First and foremost – no, I have not reached unsavory new levels of things I’m doing to attract readership (we’re also not giving any free iPods). Though hey, if you’re already here, why not stick around?
Jerk Energy Soda is just another foray into the over-saturated and over-caffeinated energy drink market. While there’s a new energy drink born every minute, this one piqued my interest pretty much solely for the name alone. Plus it’s got some 80s era retro gaming style graphics so I figured the 50 cents price tag was reasonable. Also I get to say the phrase “Jerk Juice”. Heh…jerk juice.
The only input I got about this drink beforehand was that the gal at the store told us it “tasted like Sweet Tarts”. With 36g of scrumptious sugar per can (regular Coca-Cola has 39g, for reference), I figured it really couldn’t taste like anything besides candy.
While most energy drinks are a fluorescent, doctor-shocking urine yellow, Jerk’s got a nice blue-green color to it (blue whens it comes from the can, green in the glass, so I figured I’d have some wacky light refraction action going on in our photo). I was secretly hoping it’d be purple though.
One swig of this stuff immediately brought back memories of watermelon Jolly Ranchers (though I can see how it would taste like Sweet Tarts too). Since this stuff is pretty sweet, I probably got more of a rush from the HFCS instead of the caffeine and ginseng and taurine and guarana and all that garden-variety energy drink jazz. Suffice to say, if you’d want to get crazy and FourLoko it up, this drink earns my “Would Also Work Good as a Mixer” seal of approval. If anything, it needs a bit of a kick to cut through the syrupy sweet twinge of corn syrup and water. (Looking back at our past soda and energy drink reviews, you’d think I was an alcoholic with all the stuff I end up just mixing with booze.)
All in all, not a terrible drink for 50 cents a can. While I would enjoy a diet version since more sugar is the last thing I need (though artificial sweeteners probably aren’t much better), Jerk has a decent taste for what it’s worth. I might just buy a few more cans and get my jerk on again in the future.
Tags: Caffeine, Energy Drink, In a Can
