At first, I did think the drink was chicken themed, which would have been most awesome. I have chicken in some form or another at least once every couple days, and start raving and planning long distance vacations to Chicken and Waffle houses. I think chicken might just be the next bacon, and was hoping this might be the first in a line of savory energy drinks. Then, after pondering what they meant by this drink being a libido enhancer did I finally get it. OHH! - It is supposed to be Cock! So I gave this drink about 30 seconds longer than I should have to figure out that it was supposed to be a coy sexual reference. That thirty seconds could have been spent on better tasks - to think I missed two times thinking about sex!
Penis themed energy drinks are hard to market, as opposed to more female friendly varieties. As a matter of fact, while I have tried quite a few female part centered energy drinks (Pussy energy, Sum Poosie Cat and Little Pussie), there has only been one libido enhancing drink which has been about the cock. I dunno, but I think it might be a little emasculating, although a whole lot funnier if guys were supposed to suck on a big long thick can of drink that was flesh colored and veiny. Instead, C-Strong energy is trying to straddle the line between being an aphrodisiac and energy drink, and ends up being a midge too naughty, but not quite naughty enough, to be either. C Strong (or C-Strong, or Cock Strong, or CStrong, I am not sure) is a small company just now trying to get distribution across the country, and they really have their work cut out for them.
Packaging:4
I have a problem with energy drink brands doing halfway measures. Either come out and proudly declare what your drink is all about, or don't even bother. C Strong tries to hint at being naughty while really being about as naughty as a Disney movie. As a matter of fact, if it did not have the words "Libido Enhancement" on the top lid of the can I probably would have completely missed the sex reference, and just be confused. There are problems around on this can: Besides the confusion over what this drink is, the name is just as bewildering. The mix of all the fonts for the logo don't work. The rooster looks like a clip-art taken from a book. The paragraph that is usually used to describe the drink goes into too-long detail about Maca root, and worse - there is no caffeine listing.
For me, the most bizarre part is a GIANT QR code in the main design of the can. For those not hep to the new advertising device, a QR code is something mobile devices can scan in, like a square bar code, and pull off info, like in this case a link to their website - which is not even a little designed for mobile devices. Maybe if the website was super awesome or did something cool for your phone it would make sense, but in this case it was just a very poor advertising choice.
Taste:10
Once you get past the design and just open the thing - you are in for a real treat. I was not sure what to expect from C-Strong, and this flavor deserves some real praise. It pours out of the can a bright red - like a cranberry juice. This also gave me a good idea as to the flavor - a very refreshing berry taste, although it was difficult to pin down. It tasted like there was quite a lot of Cran, although there was some definite straw too. The flavor was not of real berries, but of the tasty candy lollipop flavored red. The touch of tartness really made this a yummy fruity punch drink. On a hot day, a very cold C Strong really hit the spot and made me feel refreshed and full of life.
Buzz:7
As an energy drink, C-Strong has what you need. There is a good dose of energy to be found in here, my guess is about 150-190mg of caffeine, along with the usual energy drink cohorts like Taurine, Glucurolactone, Vitamin B complex, L-Arginine and ginseng. All of this adds to a nice couple hours of energy. They use real sugar to sweeten things, so it does not have the same heavy syrupiness of HFCS, and helps with a bit more energy. This also adds a big to the calorie content - 180 calories per can, but for an every-once-in-a-while treat this is no that bad.
In terms of a libido enhancer, this is pretty weak. I gave this a difficult and an easy test, trying this both at night during the weekend and another at work. Fortunately for my coworkers, this really did not do much to make me excited. OK, it is hard to get feeling frisky when you are in the middle of a javascript coding session, but even when I was just hanging out in the house I didn't feel any particular desire to get romantic, or even watch more of Spike TV. The main ingredients they use here are Horny Goat Weed, Maca Root and Tribulus Terrestris. All three ave very safe and very tame ingredients, especially if you are going to have it in such small amounts. If you see where they are in the ingredients list, it is assumed that there is not much of it in here, and probably not enough that even if Horny Goat Weed actually did not do anything.
For an energy drink C-Strong rocks. It tastes amazing and has a rockin' buzz. But if you are looking for a penis/fowl based sex drink, there are more potent drinks out there. As for my savory energy drink ideas, I guess they will just have to wait.
