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| A decent "watermelon" flavor, but too similar to the apple for my liking. |
Well what do we have here? In the two
or so months since my last order, I see those fine folks at X-Mode
have added yet another flavor into the mix: watermelon. This takes their total number of options to four, up double from the two they initially offered when I first heard about them a couple of years ago. I don’t
typically care for artificially-flavored watermelon things (although
I love the actual fruit), but you know what? You only live once, so I figured I might as well get out of my comfort zone. Well, that,
and the other flavors were getting kind of boring to me, so that made the decision even easier.
I won’t go into a hugely long preface
since I’ve already done that in previous flavor reviews of X-Mode,
but just a quick recap about what X-Mode is: In quick terms, think a
boxed wine, only for energy drinks. Each order comes with two
resealable 2 oz. bottles which you then refill over and over again
until the contents of the box are gone. The idea, I guess, is that it
cuts back on waste over getting a one-use energy shot and throwing it
away every day. I don’t know…I mentioned back when I first
reviewed them that I can’t tell if it’s a genius idea or a
completely stupid idea and I’m still stuck in the middle, even
though these have become my go-to energy beverage (though mostly out
of convenience; going to the store to load up on energy shots and/or
drinks every single week was getting to be a rather annoying hassle).
Anyway, onto the watermelon: it smells
just like what I was expecting, which is to say an incredibly
artificial watermelon candy. I don’t understand why so many
beverages and candies even have a watermelon flavor, because they
never taste (or even attempt to taste) like the real thing…although
I guess that ideology could extend to “sour/green apple” and
“blue raspberry” candies, too.
It fits the exact flavor profile of
every other X-Mode variety, with a very sweet flavor profile that
goes down pretty smooth for me, but that will be a chore for those
with a preference for the “dryer” things in life (like my wife,
who refuses to go near these things). Honestly, I questioned why
watermelon flavors even need to exist, and that goes double for this
one; the more I sip on it, the more I realize that it’s very close
in taste to their “Jacked Apple”, which was the previous flavor
they released last year. Even the smell is pretty similar…I can
distinguish the watermelon, but the surrounding notes are so alike that it seems like they barely even had to do anything to
change the formula from apple to watermelon.
The one thing that really strikes me as
kind of odd about these beverages (besides the whole idea, I suppose)
is that, despite all being founded on the same intensely sweet
foundation of flavor, none of them hit the taste buds too strongly,
at least for me. Like, you know how you get a sweet candy, and it
kind of makes all your taste buds wiggle and respond to how sweet it
is, basically letting you know that you’re getting a sweetness
overload? This hits the top of the tongue in a similar fashion, but seems to dissipate before it hits the surrounding tastebuds. I know, I know, part of it might
be because there’s no actual sugar in it, but it’s almost like
they somehow “mute” the sweetness in the aftertaste, so that you
just get an initial blast of candy-like intensity that quickly weakens so that it doesn't become too overbearing. Eh…I
think I’m doing a terrible job of explaining it, but to sum up:
it’s not as intensely sweet as it starts off suggesting it will be. (Again, as a counterpoint, my wife finds it to be overwhelmingly cloying and
won’t go near it unless it’s her only option and she has another beverage to blend it in as a means to completely mask the flavor; to each their own, I suppose.)
Overall: 5/10. This one has sour notes
of typical watermelon candy that hit your tastebuds from the outset,
before it all dissipates rather quickly after you swallow. It will be
way too strong for some, and while I will say I don’t always enjoy
these flavors, I never have to “force” a drink of it down. There’s
a slightly medicine-y aftertaste, but it’s light and rather
pleasant compared to most energy shots. The biggest hit to the points
is just how unnecessary it is, as it offers up a very similar scent
and taste to the sour apple flavor the company released last year. And,
just like that one, this one is only available at “full price”
through both eBay and Amazon, unlike the cherry and orange flavors,
which are slightly discounted (with the capability to “make your
own offer” on eBay to save even more money on top of that). It’s okay,
but I'll just stick to the cherry for the most part, and get the "Jacked Apple" instead of this one when I want something different.
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