Today it’s pretty common for many of the new caffeinated drinks that are released to not make it because of the extremely tough competition that exists in beverage market.

However back in yesteryear, during a friendlier time for new drinks a few soda’s became iconic but alas, just like the dinosaur, they were met with forces they couldn’t possibly adapt too.

1. Josta

This was my first introduction to guarana back in the 90’s. I must say, I wasn’t a fan. I tried it a couple of times, but I remember it having a strange taste.

2. Kick

I vaguely remember Kick as a Mountain Dew contender. Even with it’s “extreme” advertisement, it was unable to steal the hearts of loyal Dew fans.

3. Crystal Pepsi

I loved this stuff back in the 80’s. I thought it was so cool that this clear soda tasted like Pepsi, but looked like Sprite. I was just a kid so I was easily impressed by such wonders.

4. Surge

Apparently another Mountain Dew nemesis that still has quite a following on the internet with it’s own facebook page, but I have no recollection of this drink. Do you?

5. OK Cola

Ok, I don’t remember this one either, but it sounds like it was marketed in the West and I’m an East Coast boy.

I hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane, but if you’re under 25 this was probably as foreign to you as Monster would be to your Grandma. It will be interesting to see which of our iconic drinks survive in the decades to come. Any predictions?

Source: Westword.com

So the battle lines are drawn with two formulations that will keep you fighting into the wee hours of the night.

On one side of the battlefield we have Horde Red.

• Citrus Cherry Flavored
• 120mg of caffeine/bottle (20oz)
• 77 g of sugar (20oz)

On the other side we have Alliance Blue.

• Wild Fruit Flavored (fruit punch)
• 121mg of caffeine/bottle (20oz)
• 76 grams of sugar (20oz)

As part of the promotion this summer, you can earn tokens and redeem them on the website. Also, you can enter to win a prize every 15 minutes.

My question is this….If you are on the Game Fuel website entering every 15 minutes, how will you ever be able to defend your territory against the evil envasion of the Horde??

Source:  G4tv.com

That is the current American National Debt and to knock off 24 Billion of that over the next 4 years the Senate is thinking about taxing your energy drinks and sodas.

Of course they claim that this is in the name of helping stupid Americans make better food choices because they need big brother to tell them what they should or shouldn’t eat.

A few months ago we wrote about the State of New York trying to pass a similar bill. It, fortunately, got voted down, but it does make you think about how much money could eventually be tacked onto our beverage of choice.  For instance, if your state passes a 10% tax and then the Feds pass a similar tax, you could be paying around 20% more… Crazy.

I personally get tired of the government controlling more and more parts of our lives. Doesn’t being American mean that we are free to make our own decisions concerning things like our health?

Besides I get sick of politicians trying to act so benevolent when all they are really trying to do is raise taxes in a creative way and make more money.

What do you think?

From their unique holiday sodas rumored to taste like a delicious slice of turkey to their most basic green apple, the Jones Company has long enjoyed a prime spot in the soda market.

Up until recently however, they had limited success with their energy drinks. Although Jones Energy was one of the original drinks I discovered with a more than usual caffeine kick.

However, with the follow up Big Ol’ Can of Whoop Ass, Jones realized thinking within the box was only providing success in niche markets.

That being said, as of March 2009, Jones brings forth their prodigy child, Jones GABA.

Coming in four less than normal flavors, GABA can be found in Lemon-Honey Tea-Juice, Nectarine Tea-Juice, Grapefruit Tea-Juice, and Fuji Apple Tea-Juice. The entire drink is based off of a natural “brain-boosting” chemical called GABA. Although seemingly free of caffeine this GABA is supposed to relax, invigorate, and do whatever else you placebo yourself into believing, but the question really is, do we want relaxing, sedative-like chemicals in our drinks?

If anything, this drink left me too relaxed to want to finish this review. Good after a long day of work and stress, bad for getting anything productive done. You can decide if that’s what you’re looking for.

With the depression of caffeine withdrawals slowly nipping at my veins, I figured I’d evaluate this drink from a juice-soda-tea perspective. All the flavors except one lean almost entirely towards tea. The sole leader for taste is without a doubt, Fuji Apple. Taking a sip, one can barely taste the exotic pleasures of tea. The apple comes across distinctly candy-like, think green Jolly Ranchers. Though I’ll be the first to admit some might find the drink too sweet for their liking.

As a common drink, I can find very little wrong with Jones GABA. But this site isn’t dedicated to the common drink. This site finds the drinks people are scared to confront, the drinks that come with warning labels and toxic symbols.

Comparing Monster to Jones GABA is like, well, comparing Fuji Apples to Oranges. As an energy drink, this isn’t what caf-fiends are looking for, unless of course coming down from an unpleasant stimulant high.

Review By: Josh

As technology downsizes, it’s cool to see what inventors come up with. Think of how amazed the world was when Apple unveiled their paper thin Macbook Air or how everyone just had to have the Motorola Razor a few years back.

For all you espresso lovers who love the taste, but hate the expense of the frothy shot and don’t have the room on your desk for a bulky machine, there’s a new miniaturized product just for you. The Handpresso Portable Espresso Machine available from Think Geek is about the size of bicycle pump and with hot water produces a nice shot of espresso at 16 bar pressure.

With the Holiday season approaching this might be a perfect gift for the coffee lover in your family. Besides, after about 43 shots it will have about paid for itself with the money saved by not going to Starbucks.

High Voltage claims that Coke has been marketing their drink Vault, which has a similar sounding name as their beverage Volt, as a way to basically shut them down.

Vault has been on the market since 2005, while Volt was just unleashed in 2007. However, High Voltage claims they filed for their trademark in 1997.

Let’s compare the two drinks and see what’s creating all the confusion among the so called ignorant consumers who obviously are believed not to be able to tell the difference between the word volt and vault.

So they both are green and citrus like. They both are a soda with extra caffeine. However, the logos are clearly different and the bottle designs are different.

I don’t get it. I don’t think I would be confused between the two. In fact it’s pretty insulting as a consumer to be labeled as stupid enough to not be able to tell the difference at the convenience store.

Mountain Dew should sue because on Volt’s website it states, ” When dew won’t do it”.

What do you think? Do think High Voltage Beverages has a case? Participate in the poll below.
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Great news collectors!

For all of you energy fiends that love Mountain Dew and loved the Green Label Art, a new set of bottles have been released this week to add to your collection.

The artists responsible for the new designs are:

• Mark Smith, Brand Jordan

• PJ Richardson, Stussy designer

• Mike Sutfin, Star Wars & World of Warcraft illustrator

• Maze, Kidrobot

• Troy Denning, Invisible NYC tattoo artist

• Billy The Artist, New York artists

So get out there, drink some mountain dew, and complete your collection.

Cheers to Ezra at seedgiveslife.com for the heads up!

Function Drinks has released a full line of drinks that are supposed to do everything from ridding your body of urban toxins to helping you to lose weight.

Don’t worry energy fiends, they have a drink just for you called Function Alternative Energy. They didn’t list the caffeine amount, but we’re hoping to get that info soon. The drink has catuaba, yerba mate, guarana, caffea, muira pauma, and epimedium (icarriin) listed as it’s energy inducing ingredients.

Function is hoping to tap into the health/whole food market by using all natural ingredients in their products from the depths of the rain forest. In their ingredients they list evaporated cane juice as the sweetener, which is really just sugar, but it sounds healthy anyway.

You can get Function Drinks at Wholefoods Market and in major cities around the country. You can also order them online from Function’s website.

Hopefully Function will help you to, well, function.

Drank is being marketed as a drink that calms you down instead of hyping you up and was launched in Houston, Texas last Fall.

Drank is a carbonated, grape-flavored drink with added relaxation causing ingredients such as melatonin, valerian root, and rose hips.

The Drank website didn’t seem to be working, but according to the article in The Village Voice, Drank’s publicist, when asked if it worked, stated that yes it did and she heard that it mixes well with vodka. I guess it would work then, if it didn’t before.

The target market for Drank seems to be geared toward the hip hop community and I have found it mentioned on several such blogs.

Drank is available in the Southern US and will soon hit the shelves in New York. So who will win the battle for our energy Red bull or Drank?

Unlike Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Red Bull Cola will be 100% natural and command a premium price. Its formula will consist of kola nut and coca leaf. (source: Brandweek)

Sales of Carbonated Soft Drinks have been declining for some time now – in contrast with energy drinks – where the market has been growing. However Red Bull is now No. 2 in the US (Monster is No. 1) – so it’s no surprise they are trying something new.

PLEASE NOTE: Red Bull is actually Number 1 in Dollar Sales Volume (a Red Bull rep contacted us about this.).