Energy Drink Comparison... What's Really in those Energy Drinks?

Amp Energy Drink

Turn up your energy with AMP. Only AMP has MDX5, taurine, ginseng, B-vitamins, guarana and maltodextrin, a complex carb. All in a great-tasting citrus fusion. AMP is a new energy drink from Mountain Dew. Made with regular Mountain Dew's base flavor formula, AMP combines Taurine, B vitamins, Ginseng and Guarana with simple and complex carbohydrates such as maltodextrin - all in a great-tasting fusion of citrus flavors.


My Notes: I really only know of two different Amp flavors... original and Amp Overdrive.
Personal Choice: Amp Original

Monster Energy Drink


Tear into a can of the meanest energy supplement on the planet. MONSTER energy. We went down to the lab and cooked up a double shot of our killer energy brew. It's a wicked mega hit that delivers twice the buzz of a regular energy drink. The MONSTER packs a vicious punch but has a smooth kick ass flavor you can really pound down.


My Notes: There are 5 different flavors that I know of (Regular, Lo-Carb, Monster Assault, Khaos Energy Juice, and M-80 Energy + Juice)
Personal Choice: Regular (green label)

Redbull Energy Drink

Red Bull is a utility drink to be taken against mental or physical weariness or exhaustion. Red Bull combines two natural substances and important metabolic transmitters - the amino acid taurine and the glucuronolactone - with stimulating caffeine, vitamins and the energy provided by carbohydrates. The leader in the energy drinks category.

My Notes: The original energy drink in my opinion... comes in two flavors (original, and sugar free)
Personal Choice: Not really a fan of either... but the original is ok... sugar-free on the otherhand... well, we'll leave it at that)

RockStar Energy Drink


Hailing from Las Vegas, Rockstar Energy Drink's motto is "Party Like a Rock Star" and the drink certainly lives up to the name. With it's tall can and potent flavor, we're sure you'll agree.

My Notes: I didn't know about all the different kinds they have... but from my good friends at BevNet I found out that RockStar sells 8 different kinds (Original, Diet, Cola, RockStar Juiced, 0-Carb, Juiced Guava, Juiced Pomegranate, and Punched)
Personal Choice: Not a fan (but I haven't tried them all so who knows)
**Update** - I just tried the Punched flavor and it is pretty good.



XS Energy Drink

Get ready to blast your energy levels into high gear with XS Energy Drink. High powered adaptogenic herbs mixed with potent levels of B-vitamins and key amino acids make for a rocket-powered lift any time of the day. We have eliminated all the sugar and 95% of the calories so you can energize your body and mind without storing fat. Amazing taste and performance is just a few sips away. Drink up and enjoy XS.

My Notes: Words cannot describe how delicious and refreshing these drinks are. And there's 13 to choose from. They are all sugar free, most are zero carbs and 8 calories, and did I mention they are delicious?
Personal choice: Toss up... Cranberry-Grape, Black Cherry Cola, and Peach Tea are my top three... but all are good to me. I'm not a root-beer guy, but this root-beer flavored energy drink is amazing.

Amp - You can find Amp energy drink at most convenience stores. I know I purchase them at my local Meijers (for those of you in the Michigan, Ohio, Indiana vicinity) but you can get them at any location.

You can also order them online... I have yet to do this with this drink, but who knows what will happen in the near future. Here is one of the websites that I noticed you can order many energy drinks from as well as tons of other drinks... www.beragesdirect.com

Here is the direct link to ordering Amp:
Amp Energy Drink

Monster - Again, you can find these at most convenience stores and stores such as 7-11, WaWa, etc. Pretty much everywhere.

For those online shoppers, you can also find cases of Monster on Amazon, and Beveragedirect.com.

Direct Links
Amazon
Beverages Direct

Red Bull - Well, if you can't find Red Bull, then you must either live in the middle of nowhere, are blind, or... well... I have no idea... Red Bull is everywhere. That's probably why it is the #1 energy drink in regards of sales (don't quote me... but I'm pretty sure I'm safe to say that)

Direct Links
Amazon
Beverages Direct

RockStar - In my opinion, and it might be just where I live... these are a little more tough to find. They usually have them in my local grocery store, but not always.

Luckily, they do have them online, if I ever find the need to purchase them.

Direct Link - Sorry, I could only find them on Amazon.
Amazon

XS - These are tough to find. The only way you can purchase these is through an independent distributor. I actually never heard of XS until I ran across a work associate one day who was drinking one.

If you know someone who is a distributor of XS, go ahead and ask them for a case (unless they sell them individually) or (and yes... I am going to advertise for my fellow associate... good ol' referral marketing) you can go ahead and check out the website where I order mine from: XS Independent Distributor's Website

I believe you can probably find them on eBay too... but they shouldn't be selling them there (against the law for them to do that)... but who knows, you could steal a deal on them. Worth a try.

Direct Links
XS Independent Distributor's Website
Ebay

I thought I should clarify before continuing. The XS website that I linked to above, is my co-workers whom I purchase the energy drinks through. I do not know of anyone else... as I said, only independent distributors have the right to sell XS.

What I can say is this (and I say this because I am very pleased with the company and their customer service).

When you purchase something from the XS website, there is a no questions asked 90 day money back guarantee and they even ship the postage label with your order.

The reason I say this is because no other company I know of would do this and not even bother asking you why. You can literally drink all but one of the cans, send it back, and get a different one. (Now, I wouldn't recommend you do this because... well, that's just not cool).

But, the company is a billion dollar company with no debt (yeah... NO DEBT) and can afford to take returns with no questions asked.

Ok, so you heard my blurb... I hope you enjoy XS as much as I do! Help out YOUR local distributor if you know of any.

Now, back to the review...

Folks, what's better then free energy drinks... or just free stuff in general?

Companies want you to taste, touch, and smell their product... because they know that you are more likely to buy it if you have tried it rather then just forcing you to buy something that you aren't sure of.

Here is a list of sites and/or contacts that offer free samples (note: I couldn't find many that give away the big name brands... if they did, you had to complete some survey and purchase stuff... if anyone knows of other websites, let me know and I will add them):

http://www.energysamples.com/home.php
http://energizingdrink.com/KR116/signup.php
http://realenergydrink.com/index.php?a=fre&b=eng