Xyience Orange Rush

Orange flavored drinks are one of those that are incredibly hard to mess up. I have had a few bad ones, but by and large, Orange might be the easiest flavor profile to create.
Why? Because even when it tastes like fake orange, it is still tasty. And, it is easy to fool people into thinking Orange flavor equals healthy. How else can you possibly explain the continued existence of Tampico, Sunny D and Tang?
Now Xyience has come out with their version, Xenergy Orange Blast, and I am not as impressed as I could have been. Don't get me wrong - this is still a tasty orange beverage. But, seeing as this was from the people who made last year's Energy Drink of the Year, this one seemed like a cop out. With everyone from Monster (Hansens has 4 orange flavored drinks) to Coca Cola (NOS), Budweiser, Amp, Mountain Dew and smaller companies, like Boo Koo and Kronik having their own orange drink, I don't see why the world needs another one. At last check, I have reviewed over 110 separate products with orange flavor as a base.

Buzz:10
First, the good news. The thing which does at least help them out is the terrific buzz this drink has. There is a boatload of caffeine in a 16 ounce can, undisclosed, but my guess is somewhere over 200mg. The other Xenergy drinks in this line are very caffeinated as well, and I got a good solid 4 hours of alertness - maybe more. I felt no drop off or slagging, but a gentle tapering off of energy and the familiar pull to the breakroom for coffee.

The caffeine is helped by generous helpings of Taurine, Ginseng, Guarana, Inositol, Glucuronolactone, L-Carnitine , and lots of vitamin B. All this is with zero calories, potassium to help hydrate and the good sweetener mix of suralose and Ace - K. Seriously, you could not want more out of your energy drink.

Packaging:8
Even with the big orange on orange circle, the dark black design is a class affair. They even managed to get the lid on right, so the logo points outwards while drinking from the can. The branding is double facing, so the distributors and clerks don't have to worry about facing the drink - and everything is laid out very nicely. You get the UFC logo and slogan, and all fonts easy to read and without pandering to the "XTREME" grunge typefaces.
While their color palate usually works well, their light on slightly less light orange circles don;t quite work as well as the other colors.
The only real problem I see is that they hide their caffeine amount within a proprietary blend, a real mistake when one of their big selling points is that these new flavors have a bigger boost. With the impressive nutritional content in here, I am surprised they don't advertise it more on the label.

Taste:8
Yep - it it tastes of fake orange. There is nothing wrong with fake orange - I am even eating an orange Popsicle as I am writing this! I actually enjoy it the flavor, a mix of orange and tangerine - and for a drink from any other company this might get higher ratings. But this is not what I have come to expect from Xyience, and is without a doubt the most bland of the whole amazing product line they have created. Still, out of the 110 products, I would say this easily fit into the Top 10 for taste.

I even tried this out as a mixer - playing with a caffeinated screwdriver as well as a margarita - both minor failures. The flavor just could not hold up to the alcohol, leaving the drink a little weak bodied and not sweet enough in both cases. I guess I am just too spoiled by the rest of their fantastic lineup to choose this over all the rest.