Way back last October of 2019 we wrote a post about a Coca Cola Energy Drink set to roll out in the states sometime in 2020. At the time the drink was already available in the UK. Well, the all new Coca Cola Energy Drink has finally been released here in the USA.
In today's post we're going to be doing a review, we're also going to be talking a bit about the backstory of this beverage and why it rolled out in the UK almost a full year ahead of the USA.
So way back in the day long before Redbull, there weren't really mainstream energy drinks. Way back in the day Jolt Cola was bit. Jolt Cola had about 160mg of caffeine per can, which was quite a bit for it's time. Sometime in probably the late 90s or early 2000's Redbull rose to popularity, and while at the time it was thought to be a high caffeine energy drink, it only had 111mg of caffeine which is nothing compared to the 300mg of caffeine Bang Energy and Monster Energy Drinks have today.
Why Did Coke Energy Release In The USA Late?
So here's a bit of a backstory to why Coke Energy Drinks rolled out in the USA so far after in the UK. So back around 2015 or 2016 Coke and Monster got into business together. Monster allowed Coke to distribute Monster, Coke gave Monster NOS and a couple other drinks under the Coca Cola banner, and in return Coke agreed not to sell any other energy drinks not under the Coca Cola name.
Well there seemingly was a little flaw in that contract, where Coke could not distribute other companies energy drinks, but seemingly was free to roll out their own, and hence the Coca Cola Coke Energy was born.
Now Monster apparently fought them in court about this, Coca Cola was ultimately the victor, and eventually the Coke Energy drinks made their way to the states.
How Much Caffeine is in Coca Cola's Energy Drink?
So probably the first thing everyone is wondering about is how much caffeine is in this drink. So the Coke Energy Drinks contain 114mg of caffeine per can. One interesting thing about the caffeine content, in the UK Coke advertises on the can that it's natural caffeine. That's not advertised on the can in the states leading us to believe it's lab created caffeine, although this drink does contain Guarana Extract which is a natural source of caffeine so there likely is some natural caffeine.
Now the Coke Energy Drinks come in four flavor varieties. You have a Coke flavor and a Cherry Coke flavor, and then there's a sugar free, calorie free version of each as well making up a total of four. The sugar version contains 140 calories which is the same as a can of standard Coca Cola.
I accidentally picked up the sugar free version so that's what we're going to be tasting today. The sugar free version features 0 calories, 0 fat, 80mg of sodium, and 25% of your daily allotment of Niacin and Vitamin B6. That's a little bit low considering almost every energy drink on the market has 100% of your daily Vitamin B.
What Does Coca Cola's Coke Energy Drink Taste Like?
So again, I wish I had picked up the sugar version of this drink, as I don't care for sugar free drinks generally, and I wanted to try the real thing. Unfortunately I accidentally bought the sugar free varieties of both the Coke and Cherry Coke.
Upon popping the can and taking a sip the one thing that surprised me was it wasn't very sweet at all. I'm used to energy drinks like Bang, Monster, and 3D Energy which despite being 0 calories and having no sugar are very flavorful and very sweet.
The Coke Energy drink was almost like a sparkling water with a hint of Coke, there was very little sweetness. You did get a bit of that chemical or artificial sweetener taste that's present in most diet sodas. I don't drink a ton of Cola and it's been a while since I've had one, but I'd say it tasted almost exactly like a Coke Zero.
Would I Buy It Again?
I'm not a big soda drinker to begin with. I occasionally enjoy an iced cold Coca Cola with a pizza or some chinese food, but outside of that I rarely drink coke. Just seems like a lot of corn syrup and wasted calories so I primarily drink sparkling water.
I didn't finish the can, I drank it just to try it. It wasn't disgusting, but it wasn't great. It tasted like a regular Coke Zero, and there's not even that great of a dose of caffeine so I likely wouldn't drink it even just for the energy. Generally speaking I prefer fruity or more crisp tasting energy drinks.
All that said, if you're a fan of Coke Zero and you want a bit of extra caffeine some afternoon or on a road trip, I'd say it might be worth picking up for you.
Where Can You Buy Coke Energy Drink?
I picked these cans up at Walmart for $1.88 per can. You can also pick up Coca Cola's Coke Energy Drink varieties on Amazon.Com with Free Shipping, although it's a bit more expensive than at Walmart.
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