rc cola

rc cola has a very long past, and though somewhat popular, has never really been on the same scale as coke or pepsi. however it is its own unique cola, and not a generic dollar store cola. it is entirely likely that you have never seen or even heard of rc cola, and if you have ever seen it, it was almost definitely in a plastic bottle or can. however this is glass ( still uses corn syrup though) and was found at the absolute unlikeliest of stores, old navy! there is usually nothing in old navy i would ever want, but i was notified that they had rc cola by a fellow classmate, and had to check it out. the first 3 i went to didnt have it, but i finally found it last week. along with this was jones sodas and mexican coke to name a few. one movie i have seen that had rc cola was the green mile, and it was in EXTREMELY old glass bottles. i think even at the time of the movie they would have been antiques. for those who dont know, rc stands for royal crown, not remote control.


smell: a very distinct cola scent. not like coke or pepsi, but something entirely different.



taste: very good! this is sort of like the in between of coke and pepsi, tasting a little like both, and better than both too. this is also very spicy when cold, but not when warm. i have always had trouble describing the taste of cola, since it it so unlike anything else. keep in mind this uses corn syrup, so if there was a real sugar version it would probably be the best cola i have ever had.



overall: buy a palette! this is the best cola ( at least that uses corn syrup ) on the market, and i definitely recommend it over coke or pepsi. of course mexican coke or pepsi throwback are equally good

barbican apple

(pssst- theres a future review in the background) this is a mediterranean soder, which i know because it has arabic on it and i got it at a mediterranean store called sabbs market. if you happen to live near it or there are other locations, i reccomend you check it out since in addition to their vast array of strange soders, there are also a bunch of foreign delicacies that cant really be found anywhere else. back to the soder, at first i thought this was beer, as most would, but i thought it was odd that it was with the soders, and not the other beers. upon closer inspection, i learned this is apple flavored, and non alcoholic. this is a malt beverage, so i really have no idea what to expect since the only malt beverage i have ever had was malta goya, and that tasted like liquid cheerios. this has a very clean and quality looking bottle, unlike most soders which usually try for a nostalgic or child like look. this really looks like beer though. i dont know any oft the nutritional facts, or if theres a description since everythings in arabic and this has little to no web prescence.


smell: like apple juice, but not as strong. nothing like malta goya, which is to say the least, a relief.



taste: oh thats weird. it starts out like carbonated apple juice,  and then becomes very bitter like beer. since it uses real sugar and "nature identical apple flavour" this tastes really clean, which is rare for apple flavored items. the caronation is slightly foamy, which makes sense since it uses hops and malt like beer does. there is also a slight wheaty aftertaste like beer.




overall: buyer beware! this is a unique experience, but unfortunately it just doesnt taste very good. i have had much better apple soders, and the bitterness doesnt help either. i dont really hate this, but i wouldnt buy it again so i cant give it a higher rank than that.

body armor strawberry banana guava

having not gone to school due to being sick, i found myself somehow desperately craving a watery juice drink( gatorate for example) and after digging through my fridge, i found this health drink i got for free at a patriots game, along with a body armor t shirt for throwing a football through a small hole. having passed by the monster booth and picking up all the monsters people left on the ground, i was extremely overstocked on monster and decided to throw this in the trunk of the car we were tailgating in. anyways, i am very thirsty so lets get on with it!


smell: kind of gross. like a protein bar and how jarritos tamarind smelled.



taste: have to say, i expected a lot better from this. its been in the fridge for a week and still isnt cold, and it tastes like twizzler mixed with banana puree. and then some coconut water.


overall: buyer beware! this is still drinkable, and a lot better tasting than many other health drinks. however body armor makes much better flavors, so i cant recommend this to any audience.

java monster kona blend

so this is the final java monster for me to review, and one of the rarer ones at that. i say this is the final because i dont expect to come across any of the discontinued ones. the rarest at least in my area, is toffee, which is even rarer than the xpressos. the description says everybody knows some of the best coffee comes from the kona side of the big island of hawaii. well i didnt know that, and i honestly dont think the source of the coffee makes a big difference, its how you roast it and what you add to it. i dont really know what to expect from this, but if the awesome looking can with tikis and palm trees are any indication, this will be great.



smell: wow thats strong for a java monster. there is a very bold coffee scent, but also that pseudo liquor smell that irish blend has.



taste: well of all the java monsters this one tastes the most like coffee, and GOOD coffee too. i like the strong coffee taste, mixed with some sort of chocolate. honestly loca moca should taste like this instead of being the exact same thing as mean bean.



kick: not jittery, but very long lasting. got me through an entire day of walking without getting the slightest bit tired. although after it wore off my feet were in pretty damn bad shape and i didnt even notice.



overall: buy a palette! this is one of the better java monsters, with a great kick too. you caqn actually taste the coffee in this one, which is something that cant be said about most java monsters. this is the 3rd best, with second being hammer xpresso, and first being irish blend. this tastes like how loca moca should taste, and that is very good.

super chill ginger ale

having recently bought an iphone 5, you may notice a sharp increase in quality of the picures compared to the old ones i took with the crappy 3g camera. unfortunately, i already have a ton of other reviews written, and to get the better quality pictures i have to either find the soders again and take a picture, or get one off google. getting to back to the soder, chill is a variety of cheap dollar store sodas, which are often sold at shaws but i have never seen them anywhere else. this is super chill, and from what i can tell is no different in any way from the rest of the flavors. being a generic brand soder, this naturally uses corn syrup. i feel kind of sick today so i figured today would be a good time to drink this since ginger is good for that. people usually think generic soders are really crappy, but honestly they are often just as good if not better then their more expensive counterparts. a great example is shasta or rip it.

smell: regular old ginger ale, but maybe a bit sweeter.

taste: not bad. this is a pretty good ginger ale, although not as good as vernors which i expected. there is very little ginger taste, which to me is not a bad thing, but not a great thing either. i would probably rather drink this than most ginger beers just because of how spicy they are though.

overall: try a can! not bad, but pretty much your average nondescript ginger ale but a little bit better. its super cheap so i reccommend it.

rumba energy juice

now juice energy drinks are not by any means new to the market. after all, monster makes like 5 of them, so juice must mask the taste of caffeine and b vitamins right? this has all the EXACT same chemicals printed along the top of the can as monster. the part of this that makes it so much different from the other juice energy drinks is that this is actually 100% juice. the highest monster goes is 80%. from the design on the front of the can, you would think this is orange juice, but its actually a mishmash of 7 different fruits.



smell: reeks of orange juice, and i mean just orange juice and nothing else.



taste: not bad! like orange juice but a little sweeter and a little different. also not carbonated which makes it much easier to chug. i am not the biggest fan of orange juice, but this is okay.




kick: pretty good nothing special though loses points for no listed caffeine content, and upon looking for that, i also noticed this is made by the same company as monster, and has all the same amounts of b vitamins and energy blend.




overall: try a can! not the best energy drink ever, but its caffeinated orange juice. how original is that? if you like orange juice you will love the hell out of this, and if your like me and dont, give it a try anyway because its sweeter.

rip it tribute active mandarin live wild lime

the name is quite a mouthful, and i have no idea why they have to mention that the mandarin lime is live and active. this seems to be paying tribute to us soldiers, but doesnt mention why. what i love about this drink is that it looks NOTHING like a dollar store drink, unlike the rest of the rip its. there is already a lime rip it called lime wrecker, but maybe there will be a noticeable difference since this uses mandarin limes. after all, mandarin oranges are like a completely different fruit than american oranges. but my biggest question is that if this is paying tribute to us soldiers, then why the hell does it use CHINESE limes?

smell: mountain dew!!!! this smells exactly like mountain dew!!! i really like mountain dew, but its caffeine content is way too low for me to drink as an energy drink, but high enough that i wont be able to sleep until 2:00 am if i drink it later in the day. i generally dont drink any soders until later in the day, just an energy drink in the morning.

taste: wow that is great! its like mountain dew, but even better! i have come to have high expectations from rip it, but this really blows away any energy drink that isnt a coffee monster. this is a terrific energy drink, and drink in general, and i really hope this isnt a limited edition flavor. this may be trying to rip off amp, but this doesnt have the flintstone vitamin taste that amp has.

kick: same awesome kick as all the other rip its. but this one is the best tasting yet.

overall: buy a palette! this is one of the best energy drinks in existance, and is the best value for an energy drink to exist. there is no energy drink you can get for 1$ that is of higher quality than this. every rip it i have had was not only good, but surpassed the drink it was ripping off. this has an unusually high caffeine content of 200mg, and its still only 1$