“Lemony sprite flavor. Solid balance between bitter and sweet. Great caffeine content at 250mg. Nothing special in the flavor category, but I would not recommend against it.”
Cam’s full review
Introduction
Quake Tropical Lemon is surprisingly good for a lemon-flavored energy drink. The taste is superior to most other lemon drinks I have had. Most lemon energy drinks (Reign Lemon HDZ specifically comes to mind) are overly sweet and lemony. Quake Tropical Lemon tastes more like a lemony sprite, which is actually quite refreshing. It has a slight bitter taste to it, but due to the natural sweetness of lemon flavor, the bitterness actually enhances the taste. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this beverage.
Upside
While there is no sugar, there is also not very much artificial sweetener. The quake brand in general does not include much sweetener, so they choose naturally sweet flavors to mask the bitterness of caffeine. This leaves a lemony sprite taste that does not taste too artificial and goes down smoothly. 250mg of caffeine per can (15.625mg/floz) is also a solid amount. It is more than most standard energy drinks (160mg), but less than most “performance enhancing” energy drinks (300mg). This allows you to either drink it in a casual setting or as an exercise supplement. That 200mg-250mg range has always been my favorite, so I highly recommend this beverage to anyone trying to move up from their standard Monster or Red Bull (140-170ish mg).
Downside
I personally think the appearance is very average. Most Quake beverages look cool with the logo on top of a solid color. Instead of choosing a bright neon yellow as the background to catch attention, they chose a mustard yellow that looks rather disgusting. Quake Tropical Lemon is still a 5.0/10 appearance, but it could easily be improved. Also, stay away if you do not like lemon or sprite. That does not apply to most people because sprite is delicious and lemon is frequently used to enhance flavors by adding natural sweetness, but you might be the oddball out who does not enjoy tasty beverages.
Upshot
Overall, Quake Tropical Lemon is a 7.4/10 for me. While I am impressed with their energy blend and ability to make a drink mildly bitter and mildly sweet at the same time (similarly to Adrenaline Shoc, which are all delicious), it is still a more bland flavor than any drink I have ranked above 8/10. I want something that really stands out as unique and delicious to get passed that 8/10 mark, and this simply does not do that. It tastes like a lemony sprite, which is nice, but nothing special. I do not recommend against this beverage, but there are better flavors than lemon.
