To play in the energy drink market you really have to be on your game. No longer can you come out with something that has any flaws, either in packaging, marketing or the drink itself and break through the stranglehold of Monsters, Rockstars, Full Throttles and Red Bulls. Sure, if you are lucky enough you might find a way to be bought by one of the Big Three and bump your distribution, but if you are an independent drink company trying to compete for shelf space you have to really have your game on.
Unfortunately, the game is almost done for Arizona’s Caution Extreme Energy Shot – a decent but confusing energy drink from the people who bring you Arizona Ice Teas. Unless there is some major reconstruction, this one is just about dead. While still in some convenience stores you can find this for a normal price, gallons of it can be found at your local super-discount stores, like Big Lots, trying to unload all the unsold palettes of it. It seems Arizona is still producing the drink, but according to an industry rep at Arizona, all their energy drinks, from All City NRG to this one do not seem to be very popular. They have distributors trying to get it into chain c-stores – but it does not last long. It seems for all their changes, Arizona can not seem to make much headway.

Packaging:3
And the problem is, this has already gone under some major reconstruction, a good number of times. At one time, this had someones silly signatures on it. Other times, they stuck a L’eggs package on top of the can to make it look like a bullet or rocket.
Now it has a big “CAUTION” on it, so I am not sure if caution was part of the advertising or part of the name. Why would someone name their drink Caution? How silly is that? Not to mention I am not sure of the whole police tape motif myself, as it really does not work for an Extreme energy Shot. And Speaking of that, why is this 16 ounce drink called a shot? This is about 8 times bigger than any shot I have seen.
On the plus side, I like that they listed the caffeine, and that all of those big CAUTION fonts were easy to read.
It is pretty obvious to anyone who looks at this drink that it is destined for failure.

Taste:8
When I think of Arizona drinks, I tink of Tea. Not terribly good or good-for -you tea, but super tasty, filling, and with a very classy package. I collected their blue glass package for years, drinking barrels of the stuff during the Summer.
So I was a bit taken aback when my latest Arizona drink contained no tea! Instead, they went for a very light fruity mix , which tasted very sweet and a little syrupy. There was a little carbonation here, enough to really help the flavor go down smoothly. Sure, like Arizona Tea it isn’t good for you, but then again, neither is a Rockstar Punched. It is still dang yummy.

Buzz:9
This is where the energy drink stands out – and puts them ahead of the competition. There is 200mg of caffeine in here – not counting the extra caffeine from added guarana. There is a ton of great vitamins in here, from B complex, Vitamin C and ribose, their “performance blend,” which include 2 grams of taurine, L-Carnitine, Ginseng, Inositol, Glucuronolactone and Milk Thistle.
I really like that it has no preservatives and no artificial colors, though its not like you are drinking a Syzmo.
Still, this gave me a good solid 3 hour boost – and no crash afterwards. While the packaging and marketing might have landed this drink on Caffeinated Death Row, I know I better head to Big Lots and get them while I can.