Several of the OCMS staff joined me in a taste test with the entire Bawls lineup, and we compared them to other popular beverages.
Other energy beverages use B-vitamins, taurine, and other additives to enhance the product’s energy effectiveness. B12 is very effective at providing energy, and increases your body’s motabalism, but unfortunately tastes very “vitamin-y”. Taurine is the primary ingredient in Red Bull and Rockstar, and is scientifically proven to help motabolize B vitamins. The thing is: taurine is a chemical found in ox and cow livers (hence the name Taurine, like Taurus the bull). So, the primary ingredient in Red Bull and Rockstar tastes exactly like cow bile. Yum!
Bawls Guarana is the soda company’s “classic” flavor. The deep blue bottle’s cap is easy to twist off, so you don’t need to have a bottle opener with you. No caramel color or other artifical coloring has been added, so the soda is completely clear. The liquid is lightly carbonated, so it easily pours into a glass without creating a huge “fizz head”. The energy soda has an unusual flavor, but is definately within the citrus family. You can definately taste the lemon-lime combination that is similar to Sprite, but there is an extra element that gives is a slightly sweeter “caramelly” taste. There is no other energy drink I have tried that tastes quite like Bawls Guarana.
Bawls Guarannexx is their sugar-free version of the energy drink, and the bottle has the same shape, but is made from clear glass. Instead of the Aspartame (also known as Nutrasweet) used in most other sugar-free drinks, Guarannaexx uses sucralose (also known as Splenda). Sucralose is a chemical derivative of a sugar crystal, but its chemical structure cannot be absorbed by the human body, so your blood sugar isn’t raised because you actually haven’t consumed any sugar. Guarannexx tastes very similar to classic Bawls, but has a very artifical aftertaste. Trisha’s face (who isn’t used to diet soda) contorted into a an expression of displeasure and immediately expelled it into the nearby sink. I thought it tasted fine for a diet drink.
The Cherry variety of Bawls Guarana comes in a tall 16-ounce red can with lots of little white “target” marks all over it. It tastes almost exactly like Cherry 7-up (which was marketed for a few years in the late 80s), so it has a refreshing lemon-lime taste with a hint of cherry flavor. Unlike Cherry 7-up (which was an immasculating pink), Cherry Bawls is completely clear. Cherry Bawls is definately the most pleasant-tasting of the trio.
How it compares
Compared to most other energy drinks, Bawls tastes much better, and has a unique flavor. The soda also has a decent amount of caffeine (or guaranine, whatever), so we compared it to other popular drinks.
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Caffeine in popular sodas
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We found that Red Bull actually has more caffeine ounce-per-ounce than Bawls… but do you really want to taste liquified cow liver? Even Jolt cola, which is renowned for its “up all nite-ness” has less caffeine than Bawls. Coffee can easily surpass any energy drink in terms of its strength, but:
- Coffee tastes bitter (without the Starbuck’s treatment)
- Coffee is usually not found in easy-open aluminum cylinders or glass bottles
- Coffee gives you “coffee breath”
- Coffee gives you a horrible caffeine crash
- Running a coffee pot at a LAN party will get you thrown out
Nearly everyone in today’s modern society has experienced a “caffeine crash”. Some people who are addicted to caffeine experience headaches when they don’t have the drug flowing through their veins, and others just feel suddenly tired or exhausted. I have tried alot of different energy drinks, some of which have been “scientifically formulated” to reduce crashes. This is a very subjective thing to comment on, but Bawls feels “middle of the road” in terms of coming off your caffeine high. I didn’t feel excessively jittey or overly tired when coming down, but I could definitely feel it.
