I have to admit, I was pretty skeptical about the Doubleshot energy drink.  I imagined it being something like that wretched coffee flavored cola they came out with a few years ago, Coke Black.  OH GOD IT WAS AWFUL.  It was literally Coke with the flavor of coffee added.  VERY BAD.

And thus you can imagine my trepidation, imagining something like Red Bull with the flavor of coffee added.  But I desperately wanted a coffee drink, and I wasn't in a position to get a proper coffee, so I was planning to buy one of those bottled Starbucks Frappucino drinks.  Which are okay, I guess, if you like that sort of thing.

Then I spotted a display of chilled, large cans of "Doubleshot Energy+Coffee" priced at literally half that of the bottled Frappuccino I was about to buy.  My frugality got the best of me, or maybe I was just addled from lack of caffeine.  At any rate, I put back my bottled Frappuccino and gave the Doubleshot a try.

The first thing I want to point out is that this is a 15 ounce can.  Not a 16 ounce can, like you might expect.  I suspect Starbucks is keeping these cheap by shaving off an extra ounce, as if no one would be the wiser.  Given the amazing number of people who think they're paying $8 for a pound of Starbucks coffee at the grocery store (when really they are paying $8 for a 12 ounce bag), maybe they have a point.

I bought the Mocha flavor, because I like things that are Mocha flavored.  When I cracked the can, I smelled coffee (good) and chocolate (good) and also a strange little undercurrent of that funny flowery perfume-y flavor you find in energy drinks (not good).  This undercurrent continued, fading in and out of the flavor as I sipped. I could never quite pin it down, but it was definitely there.  Faint, but there.

I could even detect the smell when I sniffed the empty can the next morning.  (Out of scientific curiosity; not because I'm inclined to do that sort of thing.)  Overall, it tasted like a bottled Mocha Frappuccino, with a little dash of Red Bull.  


I realize that "it's not as bad as you think" is hardly the strongest recommendation for a beverage.  But it's not as bad as you think.  Should you be a hater of energy drinks, but desperately in need of one, then I would definitely suggest the Doubleshot.  And should you be a lover of energy drinks, then I suggest you try the Doubleshot just because it's something a little different.  Let's face it, despite the plethora of supposed "flavors" on the market, all the darned things taste the same.

As for how it measures up against the competition, aside from its paltry (and weaselly) 15 ounce size, the Doubleshot has a pretty decent amount of juice.  The larger can contains 1,500mg Taurine, 450mb L-Carnitine, 325mb Panax Ginseng, 90mg Guarana, and 180mg Inositol.  Your basic Monster (my personal favorite) has less taurine, over twice as much ginseng.  So pretty well equivalent.