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In December, I wrote a post on the new Coca Cola Blak, which is a coffee-like soft drink. I thought that the bottle design (especially the font) was reminiscent of Tab.

Well, it looks like Coke hasn’t given up on Tab yet:

I was in 7-11 looking for an energy drink, and I saw this can and had to get it. Unfortunately, it tastes like shit.

But, I’m not in their target market, so maybe I shouldn’t like the taste. From Wikipedia:

Tab Energy is a low calorie energy drink named after Tab, a Coca-Cola Company brand. While it shares the Tab name but it will not taste like the original Tab. Fashion Week Daily describes it as a “sweet and sour beverage” with a taste “reminiscent of a liquid Jolly Rancher.” Also unlike its predecessor, it is sweetened with Sucralose (instead of saccharin), and is colorless.

It is packed in 10.5 ounce slim cans (with a shape similar to the can used for Red Bull). The New Yorker notes than the original Tab has thirty-one milligrams of caffeine and no calories, while Tab Energy has ninety-five milligrams and five calories.

Tab Energy, like the original, will be marketed towards women. It hit shelves in February 2006.

Well, in my opinion, I’d rather drink an actual liquid Jolly Rancher than to sip this sludge. It is a truly awful drink.

Water was not enough to get the taste of Tab Energy out of my mouth. So I thought I’d try something else in the energy drink category: Bawls Guarana.

Here we go. This stuff is really good and the bottle is very attractive. Sure, the packaging doesn’t have much to do with the taste, but I liked both here. From Wikipedia again:

Bawls is an energy drink containing a relatively large amount of caffeine (approximatly 80 mg. per 12 oz. and 67 mg. per 10 oz. bottle). It is made from the juice of the Guarana berry, native to the Amazon rainforest of South America. It is popular at LAN parties (where participants may stay awake for extended periods playing computer games) and among paintballers. Bawls Guaranexx is the sugar-free variant. SnoBawls is normal Bawls in Slurpee form. In addition to the three beverages, Bawls mints are also available.

This energy drink is unique in that it has a faint vanilla taste. It’s not overpowering at all- it’s just good.

Here’s a short comparison of these two energy drinks: