By Ned Jordan
The makers of
Mana Energy Drink and
Health Energy Potion have released their third themed energy drink, Blood.
Mana and Health have a strong gamer appeal, nerd chic thing going for them
because they come in little potion bottles filled with appropriately colored
blue and red liquid, respectively. Blood is aimed more for the vampire
crowd than gamers (but
not for Goths, of course), giving them a far better-tasting alternative to
Clamato. Blood comes in a little pouch not unlike the kind of pouch used
for blood in hospitals, complete with bloody fingerprints on the packaging to
complete the effect. Taking the blood analogy even further, the package
claims that Blood's nutritional profile is similar to that of blood. While
I'm not going to try and confirm this claim, it is high in iron with 55% of the
recommended daily value in each pouch, although I imagine that if this much real
blood had 7g of sugar in it or the caffeine equivalent of a double shot of
espresso than its donor is certainly no longer with us. The other features
appearing on the package show that its maker Harcos had a lot of fun with the
product, which among other things is noted to be "delicious for vampires or
humans" and "garlic free". There are also instructions for heating the
drink to body temperature to be "pour[ed] into a goblet and enjoy[ed]". I
tried it straight from the pouch, not because I didn't want to play along but
because the idea of warm energy drink isn't that appealing to me. The
taste is like a fruit punch, not pineapplely or overly sweet though, more of
your standard, run-of-the-mill punch you'd find at a party. And the energy
boost? It felt like I had downed some coffee really quickly, not to the
point of being jittery but certainly to the point of being aware that it was
certainly there. Not quite the same experience as chilling out at a coffee
house with a large espresso, but it took a lot less time and cost me only 25
calories.
As an energy drink I think it's pricey, but that's pretty much the case with
all energy drinks. I wouldn't recommend making it part of your morning
routine, but it is kind of cool in a vampire nerd kind of way. Buy some to
hand out to friends waiting in line to see the next Twilight and score some
coolness points (it will help make up for all those points lost by waiting in
line to see a twilight movie - sorry, couldn't resist).
Final Rating:
