Crakshot Energy Shot

A Fair & Honest Energy Drink Review

Crakshot Energy Shot Retail Package Description

Crakshot comes in a mostly white 2fl. oz. bottle that looks a great deal like a poker card, with a familiar-looking skull piercing through the spade. I'm not sure what a skeleton wearing a Rocky Balboa style "street tough" hat has to do with poker or energy shots, but he's there, and if you don't pay up, he'll break your thumbs. The top of the bottle wrapper (like most energy shots, this comes wrapped in a plastic label) reads simple "Energy", and the cap has a "best by" date stamped on it (in this case, 05/23/10). The bottle purports, in very small text, that this is "Lemonade" flavor. The back reads, "For all day power: Chug It For a Wee Bit...You Get it Warning: Contains caffeine. To avoid jitters, shakes, sleeplessness and rapid heart rate limit or avoid products containing caffeine. Crakshot contains Niacin (Vitamin B3), some consumers may experience a flush feeling, hot sensation, or redness of the skin lasting a few minutes. Crakshot is not recommended for children under 18, pregnant or nursing women, and those sensitive to caffeine. Limit 1 shot every 7 hours.

Caffeine Addict's Crakshot Energy Shot Review

Lots of poker themed energy products coming out lately. We just got a shipment of "Vegas Fuel", not too long ago we reviewed All In Energy Drink Root Beer, and this drink features the Ace of Spades (I'll give you a second to air guitar some Motorhead). Perhaps I'm missing a trend in the market, maybe people are tired of making knock-off Red Bull brands, or maybe, just maybe making a poker/Powell-Peralta themed energy shot wasn’t a thoroughly contrived idea.

Our store lists this product as "pink lemonade" flavor, the bottle lists "lemonade". Both are as accurate as fruitcake tasting like fruit, or Watergate Salad tasting like salad. Crakshot tastes like an artificially sweetened Warhead candy, which is relatively to my liking. Admittedly, I'm relatively lenient on taste when it comes to energy shots. Srsly, it's 2oz., Mexico City residents breath in more fecal snow than that any given day.

Crakshot is plenty energizing for me. It offers the usual suspects of caffeine, and B vitamins, taurine, and enzymes that energy shot drinkers have come to expect and appreciate. Concerning the caffeine content, I've heard a great deal about the "health concerns" of drinking "Red Bull" (which contains a paltry 80mg of caffeine per approx. 8 oz. serving). Meanwhile people are inspired by 5-Hour Energy's claim to "only contain about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee", which, consequently is anywhere from 105-175mg per 8oz. So, after you've sugared up your "venti" morning "Starbucks" (quotes indicate it's a product, not a location from which you buy coffee), you've consumed about 3 Red Bulls. So, on that note, this shot also "contains about as much caffeine as a cup of coffee", but comes in the "due" size, and won't burn you while you're trying to put on your makeup, text your BFF, and turn up "your jam" while driving to work in the morning.

As far as price, at the time of this review, Crakshot is the cheapest 2oz. energy shot in our energy drink store (though it's only 1 cent cheaper than On Go Energy.

Energy Junkie's Crakshot Energy Shot Review

If you're not painfully familiar with skateboarding history, this drink's logo is pretty much the Powell Classic Ripper with a hat. I like to imagine this guy is called "Sunderer" or "Tearer", but he's essentially the equivalent of me cutting the mustache off of Mario and using the resulting image to endorse my new line of feminine hygiene products.

Packaging and branding aside, this drink is tart and fairly tasty. I'd have enjoyed the first one more if they hadn't led me to believe it was going to taste like lemonade. I'd rather you just call it "delicious mystery flavor", as that's a more fitting title, and equally as appealing, if not somewhat intriguing. The closest comparison to lemonade I can make is that this drink tastes a little like pulling the top off a crystal light lemonade drink mix tub and shoving your tongue down into it, as if it were fun dip. While this may seem appealing, the aforementioned action would probably result in you ingesting 1/3 of a crystal light mix, intended to make 2 quarts. This stuff is strong, and the artificial sweetener aftertaste is pretty potent as well. I recommend sipping it.

The effectiveness of the drink is almost as strong as the taste, which is saying a lot. Good for helping you attack the morning, but don't chase it with bottled water, the resulting aftertaste is unpleasant.

These are available in our online store for $1.58 each; a reasonable price, and far better than most gas station/drug store rates on 4-6 hour energy elixirs.