Made by a wine company and distributed by Transylvania Imports, Vamp energy drink is about the best drink possible for the Anne Rice crowd. If this was any gothy-er, it would would be sponsored by Hot Topic ( where, incidentally, I bought this can a while ago). Actually, the goth crowd is a market mostly ignored by the energy drink market. Other than the occasional Boston Market drink – like Emily the Strange and Nightmare Before Christmas drinks, that whole niche has yet to be tapped. Odd too – because it is really a good fit. While not the extreme sports kind of people, they all stay up late, need energy around 2AM, and are completely obsessed with image and style. Too bad this drink has gone underground – where it is harder to find than Siouxie Sioux’s career these days. If you need absolutely some, you can find it online at Vampire.com – although the cans might be older than they seem.

Taste:8
I would always expect the official energy drink of the Vampire to be one of smoke and sinister evil – something that would ooze out of Marlyn Manson’s pores, bled from the soul of Bauhaus and squeegeed off the hair of Michael smith of the cure. I would want to taste the swamp coming off the New Orleans night, the smell of the graveyard and the look of a dark red.
That taste, smell and look is not black cherries.
Not that black cherries are bad – in fact they are quite good – but this should at the very least be the flavor of red wine. But no, it seems the Vamp Goths are supposed to feel all evil while enjoying a light fruity flavor.While it is nice that this drink is tasty for the rest of us – I wish this one was geared to that particular sect more. Not like the folks at Vampire.com don’t know their vampires, but I can bet that if they made their drink more evil, it might have sold better.
That being said, this flavor is really quite good. It tastes much like Bing, which is one of the best fruity drinks you can buy. It is a light strawberry color coming out of the can, and is eminently drinkable. Really, I would rather drink a can of this over most other energy drinks out there.

Buzz:7
Funny how some drinks hit you and others completely miss the boat. On the can it states “The maximum caffeine allowed by law.” And while there is absolutely no laws on the books that talk about caffeine content in drinks (some confuse the FDA rule about caffeine in alcoholic beverages with caffeine per regular drink), that usually means they put 80mg of caffeine in here.
For me, it did not keep me awake all night, so as to help me see the sunrise. I drank this around 5 PM, and while i did get a VERY nice 4 hour boost, I still got to bed a little earlier than usual and slept like a baby. While tasty, It will barely keep your average goth punk up until 4AM.

Packaging:8
The minimalist goth design of the can is very eye catching. It is a simple black can with the Vampire.com logo they use on all their products. It is a very striking design and fits very well into the hands of the predominately black shrouded creatures of the night ( or those creepy goth mall kids too). This was made to shelves of Hot Topics and such places – and does the job nicely. Points off however for not placing the lid on correctly, not listing the caffeine content, and of course, spelling Vamp Energy as “Vamp N.R.G” which is just silly. Still, for an 8ounce slim can, it is a beauty.