The final rating that you see on the review page: This is BevNET.com's overall opinion of this beverage. A beverage may meet any (but not necessarily all) criteria to fit in a specific category: Reserved for only the best. As perfect as it gets. This product must be the top in it's class and/or be truly innovative.   An excellent beverage. We would often reach for this beverage to quench our thirst. Flavor and taste must be of the highest quality. There must also be a great deal of quality and/or originality displayed in this product.   Very good. A high ranking beverage, but it still has room for improvement.   A good/decent beverage.  Improvements are definitely required.   Mediocre. It's an acceptable beverage, but we wouldn't buy this one if we had the choice. Needs serious improvement.   Very poor.

Tropical Blast Caffeine Free Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.4 fl oz can BevNET Review: Same taste as the Tropical Blast, but with a slightly modified formula. Specifically, it contains neither caffeine nor the adaptogenic blend. Overall, same great taste and look & feel, but will consumers accept an energy drink that's caffeine AND sugar free? We're not quite sure, but it still tastes just as good as the original.

Root Beer Blast Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.4 fl oz can BevNET Review: Despite the fact that this is probably the 2000th entry into the energy drink category, XS Energy has managed to come out with something that's original -- and great tasting. As the name states, XS Rootbeer Blast uses a classic root beer flavor in its zero calorie, zero sugar formulation. We've never seen this flavor used in an energy drink and, fortunately for XS, it really works. The sweet root beer flavor has a slightly creamy flavor that's on par with a standard diet root beer. The downside of this product is its artificial sweetener aftertaste (ace-k, sucralose blend), but given that it's an energy drink, this aftertaste is an acceptable part of the placebo effect of the product.

Cherry Blast Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.4 oz (250 ml can) BevNET Review: XS Cherry Blast Energy Drink is an excellent zero-carb / zero-calorie energy drink. The lightly sweetened cherry flavor does an exceptional job of hiding the artificial sweeteners and gives the product a crisp, clean finish. This product has an exceptional flavor that could go head-to-head with any energy drink on the market today. Overall, another great product from XS.

Electric Lemon Blast Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.4 fl oz (250ml) BevNET Review: Electric Lemon Blast definitely surpasses the quality of the previous additions to the brand. With its sweet citrus flavor, Electric Lemon Blast has the sweetest and most natural flavor of the XS products to date. In our opinion, it is perhaps best compared to a lighter Mountain Dew. The formulation is similar to the other products as is the packaging -- neither of which totally stand out, but they are pleasing nonetheless. Overall, we definitely like this product -- and think that it definitely deserves a place among the top tier of low-carb energy drinks.

Tropical Blast Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.4 fl oz can BevNET Review: Tropical Blast is a very good sugar free energy drink that just shows how far the XS product line has come. The flavor is light but fruity and it's not that obvious that the product uses a sugar-free formulation. The combination of the ace-k / sucralose sweeteners and the flavors used in this product combine quite well and leave it with less aftertaste than many of the energy drinks on the market today. Also, we have to give this product some credit for its design and appearance. The clean (and non-offensive) look and the use of Quixtar gives it the ability to create its own niche that other energy drinks would find very challenging to compete in.

Citrus Blast Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.4 fl oz can BevNET Review: Citrus Blast XS Energy Drink is unlike any energy drink we've ever tried. You'll notice on the can that this product has only 8 calories, which means that it does not use normal sugar-based sweeteners. Instead, the product uses Ace-K resulting in a drink that has very little aftertaste. The citrus flavor featured in the beverage is excellant and helps it stand apart from the many Red Bull knock-offs on the market. Overall, a solid energy drink that we'll definitely give some originality points to.

Cranberry-Grape Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.4 fl oz can BevNET Review: Cranberry-Grape XS Energy Drink is a new zero-carb energy drink that has only 8 calories. This beverage was recently improved and the cran-grape flavor is really fantastic.The grape flavor is very natural and there is little to no aftertaste. We highly recommend this product to folks looking for lo-cal energy drink with great taste.

Original Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.3 oz can BevNET Review: While our opinion on Red Bull's flavor hasn't changed -- it is truly painful to drink -- we will give Red Bull credit where credit is due. Namely, the brand power that this product has created is truly amazing. Many people in the industry may hate Red Bull, but without Red Bull there wouldn't even be a market for the other 150+ products currently crowding the shelves. However, Red Bull faces some potential bumps in the road in the coming 24 months. First, the product has completely oversaturated the market -- Red Bull is in just about anywhere that you can fit a mini-cooler as well as mass merchandisers, bike shops, bars, etc, etc, etc. This could result in Red Bull becoming passe by removing the "cool" factor that made the brand so successful. Second, while other companies are improving formulations, flavors, and packaging, Red Bull stays the same. Will consumers find something that truly works better? Third, from our point of view Red Bull has a less-than-stellar industry reputation -- and many people are praying for their demise as a result. Overall, tremendous brand power right now, but does it have true staying power to last another 5 years as number one?

Sugar Free Category: Energy: Regular; Packaging: 8.3 fl oz can BevNET Review: (Second testing) When we first heard about Red Bull Sugar Free we were extremely intrigued. First of all, this is a real test for Red Bull in that this is their first product extension in the US. Second, when you take the sugar out of a medicinal tasting beverage like Red Bull, we weren't quite sure what to expect. The flavor is basically the same as the original but with artificial sweetener. Not very exciting. In addition, they used the same packaging as the original. Not very innovative. Overall, it's the same old stuff, but with a different sweetener. This being said, we don't think Red Bull passed the product extension test.