Salient Energy Drink Review: The Best Caffeine on Campus
By Azaria Howell (she/her)
It’s no secret that I’m a caffeine junkie—I can’t go a day without it. Despite this and the fact that I live in Wellington, I despise the taste of coffee. Over the years, I have become quite the connoisseur of energy drinks, with a refined palette and the same level of pretentiousness as a snobby, middle-aged wine critic.
Over the past few weeks, I’ve embarked on a journey to taste every energy drink a Kelburn campus vending machine has to offer. Prices are included in this review because, let’s face it, you probably only have a couple dollars in your spending account at the moment.
Blue V: 10/10
Price: $4.20 (glass bottle)
Blue V has a cult following, with New Zealand social media meme pages often posting about the iconic drink. I’m a proud member of the Blue V fandom—I used to drink one of these a day, but have since cut down for the purpose of health (and this article). In my opinion, Blue V is quite literally the nectar of the Gods. With flavour profiles of peach and passionfruit infused with guarana, I can’t fault this drink.
Green V: 5/10
Price: $4.20 (glass bottle)
Green V is controversial; opinions on this drink can definitely cause a fight. It has that typical sugar-loaded energy drink taste, and is less unique of a flavour than its Blue counterpart. It’s still good for a caffeine and sugar boost but is much more basic and average than most energy drinks.
Sugarfree Blue V: 8/10
Price: $4.50 for 500ml, $3.20 for 250ml
Sugarfree Blue V, as well as Sugarfree Green, have just recently hit the energy drink market and are getting mixed reviews. I am personally a fan of Sugarfree Blue V—it managed to replicate the taste of regular Blue V quite well. In addition, it contained enough caffeine to make it through a 9 am lecture unscathed. It’s missing that ‘wow’ factor of regular Blue, so it gets a solid 8/10.
Sugarfree Green V, 1/10
Price: $4.50 for 500ml, $3.20 for 250ml
Sugarfree Green V removes everything that is good about normal Green V’s taste—the copious amount of sugar it contains. Upon my first sip, I was greeted with a weirdly metallic taste that never really went away. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone with working taste buds and a sense of self-respect. It gets a 1/10 (instead of a zero) on this review as I didn’t end up throwing it away. If you were to lick a battery, you’d experience the same taste and feeling that I got from Sugarfree Green V.
V Pure: 8/10
Price: $4.20 for 330ml
Containing less caffeine than most other drinks on this list, V Pure is more of a chill energy drink rather than an ‘oh shit, I have an essay due tomorrow’ drink. V Pure tastes similar to apple juice and is made with all-natural ingredients, so you can feel a bit better about yourself for choosing it over the other chemically-infused concoctions. I’d describe it as a caffeinated version of Just Juice: weirdly nostalgic for some reason, yet delicious.
Red Bull: 7/10
Price: $4.70 for 500ml, $3.20 for 250ml
Red Bull gets a few bonus points on this list, as it is often given out for free at O-Week events. It’s also the only energy drink served at The Hunter Lounge and seems to be a favourite among students, particularly for its ability to be mixed with vodka. It didn’t give me wings, but it did give me a good caffeine boost and a slight headache. It’s a classic energy drink, if not a little basic.
Red Bull Sugarfree: 6/10
Price: $4.70 for 500ml, $3.20 for 250ml
Red Bull Sugarfree did a great job at tasting similar to full-sugar Red Bull. This drink is not bad but is nothing special, either. It contains a lot of caffeine, bringing it up a few points. This is a decent choice to get you in the right headspace for a full day of studying without a sugar crash.
Rockstar: 7/10
Price: $4.20 for 500ml
The taste is somewhat hard to describe, the closest match I could think of was a passionfruit if it were slightly sour, accompanied with notes of guarana. I enjoyed Rockstar’s unique taste and the punch of energy it gave me. I think this strength is also its weakness, however, as the taste was weird and off-putting at first but grew on me eventually. For a unique experience, get yourself one of these from the vending machine by the Cotton Building. You (probably) won’t be disappointed.
