by Maxwell Payne

Created on: July 01, 2009

Review of NOS energy drink.

Price: $1.00 - $3.00.
Sizes: 2 oz shot bottles, 16 oz. cans, 11 & 22 oz. bottles.
Availability: Most markets.
Website: http://www.drinknos.com

The main idea behind NOS energy is that the name of the energy drink, as well as all packaging and promotion is derived from the world of street racing. NOS or Nitrous Oxide Systems are used to deliver short powerful bursts of energy to a car's engine. Therefore, the energy drink itself is supposed to deliver power and energy to the drinker; with of course safe and consumable ingredients.

I picked up a 16 ounce can of NOS Energy on a whim, mainly because Powerade was running a promotion at WaWa where with a coupon you could get a free NOS Energy can with purchase of any Powerade. So it was worth a try. This review covers the original NOS energy beverage.

Taste -

I was actually a bit surprised by the taste of NOS energy. It tasted nothing like most energy drinks, although the taste was slightly similar to Monster's Khaos drink and Rockstar's Juiced. So it was a fruity, somewhat citrus like drink which was a refreshing change from all the Red Bull style clone drinks out there today.

This drink went down smooth and had no negative aftertaste. For those who hate the traditional energy drink taste, this might be worth a try. It wasn't too sweet and wasn't too overwhelming, it was just right I'd say.

Kick -

The all important kick factor comes into play when reviewing any energy drink. I've read a lot of reviews saying that NOS was a really powerful energy drink and offered a good kick with less of a crash.

The drink contains the standard energy drink ingredients such as taurine, b-vitamins, l-carnitine, and of course caffeine. The details of the energy blend pretty much match every other energy drink, although the levels are slightly higher than other blends.

Caffeine is key in getting a good kick and NOS energy has 130 mg per 8 ounce serving, or 260 mg in a 16 ounce can. This number is well above most energy drinks that tend to range around 100-200 mg per 16 ounce can. Very few energy drinks go beyond it, and only a select few come to mind in servings smaller than 16 ounce with more caffeine then NOS.

Unlike the real life NOS that gives a car engine an insanely powerful instant speed boost, this human NOS takes a bit longer. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing, I've found that some energy drinks that kick in fast and hard tend to wear off and leave you crashing fast and hard.

I didn't begin to feel the effects of the kick for about an hour after drinking it, unusual for most energy drinks. But when I did feel it there was a few minutes of caffeine jitters followed by a nice and steady kick that lasted quite a few hours. The jitters went away quickly which is a nice thing to be rid of, especially when you spend the day typing away at a computer. The kick was nice and consistent with barely any crash. This could be due to NOS having slightly less sugar than comparable energy drinks (26g vs. an industry average of 31g).

Verdict -

This is actually a pretty decent energy drink. While the branding is geared heavily towards the racing underground, NOS is widely available and worth a try. As I discovered, the brand is often heavily discounted to remain competitive and I've seen cans priced as low as a dollar in some stores.

Learn more about this author, Maxwell Payne.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.