After years of waiting, the US Finally gets Red Devil, the 12 year old energy drink sold overseas in a new United States incarnation. Born in 1995 in a lab in the Netherlands, Red Devil is supposedly the Number 1 energy drink in Russia, number 2 energy drink in E.U. countries such as the Netherlands and Luxembourg. With a slightly large 17oz can, it does not bode well that after looking for this drink after a reader contacted me about it, I found it at last sold by the caseload super-cheap at Big Lots. While it might be big in Europe, Having your drink at a big closeout store is like having your favorite 80’s band playing at the local corner bar. It might be good for the consumer – but very bad tidings for the company.
Taste:8
I am quite impressed with this drink, especially for high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener. It is even good when cracked open at room temperature. As for the color of the drink, it is too bad it is not red, as that would have truly made this hold together . This looks like your average energy drink – full of caramel color. The flavor of this is much better than I expected – much better than most Red Bull Clones;.Normal energy drink flavor, with some sour berry tossed in and hints of a syrupy sweetness which carries it off well. Definitely gets better as you drain the can. At the end of it – the aftertaste is not strong and actually pleasant.
Packaging:8
You could tell they tried to keep “Red Devil – The Taste of Energy” with strong European flavor. This is still covered with slogans in many languages, including Russian and Spanish. I like the European version of this can better, but this still works. I like the big comic devil on the front, presenting itself as an irreverent energy drink. Any can with “world’s best tasting energy drink” written on the label must not take itself that does not take itself very seriously.No listing of caffeine though – which is not cool. Medee.de worked on both the can and the website – creating something unique enough to stand out in any can collection.
Nutrition:6
This is about average for all energy drinks. Except for a few ingredients, this is the standard energy drink formula. Sweetened with High Fructose Corn Syrup, this has the usual B and C vitamins, taurine and citric acd. The slight difference is Fruit extract used in here for extra color – mixed with the aftifical food dye Yellow #5. In terms of kick, it has a very usual 160mg per can, about as much as Red Bull or Monster. With the HFCS and caffeine I got about 3 hours af a nice boost before crashing.
Website: reddevilusa.com 7
I happen to like reddevildrinks.com much better as their site – as it has lots more personality than the US version. Not to mention, this is how I found out there is a Red Devil energy gum. The US version of site is OK, It just could have been cooler. This is pretty standard energy site fare — with none of the irreverence of the package. The code is decent – programmed well and nice and small. They have a div problem on the front page with text bleeding over the graphics, but that is a minor issue. I like their design company, but they should be allowed to push boundaries and create something original – it looks like they have the talent. Impulse One has a greeat design company on their hands – now they just need to push them to create something unique and let their creativity flow.