Full Throttle Coffee Energy Caramel

A Fair & Honest Energy Drink Review

Full Throttle Coffee Energy Caramel Retail Package Description

The full name of this drink may be "Full Throttle Dulce De Leche Caramel Coffee Energy Beverage", unfortunately, the way the can is laid out, it's somewhat hard to tell. I think the can looks good for this line of drinks as a whole, my only real complaint is that this color looks more like corkboard than anything really to do with caramel or coffee. Essentially in line with all the other Full Throttle cans. Otherwise on the can, "Caramel flavor with other natural flavors", and the de rigueur motivational text on the back of the can reads as follows, "Full Throttle Coffee. Start with the amazing taste of the boldest premium Columbian coffee with cream, charge it with Full Throttle's special energy/vitamin blend and what do you get? Great tasting creamy coffee with a serious energy kick to keep you going-enough said. So down a can and be prepared to Go Full Throttle or Go Home!" Also, the shorter motivational text for our Latin-American friends, "Cafe con Energia Total."

Caffeine Addict's Full Throttle Coffee Energy Caramel Review

Caramel is a very good flavor, and I think Full Throttle developed a good product on that platform. The coffee is good, not very robust, and the caramel flavor is apparent without being overstated. As the Stig stated, the skim milk makes it seem pretty thin (I have a problem with eating cereal with skim milk also, as it tastes like I poured water over my corn flakes). This is a merited action though, since the can already contains 250 calories and 4g of saturated fat.

I was plenty awake after drinking Full Throttle Coffee Energy Beverage. I can't imagine anyone else being disappointed. Some of the numbers aren't incredibly impressive, but not every drink is going to have 200+ mg of caffeine per 16oz, and 126 mg in 15oz. is not an embarrassing effort.

As I stated in my review of the Original Full Throttle, which was our second published review nearly 3 years ago, "the community", as it relates to hard core energy drinkers, doesn't want to buy the "big brands", or be marketed toward. Unfortunately, the landscape was rather different in 2005. To be honest, when compared to Monster and Starbucks, Coca-Cola may currently be the weakling that gets beat up at the bus stop. I don't think anyone would argue that Starbucks needs your $2.59 to stay afloat, and no longer is Monster a niche side product of Hansen Natural. All three companies make a good coffee product, and like with the Original Full Throttle, I encourage you not to disregard it just because it's a Coca-Cola product.

We acquired these (apparently before they were widely available), freshly stocked at a hospital concession area. They were $2.39, and all indications show that the MSRP is actually $2.29, a mere $.10 more expensive than the absolute cheapest we've seen Java Monster, but a full $.30 cheaper than the MSRP on Starbucks doubleshot Energy plus Coffee. I'd say, at either $2.39 or $2.29 this is a respectable deal, as good as almost anything they can make you at a Starbucks retail location, with more energy, and without having to wade through the sea of people who refer to "getting a Starbucks" as if "a Starbucks" is a product, and not a corporation.

Energy Junkie's Full Throttle Coffee Energy Caramel Review

This drink has a very light flavor. Tastes even lighter and thinner than Java Monster Lo-Ball, with an added shot of caramel flavor. Overall pretty good, but it's not very bold, and the thickness (or lack thereof) makes it far more apparent that they use skim milk. Even with 43g of sugar, this still far thinner than I expected from a caramel flavor Full Throttle. That being said, I think it's splitting hairs to say which is better between the Java Monster, Starbucks Doubleshot Energy Plus Coffee, and this Full Throttle Coffee Energy Beverage. So far, the biggest standouts are the flavors. The Java Monster Big Black offers a robust coffee flavor, and if you enjoy coffee, this is the standout. Even though I loath Starbucks as an organization, they hit the nail on the head with the smooth vanilla flavor of Starbucks doubleshot Energy plus Coffee Vanilla. Lastly, if you're a caramel fan, this Full Throttle is the best in its class.

It's also pretty energizing, I think the Full Throttle is in the back of the field with about 63mg per half can (which is what most people use as serving measurements), and 126mg per can (which Full Throttle recently started treating the entire can as a serving). The Full Thottle seems to lag behind both Java Monster and Starbucks doubleshot in the energizing ingredients category. Again, some of those numbers are marginal, but it does have about half the taurine, and I'd have to guess less caffeine than the others, but Full Throttle gets kudos for actually listing it.

Overall, I'd say this is my least favorite of the coffee energy drink so far, but to put that in perspective, that's like saying, "The pearl white is my least favorite Ferrari 575 M Maranello". I will say one last thing, I've read some people's thoughts about these new cold coffee drinks. Some people give it the old, "If I want a cold drink, I'll drink a soda, and if I want coffee, I want it hot". These people probably also smelt lead on their kitchen table, kill mosquitoes with DDT, smoke in the hospital, and support gay marriage. Open your minds to something new that's not an immoral abomination. For one, I think the sales of these products alone prove that your opinion is in the minority, and secondly, no one is impressed when you stick to your guns on something that's clearly inferior. So stop insisting your coffee be hot, and your movies be available on VHS.