Like most people in this day and age, I have a quite hectic and busy schedule.  I do occasionally go out and party and stay up later than we should to get our 8 hours of sleep that is required for optimum health.  When fatigue and weariness set in people can turn to many different sources for energy.  I used to drink coffee, though I never really liked hot beverages, I preferred Iced Coffee, but as I aged my stomach cannot handle the acidity of coffee anymore.  I really can’t drink any coffee and haven’t for almost two years now.  I drink various hot tea’s and brewed Iced Tea’s, green, black, oolong, white…etc.  But Tea’s in general are nice in flavor but very low in caffeine and “pick me up”.  Occasionally I do drink Ginseng tea, and when you first start drinking Ginseng tea you do get a great pick me up, but if you drink enough of it, you become immune to ginseng and it has very little energy boosting power, so I drink ginseng tea occasionally, but have mostly become immune to the energy boosts I used to get from it when I first started.  So I delved into Energy Drinks of various types, the good about energy drinks is they can give me a quick boost without having the painful side effects of coffee.  You can get jitters and accelerated heart rate from drinking too many, and sure pure sugar, caffeine, taurine and other chemicals are pretty much hard on the system, but who thinks about the long run when they need a pick me up right now.  But like anything, if you drink too much you build up resistance, if you are used to drinking 1 energy drink a day, then 1 or 2 won’t give you a “pick me up” anymore.  Just like excessive coffee drinkers who can pound down two or three cups and not feel any increase in energy.  This tolerance is what keeps people looking for more and more “energy” solutions.  So moderate your energy intake, drink only one energy drink every so often when you really need it.  Don’t make it a daily habit, and you can still benefit from the “energy boost” when you need it most.

Don’t drink too many, I did drink four red bulls in one evening and had all sorts of complications.  My heart was beating so fast and hard, I was light headed, nauseated and felt like I was going to pass out numerous times.  So here is my review of the various energy drinks, both flavor and the effect it has on my energy level.  I am trying to take tolerance out of the equation.  Most energy drinks don’t taste especially well to me.  I didn’t like all the sugar and drank several “Diet” energy drinks but noticed Diet ones clearly don’t provide as much a boost, the “Sugar” rush definitely helps with the boost.

• Red Bull and Diet Red Bull

Red Bull is the most popular and I still drink these quite regularly as most clubs and bar’s only stock red bulls still.  I still get a boost of energy if I need it at one o’clock in the morning, by drinking a red bull.  If you have a full stomach, you may need two red bulls to feel the energy kick, they work better for me when I only had a very light meal or have an empty stomach.  The flavor is okay, though the sugar level is very high and Red Bull’s taste very syrup like to me.  Diet Red Bulls don’t taste as good as regular, and the energy kick is much less for me.  I have to drink two diet red bulls to feel the same increase in energy as a single regular Red Bull.

• Monster Energy Drink

These energy drinks also have a very sweet and thick syrup like flavor, and I had the least energy boost from a Monster energy drink.  At least that was my perception, out of all the energy drinks I have tried, Monster was one of my least favorite.  I just didn’t like the flavor and didn’t feel it gave me a boost that was worth my while.

• Rockstar Energy Drink & Diet Rockstar

I was drinking these for quite a while, these taste better in my opinion than Red Bull’s and Monster Energy Drinks, and they do provide a nice energy boost. They are larger can’s than Red Bull, so I assume you are getting more chemical input which is why you gain more energy.  I drink Rockstar energy drinks whenever Red Bull is not available.  Diet Rockstar Energy drinks don’t provide as much a boost, but do taste okay as far as diet goes, they taste almost as good as regular and better than the Diet Red Bull in my opinion.

• Full Throttle Blue Demon

This I had for the first time on a visit to Pacific Beach in San Diego, there was a Full Throttle advertisers on the beach just tossing out free samples of the Blue Demon energy drink, so I grabbed two and drank them on the long 5.5 hour drive back to Arizona from San Diego.  I have to say, the Full Throttle Blue Demon is one of the best tasting energy drinks I have ever had, and in general the flavor of this beverage is so unique that I can’t compare it to anything else.  I wish they made a non-energy drink that had this flavor, so I can taste it and drink it more often.  Blue Agave is the flavor of the Blue Demon drink, and an Agave plant is a succulant, Arizona is no stranger to Agave plants as they grow all over here.  I know certain alcoholic beverages (Tequila and Mezcal) both are distilled from Agave plants actually.  Flavor is an A+, and very unique you either like it or you don’t.  Energy level was very good, I didn’t get bored or tired during my 5.5 hour drive and I always usually do, really I was enjoying the flavor so much I kind of got a mental boost just from experiencing the drink.  Full Throttle Blue Demon energy drinks do still taste quite sweet, but not as syrup like as Red Bull’s.

• Glaceau Vitamin Energy

This is the newest energy drink I have ever tried, in fact I tried it for the first time this morning.  Dragon Fruit is the flavor, which by the way is another very unique flavor and one of my favorite flavor of any beverage.  Vitamin Water’s in general taste pretty good, but Dragon Fruit flavor has always been my favorite, and I know of no other beverage that makes a dragon fruit flavor.  Kudos for company’s experimenting with different flavor’s outside the normal “Cherry, Fruit Punch, Lemonade…etc” I love tasting new flavors and experiencing different sensations on my taste buds.  Now, Vitamin Energy Drink actually tastes among the best, right up there with the Blue Demon.  But the best thing about it is, it has no Syrup like flavor, it has around 1/2 the sugar of normal energy drinks and actually tastes a a lot  like a carbonated vitamin water.  This is good if you like the Dragon Fruit Vitamin Water which I do.  The energy is also pleasantly refreshing, I don’t feel as much of a kick an hour after drinking it as say a red bull, but I do feel a good energy boost.  I don’t know how long it will last, but the flavor of the drink, the light and non-syrupy taste and the mild energy boost make this my new favorite energy drink.

• In Review:

My two favorite energy drinks are “Full Throttle Blue Demon” and “Glaceau Vitamin Energy” though I still drink the occasional “Red Bull” since no club’s or bar’s I have ever been to serve these two energy drinks. My readers, what do you drink to get energy?  What energy drinks or supplements do you use to give yourself a kick when you are fatigued and exhausted and need to have a little mental and physical boost to make it through a work day or a day taking care of toddlers?

-Dragon Blogger

• UPDATE

I turned this post into a Socialspark opportunity so that people can comment and let me know what their favorite brands of energy drink are, or what they do to get a quick boost.  Here are some comments and posts from my fellow bloggers about energy drinks or how they get a quick pick me up:

Dani -http://mumsy.little-miss.org/

Tribal Fusion – http://misty-mountain-hop.blogspot.com/

Kimmie-Lou – http://kimmie-lou.com/

Emmsy’s favorite energy drink is “Energo energy drink”

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