Summer Energy Drinks Showdown: Zone Firewall vs Red Bull Summer Edition

This summer, if you're feeling sluggish while out and about, you might head into the nearest convenience store for a caffeinated pick-me-up. When you have had your fill of iced coffee and it's too hot for anything warmer, look for the chilled beverage section and you might see one of these guys staring back at you.

Zone Firewall

    Suntory released two Zone energy drinks, this one and a black canned variety, each boasting a sideways on-button style logo and trying to look high tech. There was nothing especially digitally performance enhancing about the taste in either beverage despite the cans claiming to provide digital performance energy, though the lack of taurine made the whole experience a lot more palatable than the usual can of Monster energy drink or the like. The beverage in the red can was a lot like a highly caffeinated version of the Hawaiian Punch soft drink that was popular in the US in the 1990s, which is to say that it was a less natural tasting but still enjoyable enough fruit punch sort of flavor. It was sweet enough to evoke that memory of sugary drinks from my childhood but without making my teeth ache. I enjoyed this one enough to buy several when they were on sale at my grocery store the following week.

    I later also tried the black variety which was almost as enjoyable as the red. The flavor was something like of a softer canned sangria though obviously caffeinated rather than alcoholic in nature. Of the two, I preferred the red version, but the black was palatable enough that I would buy more of it if I needed a boost and the red was not available.

Red Bull's Summer Edition: Sunny Beam

    Red Bull doesn't always taste the same in Japan and honestly I am grateful for that. As mentioned above, the thick and weird taste I have come to recognize as taurine is abundant in some name-brand American energy drinks and personally I have come to abhor it and avoid it whenever possible. This means I haven't had a normal Red Bull since I stopped working in Sendai and occasionally being given one for free on the street.

    The last Red Bull Special Edition I drank was actually quite nice, setting the stakes high for this one. Sunny Beam being the name of this version gave me the impression that drink might have more of a citrus bite to it, but I was also hoping for a good hint of something sweet as sweetness is something I am always looking for in a summertime energy drink.

    Sadly, this one just didn't live up to its predecessor. While still enjoyable as a beverage, this "sunny beam" was a lot less sweet than the spring edition, which then left less to hide the taurine flavor behind. That said, the flavor of Sunny Beam Red Bull was significantly improved compared to the basic version of Red Bull, but without the sweetness, I didn't find it pleasant enough to endure twice.