Inked Maori Energy Drink

Today I tried 7 Eleven's custom drink produced by Cott Beverages (Same people who make Aftershock, as well as the new Ring Condenda, Throwdown).. think there are two flavors, but so far I have only found Maori Inked. I like the size of can, the new cool 12 oz slim can, like Rip It Chic.
I seems 711 owners don't have to carry the brand,but they can bring it in if they choose. But it is an exclusive item to their stores. What they are trying to do, is switch over some other energy drink users to theirs. 7 - 11 plans to market the drink at motorcycle rallies and tattoo conventions, and many stores are giving away free cans with any other energy drink purchase. Their profit margin is a lot higher than with others.

From the Spokesman Review:

The 7-Eleven convenience store chain recently started selling an energy drink called Inked, aimed at people who either have tattoos or those who want to think of themselves as the tattoo type. The company plans to market the drink at motorcycle rallies and tattoo conventions.
"We wanted to create a drink that appealed to men and women, and the tattoo culture has really become popular with both genders," said 7-Eleven's manager of non carbonated beverages, Michele Little. "The rite of tattoo passage isn't only limited to the young but also to those who think and act young."

and another great quote from recordonline:

"We wanted to create a drink that appealed to men and women, and the tattoo culture has really become popular with both genders," said 7-Eleven's manager of non-carbonated beverages, Michele Little.

"The rite of tattoo passage isn't only limited to the young, but also to those who think and act young," she said.

Ray Francis, who owns the 7-Eleven in the Town of Wallkill, has carried Inked for about two weeks but had no idea it had anything to do with tattoos.

"It doesn't say anything about tattoos," said Francis, examining a can from the cooler and one of the placards promoting the beverage. "There's not much to say about it. It's just new, and they've got two flavors — Chihara and Maori."

Buzz:nutrition:5
So all the can does is list the bad stuff. It has a crapload of calories (180!), flavored with high fructose corn syrup, and contains an undisclosed amount of taurine and caffeine, but I could feel that it was not an amount to write home about. My guess is about 75 MG a can, because it woke me up for about half an hour before needing to search for extra caffeine consumption. Nothing special about the EDM here either, just B vitamins and Taurine. No ginseng or Yerba Mate, or even little temporary tattoos to help sell the whole "undergroundy" look.

Taste:6
Redbullish, According to official sources, this is supposedly grapefruit flavor. They are definitely not going to find many converts with this taste. I hear their other flavor is better, so Ill keep a lookout.

Packaging:8
Pretty solid here. Although, I could have gone for some more info, like a caffeine list. A website like could not hurt either... They mention viral campaigns and websites, but a thorough search on search engines turned up nothing for their official site. Good use of color and logo - great appeal to their sought after market niche.