“Decent taste for zero added sugar or sweeteners. But too much going on in the flavor profile with cherry, watermelon, and green tea.”
Jared’s full review
Introduction
My expectations are never high for Whole Foods energy drinks, but I have it on a friend’s recommendation that RIOT is actually legit. 100% plant powered is intriguing marketing and I like the caffeine level at 160mg.
Appearance
Decently cool logo and a simple color scheme. I’ll give it a 6 since the logo and “100% PLANT POWERED” catches your eye.
Taste
The taste is really interesting. There’s a lot going on, with the cherry, watermelon, and green tea all hitting my palette at the same time. That said, once the flavors settle, it’s a solid drink. I took a sip of my friend’s Berry variant and it was a lot simpler in a good way. I’ll definitely be putting out a review on that as well.
Kick
The good thing is despite being a plant-based, health focused drink it has a lot of the classic energy drink ingredient staples. 160mg of caffeine, 100mg of L-Theanine, B12, and adaptogens. All with zero added sugar.
The kick I got from it was significant, immediately feeling a small boost that sustained over the next hour or so.
Conclusion
I’ll give the drink a slight boost for tasting as good as it does with no added sugar or sweeteners. It’s also 25% juice which I like.
Overall, I just wish it had a simpler flavor profile so it didn’t clash with the green tea.
