a whole lot darker, like grape Koolaid. It looks totally refreshing refreshing. The smell is smooth grape-blueberry and I noticed a refreshing mineral or metallic something in there too. I can get a nice mouthful without a lot of gumminess, though the carbonation stings a little if you don't give it time to settle. I found as soon as I sipped it that the artificial sweeteners just about ruin the drink. Instead of crisp sweetness that would come from sugar, the Chic delivers an odd, sour, bitter flavor that seems like it's trying to mimic sugar. It works with the carbonation to create a weird tart taste driving away the rich blueberry that could have stood out almost as much as the Rockstar Zero Carb. Still, if you can't tell it's artificial, you should be pretty happy with the nice blueberry which you won't find very often in energy drinks. Frankly, I don't think blueberry is common enough...

The energy you get from one of these is definitely above average, which surprised me. The other Rip Its seemed to be a little weak on energy ingredients, but not the Chics. From a feminine berry drink meant for women, you would probably expect a lame kick, but that isn't the case with the Rip It Chic. Per 12oz can, there are 150mg of caffeine, which beats the amount in a lot of drinks. It even beats Monster by about 8mg. What makes it even better is that there are zero carbs, zero calories, and zero sugar. To make that possible, the drink is sweetened with Sucralose and Acesulfame Potassium. That's good if you want a guilt-free energy drink, but if you're not watching your intake, you'll probably think it's not worth missing the tastier sweeteners Sucrose and Glucose. I can't say that this is a totally good or bad drink. It depends on what you're looking for. This drink has flavor, but it lacks some true sweetness to support it.

Taste - 7.8 - Marked down for the artificial sweetener
Kick - 7.5 - May seem average to superb, depending on the person.
Overall - 7.8 - Mixed feelings on the flavor, like the kick

Reviewed by: Jeff

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Jeffery "Jeff," Chandler "Chan"