Eric’s Famous Energy Cola Rootbeer

wow, i just don’t even know where to start with this drink. ok, how about this: the label is cool. it has the sparkly sticker effect, like the stickers i used to buy for fifty cents from the sticker machines at the grocery store while my mom was checking out. so the design scores points with me.
what loses points though is the “energy cola” aspect of it. first because it confuses me a bit, is it a cola or a root beer? it does not need to be either necessarily but trying to be both is a weird thing. i think they going more for root beer, but the “energy cola” font is much larger than the “rootbeer” one. it could also be that this Eric fellow uses the word “cola” more as a synonym for “soda” or “pop” than as the drink commonly referred to as cola. and since it does contain kola nut, perhaps that is somewhat apt and this is a root beer flavored cola. the second reason i don’t like the “energy cola” angle is that i personally actually try to avoid caffeine and thus all energy drinks in general. i drink this for you, the root beer loving public. such sacrifices i make for you. whether there is a market for such a thing is unknown to me but i imagine there must be when i see the massive cooler and shelf space claimed by the bazillion energy drinks in existance rather than high quality microbrewed sodas.
now despite what some other root beer review sites (and media outlets) assume or proclaim for me, i make no claim that i am a root beer expert. i have tried a lot of brands, sure. if that makes me an expert in your mind, then call me one i guess. but if i, as someone pretty in tune with the root beer world, have never heard of Eric or his beverages until this came in the mail, just how are they famous? maybe they are big in Japan. or Washington or something and me out here in the boondocks of NJ am just not in tune with the hip drinks the cool dudes are drinking on MTV these days. perhaps Hannah Montana herself stocks her icebox exclusively with Eric’s drinks. i would not know. but whatever, moving on.
i did think i would dislike this greatly since other energy root beers i have had have been vile, i am looking at you X Root Beer Riot! yet it is alright. it tastes more like the “natural” root beers, a sharp herbal flavor with just a bit of a traditional root beer taste. one thing it does not taste like is cola. another is unicorn blood but that is neither here nor there. the honey in here adds a nice touch and is not overwhelming. that they have 3 different sweeteners is weird to me, but they make it work i suppose. if you want a decent root beer with energy drink properties, then this may be the beverage for you. if you want just a good root beer, this may not be. i wish they said somewhere just how much of each of these extra nonsense things were in here as they may just be more of a gimmick than providing the proported benefit of the herbs in sufficient doses.
but the label is pretty cool.

Anthony’s Rating: 68
User’s Rating: 81
# of ratings:9
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Ingredients: carbonated water, cane sugar, raw honey, maltodextrin, natural flavors, guarana extract, sodium benzoate (for freshness), phosphoric acid, caffeine, niacin(B3), kola nut, ginseng, guarana seed, vanilla