I love energy drink treasure hunting. Most of the public does not get it, the joy of anticipation when heading into those little convenience stores with one freezer in back that mostly works, the lighting dimmed – and the refrigerated cooler stocked with stuff the owner bought at the local Safeway.
These little grungy shops is where you find energy drink gold; The stuff that was sold to them five years ago but never moved stock; their favorite wierdo energy drink made in some South American country, or the myriad collections of sodas they got as freebies stored in the back of their cold storage.
These little stores are what we reviewers, collectors and hobbyists search for – the stores which might sell you packages of squid, or homemade chicharones to go with whatever oddball energy drink you have unearthed.
This last time, my searches turned up Hot Pure energy, a bizarre pink energy drink, made out of Denver, CO. – but, not even sold in the US. This stuff is made here, but then drop shipped to China, which totally explains the huge Chinese “HOT” written on the front. for the rest of you, it is possible to find them online at jump-beverages.com.

Buzz/Nutrition:8
For being in a small can, I liked the energy this small can had – giving me about 3 hours of a definite mental and physical boost. While I have no idea how much caffeine is in here, they also use a couple other powerful ingredients to help boost your energy. According to the can, this is supposed to “Release your inner heat” offering increased mental acuity, increased thermogenic response, and more energy. To do this, there is D-Ribose as well as something called Citrus aurantium, commonly referred to as bitter orange.
While I have seen D-Ribose around in a number of drinks, Citrus aurantium was new to me. It seems that it can increase metabolism, has the same thermogenic properties and effects as ephedra, and can lead to strokes, angina, and ischemic colitis. For an every-once-in-a-while drink, I thought it was an interesting way to get a rush without overloading on caffeine. But, it seems the 300mg of it in here is serious enough that official websites recommend not taking it as a daily supplement.

Taste:2
Not that you would want to – as this stuff is seriously ungood. While I was waxing on about the taste – thinking it had the distinct flavor of a carambola (star fruit) that has not ripened, or the flavor of berries but missed the flavor profile, my wife summed it up the best.
This tastes like Sweet & Low. Which is kinda amusing, as this is sweetened with sucralose (nutrasweet) – but it really does. I had to work to get the can down – even ice cold.
Packaging:7
I am glad I got the low down on where this drink is sold, as there was a whole lot of it which made no sense to me. I can EASILY see this on the shelves of other crazy Asian energy drinks, packaged between Commando Bear and Lipitovan-D. It also explains the huge Asian symbol, which I found out means HOT in Chinese. The other odd thing is there is a “**when used in conjunction with regular diet and exercise.” value, but it does not go to anything. it is just attached to the side without any reason. For an American energy drink on the shelves, it would rate a whole lot lower than it does as an Asian drink, where most of the writing does not matter and the design scheme is alien to westerners.