Target's revamped energy drink still misses the bullseye by a mile

The can reads "Ramp up the power of your energy drink."   This won't ramp much , with the better-than-before-but-still-weak 70mg of caffeine per can. For value for the money, I have seen much more competent drinks at the same price.  Since the last review way back in April, they added an extra 20mg of caffeine than the previous incarnation. While I note the difference, it could have been soo much more...

Buzz/Nutrition:4
A 12oz. can has only 70mg of caffeine and 10mg of taurine. This is decent when compared to Diet Mountain Dew, with 55mg in a 12 oz can, but Red Bull has way more than this in a smaller can size too. Like many things sold at target - this would make a good "starter" energy drink - for when your teen really wants an energy drink, but can't yet take the caffeine dose of a Monster or even Red Bull. He/She can drink most of the can and feel a bit of a rush, but still be able to put them down at night. It also has ginseng, so it is at least trying to be an energy drink now. I have to say I like the sugar free variety much more than the High Fructose Corn Syrup crap I tried before. This time they sweeten with Sucralose and Ace-K, which while not fantastic is miles above aspartame or saccharin. There are the full B vitamin mix and a day's worth of vitamin C, so they are on the right track. They just need to put in more of the good stuff they have in there now.

Packaging:2
This is still the biggest fail for them. This look much less like energy drink and more like a juice or upscale drink - but this screams out energy like a Steven Wright monologue. The green work better than the tropical fruit orange, but this can still has a long way to go. The slogan is stupid, the little rooster on the front does not have anything to do with energy and the printing is very thin on the aluminum can. While I do see improvement, they are still miles from where they should be to make this brand tame take off.

Taste:7
The taste is really not that bad. While I was expecting a Fresca or a citrus-y sour mash, I was greeted instead with a mouthful of carbonated sweet tarts. It was very nice and very flavorful - if totally fakey and without any discernible grapefruit. There is very little aftertaste, but does have quite a medicinal lab flavor about it all the way around.

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