Lucozade
Cost: about $2.00 for 380ml
Taste: 5
Power: 5
The good stuff: Glucose Syrup (26%), Caffeine
Brought back from Dublin, to us here Lucozade is indeed a unique find in the energy drink world. Billed as a “Sparkling Glucose Drink” Lucozade definitely stands out from the energy drinks we are used to here. Originally created as a safe means to provide energy to those who were sick, Lucozade was quite commonly found in hospitals, but in 1985 it was repositioned as an every day energy drink. Mostly popular in the UK, I got a chance to try (and bring back) a couple of flavors for your reading pleasure.
So what does it taste like? Take a Sprite, thin it out, now carbonate the crap out of it till you are pretty certain that anyone ingesting the entire bottle in one shot will explode…and that’s about it. Lucozade is the energy drink equivalent to the toilet paper you find in night clubs and bars….hopefully you understand what I’m talking about because it’s really to early to be going into more details than that…..let’s just say it’s harsh. This is NOT a smooth drink….it does NOT go down easily. There is a piercing sharpness when the liquid first hits your mouth and another strong scratch when you swallow it. Liquid fiberglass keeps coming to mind, but that’s probably stretching it a bit. I am fairly certain however, that any of the weak taste buds I had were brutally destroyed leaving only the stronger to fend for the heard. So I guess you are asking “WTF?” Yeah, me too. What’s odd is that the first time I tried the stuff, I couldn’t stop drinking it. Maybe my blood sugar level had dropped so low from the flight over that my body sacrificed my mouth for the betterment of the whole…I really don’t know…..What I do know however is that there is another flavor of Lucozade that I will be reviewing later on that I enjoyed quite a bit…so all hope is not lost.
Let’s keep this simple. For me the end result was not worth it. The kick I got was MAYBE that of a cup of coffee….probably closer to a Dr Pepper. If using a Brillo pad to scrub a piece of dirt out of your eye seems acceptable, then by all means, drink Lucozade for an energy rush….if not, keep searching…or at least try one of the other flavors like Orange, Apple, Wild Berry, or Tropical. I was only lucky enough to try the Orange…more on that later, but suffice to say it was a big improvement.
I still don’t get why I liked it so much initially…was it because it was so new…was I still in a happy haze for finally being over in Dublin, or did it just turn to crap once I imported it here and it touched American soil...I don’t really know….probably never will.
On a side note, if you shake Luzocade and release some of the carbonation it definitly goes up to a 6 on the taste scale. Be warned though, shaking a full bottle is about like pokeing a rabid weasel...it WILL go off. Be prepared to wear the stuff when you finally open it..
http://www.lucozade.com/
