A Thinner Geek

If you’re like me and many other geeks, it’s not uncommon to enjoy a few energy drinks from time to time. Sometimes it’s to stay up for a few more lines of late night coding, other times it might be to give you a bit of jump for that next Halo match. Unfortunately, most energy drinks not only pack a punch, they also contain a boatload of calories.

With this in mind, I spent about a month seeking out a variety of diet energy drinks in an effort to find the best tasting mid-afternoon boost. While these reviews are purely opinion based, I did have a few fellow programmers taste test the best and worst of bunch to verify my findings.

NOTE: I would reccomend avoiding drinks with more than 300mg of caffiene or drinking more than 2 of any of these drinks in a day. In rare cases, large amounts of caffiene can cause epilieptic seizures.

The Bad

I know that your average review would start with the good, but making fun of the worst options is often funnier than praising best. With that, let’s get these horrible concoctions out of the way.

Ripit Chic - SinAMan

It took a lot to try this beverage. I got several odd looks buying it and even put up with the crap I got for drinking from a foil-covered pink can. I actually picked it up expecting it to be bad; however, I was unprepared for the horror of flavor that this stuff unleashed on my mouth. The flavor is a blend of Red Bull, grape fruit and cinnamon.

This isn’t the kind of taste that makes you say “Man that was awful”. This is the kind of thing that you try to get your friends to drink to see their reaction. This was a big dissappointment because Ripit makes some really great full-calorie energy drinks.

Sugar Free Bawls

Sugar Free Bawls tastes kind of like diet sprite with a strange aftertaste. While not nearly as bad as the Ripit Chic, I couldn’t finish a bottle of this stuff. Although, this did have one of the best bottles of all the energy drinks I tried.

The Good

Here are a few drinks worth giving a shot. Most of these are on my list of regular drinks.

Tab Energy Drink

This was my personal favorite drink. It had a light flavor, kind of like sprite with a hint of rasberry. Most of my fellow geeks disagreed and I was the only one in the office that would drink it. Apparently, they weren’t alone because this drink was discontinued.

Rockstar Lo Carb

Note that there are 2 types of calorie free Rockstar. Sugar Free in a white can and Lo Carb in a blue can. This was the unanimous favorite in the office. It has a nice cranberry flavor that does a good job masking the bitterness of the caffeine. This has become my go to mid-afternoon, post boring meeting energy boost.

Monster Lo Carb

Apparently energy drink companies don’t like the word diet and consistently misspell the word low. Monster Lo Carb, like Rockstar Lo Carb, is the one in the blue can. It has taste that is more what you would expect from a energy drink. I personally like it, but some of my coworkers likened it to children’s tylenol.