Coke seems very proud that this product is "very low sodium". They describe this drink as a "Carbonated Fusion Beverage". Comes with standard warning for phenylketonurics. Otherwise the packaging looks like an overhead view of a cup of blackish coffee, sporting the Coca-Cola logo, and "Blak" name.
I don't reminisce very much in my writing, but around 2001, I switched from coffee (which I'd been drinking by the pot, usually 2-3 a day, for about 7 years). While quitting smoking, I was unable to enjoy coffee anymore, without also wanting to smoke. Energy drinks allowed me my caffeine vice, without the coffee taste, and subsequent nicotine craving. Well, for that reason, we've rarely reviewed the coffee-based energy drinks. Back to present day, the influx of coffee based energy drinks can no longer be ignored. Monster has a couple of new ones out, Starbucks makes a new one about every quarter moon phase, and some others are floating around out in the abyss.
I found Coca-Cola Blak sitting in the back of my fridge, where it's been for almost 2 years. In an attempt to get a handle on my drink inventory, I decided to immediately consume and review these dinosaurs of my fridge.
I'm not completely sure I even intended to review this as an energy drink, but it's got coffee, and caffeine, so that's good enough for me.
I'd say this is the best carbonated coffee I've ever had (yes, surprisingly I've had several). It really tastes good to me. A little diet cola aftertaste, but nothing a diet coke drinker would even notice.
The energy level is a joke, but again, not really sure it's even in the energy drink market.
These run somewhere in the $1.19-$1.49 range per bottle. The taste is pretty good, and if you want a nice mild cola/coffee treat, I'd only buy this beverage for taste enjoyment. I wouldn't expect to even notice the caffeine content.
I hate aspartame, it tastes like asspartame. As a whole, I don't like colas, and even less do I like diet colas. The only thing I do like about this drink is the sufficiently cream tasting coffee aspect. Like tab, I realize that diet coke has an enormous cult-like following. Unfortunately, those people just haven't given Coke zero a reasonable chance (or they fear that it cause cancer, one or the other). I can imagine this would be better without artificial sweeteners, but the calorie count would shoot through the roof.
Since I like the coffee portion, Coca-Cola Blak is better to me than regular diet coke, but in a way like chicken necks are better than pickled pigs feet, or instant minute rice is better than Raman noodles. I don't particularly feel like this had a lot of caffeine in it, and overall, I don't think it contains any other energizing element, save the 45 calories it contains (likely from the high fructose corn syrup).